The songs Pete Townshend doesn’t like playing with Roger Daltrey: “Though I know the fans enjoy it”
If you’ll indulge me a moment, I’d like you to imagine the people you hung out with when you were 19 years old. Then, take the person you have the least in common with, and make them arguably the most important person in your professional life. Naturally, 60 years later, you’ll have even less in common with them, and you may not even like them all that much, but you’re unfortunately just joined at the hip. Congratulations, you’ve imagined what it’s like to be Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who.
Pete ‘n’ Rog have always had an infamously contentious relationship. The intense, controlling Townshend never quite saw Roger Daltrey as anything other than “his lead singer”. Sure, sometimes Daltrey could think with his fists a little too much, and he did spend almost the entire 1970s with his shirt off. However, he was still the frontman and voice of one of the best rock bands Britain ever produced. The band that continued without Keith Moon and John Entwistle; however, one gets the feeling it couldn’t have continued with Daltrey.
One can imagine the dynamic Daltrey and Townshend shared was never much fun to live with, no matter how well it paid. Multiply that by over half a century, and it’s kind of a miracle they haven’t killed each other already. Especially when Townshend is the kind of guy to let his mouth run and say stupid shit like “thank God [Moon and Entwistle] are gone because they were fucking difficult to play with”.
Again, this isn’t to say that Daltrey’s completely innocent in all this. There is something of a look of an unreconstructed man about him; just look at the way he talked about Brexit for proof of that. If anything, the continued existence of The Who is a testament to their shared ability to accept each other for who they are. It was probably clear before Tommy was released that nothing would actually change their personalities after all.
How does this affect The Who performing live today?
A great example of this comes from an interview Townshend conducted in 2011. The interview was set up by The Who’s official website, and it consisted of questions submitted by fans of the band. One of the questions was about whether Townshend and Roger Daltrey would consider an acoustic tour where the two of them would play together unaccompanied.
A great idea, one would think; however, Pete Townshend had a different take on the prospect. The typically blunt guitarist said, “I don’t like working with Roger in this way, though I know fans enjoy it. I feel as if I am merely accompanying Roger in that context.” He goes on to talk about how their solo tours are filled with re-worked songs by The Who, something he’s fully in favour of.
However, he says when they play together, “the music demands to be honoured in the way it was born and I feel uneasy when Roger starts to loosen up songs like ‘Who Are You’ or ‘Behind Blue Eyes’.” Now, it’d be easy to clown on Townshend for this. His career is now old enough to qualify for a pension, and in that time, enough people have called him an egomaniac control freak.
However, I don’t think this is actually an example of that. Honestly? I think these are two men who know each other’s boundaries and respect them. A more mature act than anyone would expect from, y’know, The Who of all bands.
