Who I Am

Author: Pete Townshend
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062314688
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 484

Book Description
“Raw and unsparing...as intimate and as painful as a therapy session, while chronicling the history of the band as it took shape in the Mod scene in 1960s London and became the very embodiment of adolescent rebellion and loud, anarchic rock ‘n’ roll.” — Michiko Kakutani, New York Times One of rock music's most intelligent and literary performers, Pete Townshend—guitarist, songwriter, editor—tells his closest-held stories about the origins of the preeminent twentieth-century band The Who, his own career as an artist and performer, and his restless life in and out of the public eye in this candid autobiography, Who I Am. With eloquence, fierce intelligence, and brutal honesty, Townshend has written a deeply personal book that also stands as a primary source for popular music's greatest epoch. Readers will be confronted by a man laying bare who he is, an artist who has asked for nearly sixty years: Who are you?

Who I Am

Author: Pete Townshend
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 144341820X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 465

Book Description
Long acknowledged as one of rock music’s most intelligent and literary performers, Pete Townshend—guitarist, songwriter, singer and founding member of The Who—at last tells his wild story in this candid and immersive autobiography. Raised in west London by an eccentric grandmother, while his parents were off living the early post-war, rock ’n’ roll lifestyle, Townshend describes a frenetic childhood of displacement and abuse. Then, in high school, everything changed when he met Roger Daltrey and formed a band that would travel the world, earning fame, fortune and critical acclaim. In Who I Am, Townshend brings us from the inner sanctum of Eric Clapton’s drug-ridden hotel rooms to the feet of Jimi Hendrix and his electric kool-aid guitar; from the first trial performance of Townshend’s rock opera, Tommy, in a London bar to his infamous arrest (and acquittal) on child pornography charges. With his trademark eloquence, fierce intelligence and brutal honesty, Pete Townshend has created a work of literature that stands as a primary source for popular music’s greatest epoch. Readers will be confronted by a man laying bare who he is, an artist who has asked for nearly sixty years: who are you?

Who Are You: The Life Of Pete Townshend

Author: Mark Wilkerson
Publisher: Omnibus Press
ISBN: 0857120085
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 498

Book Description
An accurate, detailed and fascinating account of the life of a man whose story should have been told in this much detail long ago. Author Mark Wilkerson interviewed Townshend himself and several of Townshend's friends and associates for this biography.

The Age of Anxiety

Author: Pete Townshend
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1473622921
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
The Age of Anxiety is a great rock novel, but that is one of the less important things about it. The narrator is a brilliant creation - cultured, witty and unreliable. The novel captures the craziness of the music business and displays Pete Townshend's sly sense of humour and sharp ear for dialogue. First conceived as an opera, The Age of Anxiety deals with mythic and operatic themes including a maze, divine madness and long-lost children. Hallucinations and soundscapes haunt this novel, which on one level is an extended meditation on manic genius and the dark art of creativity.

Horse's Neck

Author: Pete Townshend
Publisher: Mariner Books
ISBN: 9780395905593
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Townshend explores life's razor-edged pathways in this bold, impressionistic work of autobiographical fiction, with intriguing experimental writing packed with vivid imagery (Library Journal) that strikingly mirrors the musical compositions Tommy and Quadrophenia. As he recalls his childhood, the decadent indulgences of success, and a new discovery of life itself, Townshend re-creates in fiction a powerful personal odyssey from the inside out.

Behind Blue Eyes

Author: Geoffrey Giuliano
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0815410700
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 392

Book Description
From Townshend's early childhood as the son of a sexually voracious mother to his devotion to the Indian mystic Meher Baba, this is the true story of a man looking back, forward, and in the mirror.

Pretend You're In A War

Author: Mark Blake
Publisher: Aurum
ISBN: 1781313180
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Book Description
'A definitive tome for both Who fans and newcomers alike’ ***** Q Magazine Pete Townshend was once asked how he prepared himself for The Who’s violent live performances. His answer? ‘Pretend you’re in a war.’ For a band as prone to furious infighting as it was notorious for acts of ‘auto-destructive art’ this could have served as a motto. Between 1964 and 1969 The Who released some of the most dramatic and confrontational music of the decade, including ‘I Can’t Explain’, ‘My Generation’ and ‘I Can See For Miles’. This was a body of work driven by bitter rivalry, black humour and dark childhood secrets, but it also held up a mirror to a society in transition. Now, acclaimed rock biographer Mark Blake goes in search of its inspiration to present a unique perspective on both The Who and the sixties. From their breakthrough as Mod figureheads to the rise and fall of psychedelia, he reveals how The Who, in their explorations of sex, drugs, spirituality and class, refracted the growing turbulence of the time. He also lays bare the colourful but crucial role played by their managers, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. And – in the uneasy alliance between art-school experimentation and working-class ambition – he locates the motor of the Swinging Sixties. As the decade closed, with The Who performing Tommy in front of 500,000 people at the Woodstock Festival, the ‘rock opera’ was born. In retrospect, it was the crowning achievement of a band who had already embraced pop art and the concept album; who had pioneered the power chord and the guitar smash; and who had embodied – more so than any of their peers – the guiding spirit of the age: war.

Thanks a Lot Mr Kibblewhite

Author: Roger Daltrey
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
ISBN: 1250296048
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
The frontman of one of the greatest bands of all time tells the story of his rise from nothing to rock 'n' roll megastar, and his wild journey as the voice of The Who. “It’s taken me three years to unpack the events of my life, to remember who did what when and why, to separate the myths from the reality, to unravel what really happened at the Holiday Inn on Keith Moon’s 21st birthday,” says Roger Daltrey, the powerhouse vocalist of The Who. The result of this introspection is a remarkable memoir, instantly captivating, funny and frank, chock-full of well-earned wisdom and one-of-a-kind anecdotes from a raucous life that spans a tumultuous time of change in Britain and America. Born during the air bombing of London in 1944, Daltrey fought his way (literally) through school and poverty and began to assemble the band that would become The Who while working at a sheet metal factory in 1961. In Daltrey’s voice, the familiar stories—how they got into smashing up their kit, the infighting, Keith Moon’s antics—take on a new, intimate life. Also here is the creative journey through the unforgettable hits including My Generation, Substitute, Pinball Wizard, and the great albums, Who’s Next, Tommy, and Quadrophenia. Amidst all the music and mayhem, the drugs, the premature deaths, the ruined hotel rooms, Roger is our perfect narrator, remaining sober (relatively) and observant and determined to make The Who bigger and bigger. Not only his personal story, this is the definitive biography of The Who.

Do You Feel Like I Do?

Author: Peter Frampton
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 0316425338
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 317

Book Description
From his early rise to fame to battles with his health, this revelatory memoir by legendary guitarist Peter Frampton celebrates the life of a rock icon. Do You Feel Like I Do? is the incredible story of Peter Frampton's positively resilient life and career told in his own words for the first time. His monu-mental album Frampton Comes Alive! spawned three top-twenty singles and sold eight million copies the year it was released (more than seventeen million to date), and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in January 2020. Frampton was on a path to stardom from an early age, first as the lead singer and guitarist of the Herd and then as cofounder—along with Steve Marriott—of one of the first supergroups, Humble Pie. Frampton was part of a tight-knit collective of British '60s musicians with close ties to the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and the Who. This led to Frampton playing on George Harrison's solo debut, All Things Must Pass, as well as to Ringo Starr and Billy Preston appearing on Frampton's own solo debut. By age twenty-two, Frampton was touring incessantly and finding new sounds with the talk box, which would become his signature guitar effect. Frampton remembers his enduring friendship with David Bowie. Growing up as schoolmates, crossing paths throughout their careers, and playing together on the Glass Spider Tour, the two developed an unshakable bond. Frampton also shares fascinating stories of his collaborative work with Harry Nilsson, Stevie Wonder, B. B. King, and members of Pearl Jam. He reveals both the blessing and curse of Frampton Comes Alive!, opening up about becoming the cover boy he never wanted to be, his overcoming sub-stance abuse, and how he has continued to play and pour his heart into his music despite an inflammatory muscle disease and his retirement from the road. Peppered throughout his narrative is the story of his favorite guitar, the Phenix, which he thought he'd lost in a fiery plane crash in 1980. But in 2011, it mysteriously showed up again—saved from the wreckage. Frampton tells of that unlikely reunion here in full for the first time, and why the miraculous reappearance is emblematic of his life and career as a quintessential artist.

Roger Daltrey

Author: Stafford Hildred
Publisher: Piatkus
ISBN: 1405518456
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 189

Book Description
'Hope I die before I get old', sang Roger Daltrey over forty years ago, but it didn't quite work out like that. The wild and passionate lead singer for supergroup The Who is still very much alive. The premature deaths of fellow group members Keith Moon and John Entwistle leaves Daltrey and Pete Townshend as the only survivors of the legendary band. Roger Daltrey's life is extraordinary from start to finish: he was expelled from school and written off as a violent thug - before he made his first guitar out of a block of wood, and music and The Who became his salvation. For many years he was the vouce of a generation, strutting bare-chested on stage, swinging the mic around like a lariat at The Who's dynamic concerts. Drawing on interviews with Daltrey himself, as well as his friends and fellow musicians, this is the most complete and revealing biography of one of rock's most powerful personalities.