Musicman666 Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 (edited) i always thought john had more of a hand in the writing of the who bass lines but listening to this would suggest otherwise, did john have any input on these townsend demos?? also the drums..is pete that good a drummer as well, keith seems to play just like him? i would have expected the demos to be a bit more basic than this waiting for john and keith to do their thing on the real album. Edited July 4, 2023 by Musicman666 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
three Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 (edited) Thanks for posting - I hadn't seen this previously. I'd like to know the answers the questions you pose - I suspect that somebody on here will know. A producer/engineer mate of mine has been working recently on some remasters of various Who works - he may have an idea. Undoubtedly one of my favourite rock albums. Whatever one might think of PT, the man has some serious talent as composer/writer Edited July 4, 2023 by three 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman666 Posted July 4, 2023 Author Share Posted July 4, 2023 7 minutes ago, three said: Thanks for posting - I hadn't seen this previously. I'd like to know the answers the questions you pose - I suspect that somebody on here will know. A producer/engineer mate of mine has been working recently on some remasters of various Who works - he may have an idea. Undoubtedly one of my favourite rock albums. Whatever one might think of PT, the man has some serious talent as composer/writer thanks ..yes, any info would be most welcomed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nail Soup Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 I've heard a few comments over the years praising Pete's demos... and that some people prefer them to the Who versions. Based on the YT link in the OP I can see why. Would be interested if he really did these alone... impressive if he did. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 Pete's demos were famously accomplished. In Glyn Johns' autobiography he says he always found it daunting trying to improve on them. There's also a lot of the demos on the final Who's Next/Quadrophenia tracks, mostly the synth parts. John wouldn't have had any input on the demos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12stringbassist Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 I think he is an incredible musician, but Pete Townshend is a guitarist who occasionally picks up a bass. There's a vast difference between that and a bassist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Browning Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 He's got a wonderful 1954 Precision to play on them. A good mate is his tech. He's also played on some demos himself. He's a very fine guitarist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 5 hours ago, 12stringbassist said: I think he is an incredible musician, but Pete Townshend is a guitarist who occasionally picks up a bass. There's a vast difference between that and a bassist. Some of my favourite bass playing is from a musician who only picked up a bass to finish the album because their bassist had been taken ill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 Listening to the demos just reinforces what a fabulous rhythm guitar player he is. His feel and groove are superb … Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 2 hours ago, Old Man Riva said: Listening to the demos just reinforces what a fabulous rhythm guitar player he is. His feel and groove are superb … Funky as 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 Reminds me sound-wise of the solo album he did late 70s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 19 hours ago, 12stringbassist said: I think he is an incredible musician, but Pete Townshend is a guitarist who occasionally picks up a bass. There's a vast difference between that and a bassist. That’s ultimately the reality, John’s playing brought these tracks to life, especially The Real Me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman666 Posted July 5, 2023 Author Share Posted July 5, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, Beedster said: That’s ultimately the reality, John’s playing brought these tracks to life, especially The Real Me i am a great who fan but somehow i feel a bit let down over this... the thing is i absolutely love johns playing on the real me, it's probably my favourite bass part of all time however a lot of it is tied up in the phrasing and note choice which i always assumed came from john ...now i realise that this was really pete ...the same with the drumming, the aspects of keith's drumming that i thought brought something to the table is pete again ...somehow i am a little disappointed to find that the who is in fact mostly pete and the other three are in many ways just hired hands to get the job done. It's ironic when one of the threads of thought behind quadrophenia was that the who was comprised of four people hence the "quad" part ....am i now to assume that the four personalities of the who just like the protagonist in the film really inside his head? ... Edited July 6, 2023 by Musicman666 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 Fantastic to hear these - if I was asked on pain of death to name my favourite album of all time, it'd be Quadrophenia. The Who was the first band I really got into, long before I ever picked up a bass, and I've always considered Townshend to be a visionary, genius-level musician. I was aware he had his own studio & demoed songs before presenting them to the band but this is the first time I've heard any, and I'm quite amazed by the detail, refinement and completeness of these versions of songs I've known & loved for decades. Plus what a tight, precise drummer he is! Thinking about it, these are demos for songs to be recorded/interpreted by The Who - it's perfectly reasonable to assume that Pete would have played the bass & drum parts as he imagined his bandmates - who he'd worked with for over 10 years by this point - would play them. Less dictating what they should play, and rather second-guessing what they would play. Working with them the way he did would've had a huge influence on his approach to bass & drums anyway, I'd expect. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted July 6, 2023 Share Posted July 6, 2023 7 hours ago, Musicman666 said: i am a great who fan but somehow i feel a bit let down over this... the thing is i absolutely love johns playing on the real me, it's probably my favourite bass part of all time however a lot of it is tied up in the phrasing and note choice which i always assumed came from john ...now i realise that this was really pete ...the same with the drumming, the aspects of keith's drumming that i thought brought something to the table is pete again ...somehow i am a little disappointed to find that the who is in fact mostly pete and the other three are in many ways just hired hands to get the job done. It's ironic when one of the threads of thought behind quadrophenia was that the who was comprised of four people hence the "quad" part ....am i now to assume that the four personalities of the who just like the protagonist in the film really inside his head? ... it’s not unusual, I suspect a lot of bands are, in the studio at least, to all intents a solo artist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted July 6, 2023 Share Posted July 6, 2023 7 hours ago, Bassassin said: Thinking about it, these are demos for songs to be recorded/interpreted by The Who - it's perfectly reasonable to assume that Pete would have played the bass & drum parts as he imagined his bandmates - who he'd worked with for over 10 years by this point - would play them. Less dictating what they should play, and rather second-guessing what they would play. Working with them the way he did would've had a huge influence on his approach to bass & drums anyway, I'd expect. Lovely line of reasoning 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 Watching the Who's Next documentary, love the moment when Glyn Johns says of Pete's demos "How the hell am I going to compete with that'?. What's clear from watching it is that Townsend wasn't just an incredible musician but an equally incredible innovator, his use of synths probably wasn't bettered until Kraftwerk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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