Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
For some reason, I've never been a fan of The Who. I certainly recognize them as one of the all time great rock bands, but with only a few exceptions I've never really liked listening to their music. But for some reason, I've always liked the solo material that Pete Townsend has put out. I think he's put out some great stuff over the years. I'll post a few of his great solo clips below the fold, including a couple you've probably never seen or heard.
Here's a great live clip of Face the Face.
Here's a live performance of Slit Skirts:
Another live clip of Rough Boys:
Here's one of my absolute favorites. The studio version featured Dave Gilmour on guitar. It's called Give Blood:
And last but certainly not least is the classic Let My Love Open the Door:
Comments
FWIW, The Who's Tommy was pretty good. Otherwise, their material was pretty lame.
Posted by: raj | July 14, 2007 10:57 AM
Ya gotta be kidding me, Raj.
Baba O'Reiley
We Don't get fooled again,
Behind Blue Eyes
Goin Mobile
Give me a break on the spelling, too lazy to run down the albums, but seriously good music.
Posted by: SharonB | July 14, 2007 11:25 AM
Nearly every party we had in college we played "Face to Face." People would always ask "who's that?". After a year or two it became a highlight of our parties.
Posted by: Jim | July 14, 2007 11:29 AM
I'm the opposite, I thought Tommy sucked royally; still do. Baba O'Riley is a great song and I like Eminence Front and Tricky Day as well; other than that, the Who have always kind of left me flat. But as I said, I've loved Townsend's solo stuff. I feel the same way about the Eagles, but much stronger - can't stand almost anything they put out as a band, but like most of the solo stuff from Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Don Henley (but not Timothy B. Schmidt; the fact that he wrote and sang Love Will Keep Us Alive will forever put him in the Celine Dion circle of hell). I don't feel that strongly about The Who, but I definitely prefer Townsend's solo stuff to the band's work (with the exception of Baba O'Riley, which is a truly great song).
Posted by: Ed Brayton | July 14, 2007 1:06 PM
Geez, those are my thoughts exactly regarding all of the performers you mentioned. It is odd how much alike we are (except for the fact I couldn't tell a joke to save my life).
Posted by: David C. Brayton | July 14, 2007 3:22 PM
I always felt a little embarrassed that I didn't give The Who enough time on my stereo.
However, they do have some "must have" albums:
Live at Leeds. This is the earliest quality example I have in my music collection of a band playing what we would now call hard rock. The level of energy is amazing. To truly appreciate the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album, you need to understand what was being listened to at the time to perceive how groundbreaking that album was. I would argue that Live at Leeds broke even more relevant ground by popularizing the notion of harder, faster, louder, plus the fact you can still appreciate the album without the need to frame it within the times. Raw energy never goes out of style.
Who's Next - great album art. At least five great songs - Baba O'Riley, Bargain, The Song is Over, Going Mobile, Behind Blue Eyes, and Won't Get Fooled Again are all on this album. Many Who fans believe this was the pinnacle for the band.
It's Hard - Including Athena, It's Hard, and my favorite, Eminence Front.
And then the song, My Generation, which some believe is the first punk song ever. Townsend wrote this song to stick it in the eye of the Queen herself who got his hearse towed off a street she frequently traveled down. Here is a YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdRs1gKpeGg. I consider this song the equal of the Stones' "Can't Get No (Satisfaction)". Check out the Zimmer's version of this song, a bunch of octogenarians sticking it in the eye of the Man, any video site has this video, here is one link: http://www.ifilm.com/video/2845230.
Posted by: Michael Heath | July 14, 2007 3:37 PM
David C. Brayton -
I'm with you there. While my music tastes are rather similar to Ed's, along with many of my opinions, few would accuse me if having a sense of humor. I can't even claim to be better looking any more:)
Posted by: DuWayne | July 14, 2007 4:05 PM
The CSI shows ruined The Who for me.
Posted by: jk | July 14, 2007 4:06 PM
Mr. Brayton, you, again, made me spend another wonderful 1/2 hour listening to an artist, who I forgot was as good as he is!
Thank you! You rock!
(I do have to take note - this is the 2nd or 3rd 'Musical Montage' you've done with a 'south-paw' drummer. I think you have a weakness for that!!)
Posted by: CheezeBoy | July 14, 2007 6:24 PM
Hmmmm. Trying to figure out who the other two are. Carter Beauford is actually right handed, he just leads with his left hand on the high hat. Who was the other you're referring to?
Posted by: Ed Brayton | July 14, 2007 6:36 PM
Ringo's a leftie ... ever done a montage of his stuff? :)
Posted by: Andrea | July 14, 2007 8:27 PM
Can I be pedantic for a moment and mention that it's 'Townshend' and not 'Townsend'?
I'm just sayin'...
Posted by: Noodle | July 14, 2007 8:45 PM
Mr Beauford for sure....I think Copelands' traditional grip threw my memory off! Either that, or it was something from norbizness.com that I am remembering.
Regardless, your selections always make my day. :-)
Posted by: CheezeBoy | July 14, 2007 9:36 PM
To any hard core Who fan Tommy is rarely mentioned, nobody here seems to have listened to their first rock opera, Quadrophenia. The Real Me, Dr. Jimmy, The Punk and the Godfather, rock written to rattle your doors loose. Set in the head of a 60s Mod on the verge of a crack up. " I don't have Schizophrenia, I've got freakin' Quadrophenia. The album sized booklet that came with the original explained the concept.
Posted by: The Pale Scott | July 14, 2007 11:00 PM
I'll second The Pale Scott... Quadrophenia is an awesome album. Without a doubt their most powerful work, but for some reason doesn't get much exposure.
Just want to make this point. The Who are a LIVE band. If you haven't seen them play live then you won't really understand them.
Posted by: Tommymato | July 15, 2007 5:26 AM
Wow, Slit Skirts really ages very well. I'm restricting myself to one video because I have too much to do today, but thanks, Ed, for these videos. Reminds me that I loved All the Best Cowboys have Chinese Eyes when it came out.
Slit Skirts really has marvelous lyrics. And I'm impressed by Townshend's ability to hit pitches exactly, esp. given that it's a live performance, and he's, um, at least half-deaf at the time.
OK, time for one more video. :)
Posted by: RickD | July 15, 2007 5:46 AM
Wow - I didn't think I was that old, but I find Pete's solo work, as well as post-Keith Moon Who stuff - rather poppy and bubble-gum.
Quadrophenia, as others have alluded to, is I think one of their best albums.
Posted by: slpage | July 15, 2007 9:34 AM
The Who are a LIVE band.
Which is probably why I liked Tommy. I actually saw them perform it live in Columbus OH when I was at Ohio State in the late 1960s or early 1970s.
No, they didn't end the show by bashing any instruments.
Posted by: raj | July 15, 2007 9:54 AM
His best is The Sea Refuses No River, from Face Dances. Live (in the Deep End video, 1986) it was just incredible.
Posted by: Joe Shelby | July 16, 2007 1:00 PM
Correction: it's from Chinese Eyes. Slit Skirts gets a lot of airplay on XM's Fine Tuning (channel 76), these days, and that really rekindled my love of the album.
The rhythm section (Mark and Tony) went on to be the backbone of Big Country. The other drummer from Pete's sessions, Simon Phillips, would go on to do stuff with Mike Oldfield, then the Who '89 reunion tour, before joining the current lineup of Toto.
Posted by: Joe Shelby | July 16, 2007 1:08 PM