Sometimes you need a little perspective to really know how influential something or someone was on your life. It’s only in hindsight that I’ve come to appreciate how big a role the music of The Who played in my coming-of-age years. Roger Daltry’s emotive vocals coupled with Pete Townshend’s screaming guitar provided a soundtrack to a significant swatch of my life.
Townshend is the most accessible guy in the legendary rock band but he’s also the most mysterious member. Ever since the beginning, he has developed friendships with fans and would actually call or write to a concert-goer who criticized or complimented the band. But his personality is enigmatic. Stories have leaked out over the years that question his sexuality and he was even accused of possessing child pornography.
Townshend addresses it all in Who I Am, his non-ghost-written autobiography, more than 15 years in the making. In it, he comes off as a pretty regular guy who’s just muddling his way through being a rock star. He married young and became a rock icon, enduring significant turmoil as he tried to be a good, faithful husband while simultaneously lured by the trappings of the rock-and-roll life on the road. He failed at it, of course, and succumbed to various addictions and affairs. He’s a guy who tried to do well but let himself down sometimes. His relationship with Daltry surprised me. I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t the come-here, go-away, tug-of-war he says it is to this day.
His childhood had a truly hellish component to it and it haunts him to this day.
If you have an interest in the birth of some of rock’s iconic songs, like Baba O’Reilly, Won’t Get Fooled Again, among others, Pete digs deep and writes eloquently about the creative process. I believe every life offers stories worth telling and Pete Townshend’s life gives us more than the usual amount.