John Entwistle's genius re the Bass, not actually how he started it out to be...

[Westerly Wood]

From Pete's perspective, really cool story re John and how he picked up the bass:

 

[Westerly Wood]

Super interesting interview for me, as growing up a Who fan, I always credited everything to Pete. Well, he came with the songs already done, for the most part. He definitely was the writer and organizer. But he really seems to say much of the Who's live sound was due to John and what he was doing on the bass.

 

[chazmo]

I love that Pete mentions a digeridoo when referring to Entwistle's playing. I never thought of that, but I get it! Wild.

 

[HeyMikey]

Powerful interview. Undeniable respect for John’s genius on bass. He was certainly as amazing to watch as he was to listen to. A huge part of the Who’s sound and energy.

 

[DrumBob]

Pete is always a great interview subject. I did my interview with him via email. We never had a chance to actually speak, but he responded to everything I asked him, and eloquently.

 

[Canard]

I remember hearing Boris the Spider for the first time as kid and thinking this is wild and different. The whole song is being driven by the bass guitar and the harmonics from the bass are kind of taking over the role of a guitar. I also remember a later interview with Townshend where he talked about meeting Hendrix for the first time. Hendrix dug The Who greatly and expressed his admiration to Pete. Pete made the mistake of asking Jimi what his favourite Who song was. Pete's feelings were hurt a little when Hendrix replied, "Boris the Spider," a Entwhistle tune. In light of the discussion in the interview above of both Entwistle's and Hendrix's technique and their extension of the function of their instruments, I can see why Jimi would have loved Boris.




Randy Bachman had a show on CBC radio called Vinyl Tap. He played tunes, talked, and sometimes played guitar to illustrate a point. On one show, he talked about Pete Townshend being forced by necessity into becoming one one of the world's greatest rhythm guitarists. Bachman said that Townshend can play lead guitar very, very well, but in The Who, with its lead bass player, Entwistle, and its lead drummer, Keith Moon, there was no space left for lead guitar. If you go back and listen to Who records, this will make sense. Everywhere, where with a normal bad, you would hear lead guitar fills, you will hear lead drums and/or lead bass fills.