PETE TOWNSHEND
''LIVE THE FILMORE 1996,
OCTOBER 30 2000
112:14
DISC ONE
1 - Let My Love Open the Door/3:30
2 - English Boy/6:57
3 - Drowned/6:17
4 - The Shout/6:53
5 - I Put a Spell on You/Screamin' Jay Hawkins/3:52
6 - Cut My Hair/4:26
7 - Sheraton Gibson/3:08
8 - I'm One/5:07
9 - Heart to Hang Onto/5:09
10 - O'Parvardigar/7:13
11 - A Legal Matter/3:09
DISC TWO
1 - A Friend Is a Friend/7:50
2 - I Am an Animal/6:43
3 - All Shall Be Well/5:44
4 - Slit Skirts/5:25
5 - Eyesight to the Blind/Sonny Boy Wlliamson II/2:12
6 - Drifting Blues/Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, Charles Brown, Eddie Williams/2:56
7 - Now and Then/4:46
8 - Rough Boys/6:33
9 - I'm a Boy/5:06
10 - Magic Bus/8:26
Tracks By Townshend, Except As Indicated
REVIEW
by Dave Thompson
Recorded live at the Fillmore on April 30, 1996, this excellent disc captures Townshend stripping his career back to just guitar and keyboards (contributed by the great Jon Carin), and then running through 21 songs that could almost be a live recounting of the Scoop series. It's a staggeringly intimate performance, with Townshend exuding a warmth that rarely comes across on disc, but which here could heat your house all winter. The set is, as usual with Townshend's live outings, remarkable for its variety: anybody who has been patiently collecting his self-released live CDs will know by now that there's really no such thing as a surprise any longer, just songs that you never expected to hear him perform. "A Legal Matter," "Rough Boys," and a tremendous"I Put a Spell on You" are the strongest contenders for that honor on this night, although the roar that greets "I'm a Boy" proves that Townshend isn't the only person who reckons history often overlooks that song -- remember, without the proto-opera that he intended building around this tragic tale of juvenile cross-dressing in 1965, he might never have had the courage to create Tommy; speaking of which, how nice it is to go through an entire concert without the deaf, dumb and blind boy staggering into view and bumping into tables. Not until the last leg of the set does he even get considered, when Townshend unleashes a sharp "Eyesight to the Blind," and that's it for Tommy. "Won't Get Fooled Again," too, is conspicuous by its absence, but an energetic "Magic Bus" more than makes up for that.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
Pete Townshend was the guitarist and primary songwriter for the Who from 1964 to 1982, also participating in the group's occasional reunions after its formal breakup. Best-known for his conceptual works, he wrote Tommy and Quadrophenia for the band, as well as the bulk of its other material. He made his first, tentative solo album, Who Came First, in 1972. Dedicated to his guru, Meher Baba, it continued themes pursued in Who's Next and like that album, contained material originally intended for an abortive conceptual work, Lifehouse, and it sold modestly. In 1976, he made a duo album, Rough Mix, with Ronnie Lane, formerly the bassist in the Small Faces.
Townshend's first full-fledged solo effort was Empty Glass (1980), which sold a million copies, reached the Top Five, and featured the Top Ten hit "Let My Love Open the Door," as well as the minor hits "A Little Is Enough" and "Rough Boys." He followed it in 1982 with All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, which was less successful. Nevertheless, he felt he could no longer write for the Who, and at the end of the year, the group disbanded following a North American tour. Townshend released Scoop, a two-disc compilation of demos, in 1983 (a second volume appeared in 1987).
In 1985, he returned to thematic efforts with the album White City - A Novel, which included the Top 30 single "Face the Face." The same year, he published a book of short stories, Horse's Neck. As part of the White City project, he appeared in an accompanying film, for which he organized a band called Pete Townshend's Deep End. The unit played only a few gigs, but one was videotaped and recorded, resulting in the 1986 album Pete Townshend's Deep End Live! In 1989, he released an album based on poet Ted Hughes' children's story, The Iron Man. The record featured guest vocals by John Lee Hooker and Nina Simone, as well as two tracks featuring the three surviving members of the Who. Simultaneous with the album's release, Townshend embarked on a reunion tour with the Who, an event that overshadowed The Iron Man, which enjoyed only modest sales.
In 1993, Townshend delivered Psychoderelict, another conceptual work, to mixed reviews and poor sales. By that time, however, he had successfully reinvented himself as a Broadway tunesmith -- the theatrical production entitled The Who's Tommy had become a runaway hit, earning him a Tony Award and prompting him to pursue more stage musicals. None of these came to fruition during the rest of the 1990s, though, and by the end of the decade, he was releasing live and archival recordings (notably the long-delayed Lifehouse) through his website and planning another reunion with the Who.
http://fp.io/6e7829a5/
