Saturday, May 19, 2018

Lifehouse Keeper

Welcome to Saturday and the first of two tight weekend posts. This one's a birthday homage to an icon.
I've covered two of his Who bandmates before, but never he. That seems ridiculous -- as he is the mastermind of that group -- and it changes today.
There isn't much to say about today's honoree; everybody knows who he is and there's nothing I am gonna come up with to embellish the legend.
The Who will celebrate their 55th anniversary next year. Only the Rolling Stones have had a comparable shelf life, and Keith Richards embalmed himself years ago and may live to be 1,000.
Certainly one of the central figures to help shepherd Rock music from its primitive infancy to adulthood, today's celebrant is the acknowledged father of the Rock Opera and is responsible for some of the enduring and successful concept LPs.
Kind of the ultimate survivor, there are few figures more mentionable in the pantheon of Rock-n-Roll than Peter Townshend, who turns 73 today.
I was intent on not sharing a Who thing for his big day, choosing instead to focus on PT's tremendously prolific solo career via a sweet MKV file made from the still-unreissued laserdisc of his 1985 Deep End concert in Brixton.
This was issued in 2004 on an audio CD, but the video has never seen a DVD issue and is out of print since way back in 1986.
Pete Townshend's Deep End
Brixton Academy
London, UK
11.1+2.1985

01 Won't Get Fooled Again
02 A Little Is Enough
03 Secondhand Love
04 Behind Blue Eyes
05 Barefootin'
06 After the Fire
07 Love On the Air
08 I Put a Spell On You
09 I'm the One
10 Magic Bus
11 Save It for Later
12 Eyesight to the Blind
13 Walking
14 Stop Hurting People
15 The Sea Refuses No River
16 Face the Face
17 Pinball Wizard
18 Give Blood

Total time: 1:27:17

Pete Townshend - guitar & vocals
David Gilmour - guitar & vocals
Chucho Merchan - bass
Simon Phillips - drums
Peter Hope Evans - harmonica
John "Rabbit" Bundrick - keyboards & vocals
Jody Linsco -percussion
Billy Nichols, Chris Staines, Coral Gordon, Gina Foster, Ian Ellis - vocals
The Kick Horns:
Simon C. Clarke & Tim Sanders - saxophones
Roddy Lorimer & Dave Plews - trumpets
Pete Beachill - trombone

mkv file of the original 1986 Laserdisc, never issued on DVD
Look out for Floydian stalwart David Gilmour on stingingly lyrical lead guitar here, plus a full horn section.
I'll be back in a few days with even more weird for your window, but for now we need to celebrate Pete Townshend, born this day in 1945 and still turning the windmills of the mind of the world.--J.