My Regeneration
As a lifelong lover of the Who, it was a blessing to finally get a legitimate release of 'Live at the Fillmore East 1968'. The bootleg had been around forever, and I had a copy since at least the early 1980s, incomplete, with a few infuriating fade outs and tinny sound, but of such historical importance that it was a vital part of any complete Who collection. In the 1960s, live rock albums were few and far between, of such bad audio quality ('Got Live if you Want It', 'Kinks Live at Kelvin Hall') as to be useless. It wasn't until 1970 that live releases, from 'Get Your YaYa's Out' to 'Woodstock' and 'Steppenwolf Live" came out, that engineers figured out how to deal with loud volume. And a prime example and perhaps my favorite live album of all time, 'Live at Leeds'.
Live albums before this were merely souvenirs of the concert experience. Bands played short sets, with the Beatles notoriously playing only for between 20 and 25 minutes a night. The audiences were considered naïve, not caring about quality. After Monterey, with the national dissemination of the hipper California groups (Jefferson Airplane, the Doors) as well as the second great British invasion (Cream, Jimi Hendrix Experience), venues developed that demanded longer sets. Audiences tended to sit and watch their heroes perform legendary feats of virtuosity night after night.
The Who were a little different. Their albums came out few and far between, and they released singles about as often as other groups released albums. The interpersonal infighting was legendary, as was the trashing of guitars and drum sets whenever they played live. They were very British, with only the Kinks being perhaps less American in their style. And the Who created music like no one else, not quite hip but not old school either, a category of its own.
Everything about that group was lop-sided, off center. They made a huge noise, and they kept it at noise level back in 1968, not trying to turn it into music the way Jimi Hendrix or Jeff Beck did. The Who loved gimmicks; nearly every single and their last album, 'The Who Sell Out', all depended on some kind of hook to get the audience. Pete Townshend was articulate enough to bullshit his way through any interview, and indeed he did a very long major piece for the Rolling Stone right around the time of this concert. announcing to the world his intention of writing his 'Rock Opera'.
The official release of this concert is a major event, capturing this group right before they changed gears and became one of the biggest bands in the world. Make no mistake, the Who were struggling in April 1968. The debt was staggering, and although they had become a major live attraction in America, their music wasn't selling that well. There was chronic dissention in the ranks; both Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck at various times tried to poach members of the band right before this recording. And, truth be told, while this is a great gig to have as a historical document, it isn't a great concert through and through.
The Who had a brilliant string of early singles to use as the backbone of their set list, and they play these very well, almost on auto pilot, as they would for years. Noticeably lacking are any of their last five singles, including such masterpieces as 'I Can See For Miles' or later live favorite 'Magic Bus'. Stuff like 'Run Run Run' and 'Call Me Lightning' placed the group closer to the Monkeys than Hendrix. Even 'Pictures of Lilly', which was played at Monterey the previous summer, was missing.
Instead we get five cover songs, mostly old rock classics, including three excellent rockers from Eddie Cochran, along with 'Fortune Teller', which doesn't quite work, and an early version of 'Shaking All Over', which does and would be reprised to even better effect on 'Live at Leeds'. The obligatory 'A Quick One' is there, played in an expansive manner, showing the way forward to what they would be doing for the next four years, as well as 'Little Billy', a song that wouldn't get released for six years, Along with two songs from their last album and 'Boris the Spider', it is a slightly odd and self-defeating set list.
The gig almost didn't happen, as Martin Luther King had just been assassinated the day previously. Billy Graham, the promoter, was fearful of rioting in the streets and considered closing for the night. Keith Moon also ran amuck, nearly getting arrested by the police for throwing cherry bombs from the ledge outside his hotel room, then getting the group thrown out of three hotels that same day. The Who showed up at the Fillmore in a rare mood. Naturally, the recording equipment didn't function properly.
That anything survives is a miracle. As it is, the first two songs from the set are missing, the whole thing sounds a little bass heavy, and portions of Moon's drumming, especially the cymbals, are barely there. While the official promotion touts the thirty plus minute of 'My Generation' that takes up the entire second disc, frankly it is a plodding mess that goes nowhere very slowly. This is not yet a band that is ready to be superstars. Strangely, within a year they would be.
Not that this is a bad release; there are many high points, and the recording is good enough to put the band over in great shape. Entwhistle's bass is particularly loud and effective; he has a pick scraping technique that is totally unique, filling in for the drums when necessary. And the vocals are top notch, Daltrey sounding powerful and Entwhistle's underestimated harmonies blending with him to great effect, as they would until the bass player became too deaf to sing harmony any more. 'Tattoo' and particularly 'Relax' from the 'Sell Out' album are great, as is 'Boris the Spider'.
"Relax', at over eleven minutes long, works as a jam exactly like the thirty minute long version of 'My Generation' does not. It has something to say, gets there, wanders around, and says it again before leaving, while the longer song just plods along aimlessly. The Who are trying to compete with Hendrix and Cream, and they can't on this turf. With the creation of 'Tommy' the very next year, they replaced the vast majority of this set list with a continuous piece of music that was perfect for showcasing the talents of the individual band members.
When 'Live At Leeds' came out to great acclaim in 1970, the main complaint from critics was the fourteen minute long version of 'My Generation' at the end. Keeping in mind that the forty minute disc was extracted from an over two-hour -long concert, and that the night before at Hull the recording equipment had misfunctioned (again), and that the 'Tommy' performance was removed in entirety, that version of the song acted as the opposite of an overture, a summation of the most glorious moments in the 'Rock Opera' quickly reprised. It worked very well, and shows that the Who realized that their long ramble through the 1968 version of 'My Generation' didn't work. I'm sure that they listened to these tapes and made adjustments soon after.
This is in no way meant to give any disrespect to the members of the Who. Never has a band had such a symbiotic relationship among individuals. The drums or bass can be the lead instrument at any moment. Townshend is not a selfish guitarist, demanding all the songs that he wrote be showcases for his talents. Many songs during the classic Who period become duets between the guitar and the drums, with Entwhistle's bass the moderating influence. While the real virtuoso in the band, Entwhistle would often do single note runs that replaced the bass drum part, allowing Keith Moon the freedom to do his signature vast crescendos.
The real classic Who period was 'Who's Next', when Townshend figured out how to add a layer of keyboards to their sound. That seemingly simple trick was perfect as the Who began to invent stadium rock, one foot in the progressive rock camp. As the audience grew, the music grew to fill the space as well. Pete learned how to write anthemic material on a universal scale. It doesn't really matter if you know what 'Baba O'Reilly' is about; you're going to sing along to it anyway.
Later, the Who's glory would slowly diminish as Keith Moon's hilarious self-destructive behavior took it's toll. By the end, all too obvious at the 'Kilburn 1977' footage, he was struggling to keep up, not driving the engine. There was talk of replacing him, but Pete Townshend was reluctant to tour, appalled at the effect it had on his own physical and mental welfare. After Moon's death, the band continued on, more to fulfill contracts or to get Entwhistle out of debt. I saw them last in 2012, with Zak Starkey doing an excellent job drumming, and they could still get an audience to their feet effortlessly.
Keep in mind that the Who worked like dogs. They are the one band that played virtually every one of the great festivals, from Monterey and Woodstock through 'The Concert for New York City' and 'Live 8'. They even did a charity concert for Bangladesh in 1972, raised more money than George Harrison, got it to the needy in six weeks as opposed to the three year lawsuit between Harrison and Allen Klein, and never asked for credit. They may have been huge egos, but they weren't egomaniacs.
Next year will be the fiftieth anniversary of 'Tommy'. I hope they find a way to release the November 1969 Amsterdam live radio performance, another long circulating bootleg and the most complete and incendiary performance from the era. It's much better than the live disc included in the 'Tommy' boxset from a few years ago. Less than sixteen months after 'Live at the Fillmore East 1968', it is a different beast altogether. They aren't competing with Cream anymore. Now they perform at Zed Zeppelin levels of volume and power, and they dominate.
In their prime, which isn't quite yet on 'Live at the Fillmore East 1968', the Who became a major band on the level of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles due to the huge chances they took, both in performance and in conceptual art. Yet they were a different animal, both more sophisticated and yet simultaneously much rawer. They were a gang as opposed to a group, united in their effort to conquer the world. Once that had been accomplished, they drifted apart. But the debris that they left is beautiful, indeed.
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