First to materialize on the editor's desk was a photo of The Paleorider mowing the lawn of his neighboring ranch circa 1974:
What the reader should observe here is not the sterling work ethic of a 3-year old nor the Herb Tarlek-inspired vetements (hey, we were all guilty) but rather the stark contrast differentiating between the bucolic vistas which brought the first mid-century settlers to this part of the Township from the blight which later residential development brought to Curve Road now familiar to anyone who's visited The Ranch in the past 30 years [fx: cue The Pretenders]. A oh, way to go Ohio indeed. In addition to regular exploratory adventures in those fields and woodlands, Lou and I used to launch model rockets that rained down all over the sparsely-populated neighborhood. Kids today don't know how awful they have it. Would that we could return to those sunny days of our Nixonian Administration youth.
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This month's issue of Car and Driver magazine (on newsstands now) makes further reference to everyone's favorite Canadian Power Trio.
That's two Rush references in two months. C/D is rapidly re-branding itself as Car and Rush Fan. Added editorial bonus; this C/D excerpt ties into the The Pretenders' "My City Was Gone" by way of Rush Limbaugh. Whoever said Heavy Artillery can't also be sneaky?
On the subject of cars and rock music, another late-late night on patrol this month in the Jeep Main Battle Tank was Clash-intensive:
Nothing like a London Calling/Communista! two-fer to keep the adrenaline flowing at midnight.
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This week's second Paleorider submission arrived in the form of a brief PBS video clip which, perhaps none too coincidentally, also featured sights and sounds from the Age of Nixon. The declaratory purpose of the video clip is to inform viewers of the revolutionary work of Pete Townshend and by further inference of the superior degree of quality found in his recorded demonstration tracks (or "demos").
A handful of official compilations of Townshend's demos have been released, notably the Scoop series of double-albums. Scoop, released in 1983 right around the time of the demise of The Who, then Another Scoop (1987) and Scoop 3 arrived in record stores in 1994. More of Pete's demos could be found on an assortment of releases in the year 2000 which related to his sprawling Lifehouse Chronicles project. While unofficial/bootleg compilations of his demos are too numerous and too illegal to identify here you should operate with the understanding that I have them all. For purposes of research only, of course.
Recently you enjoyed a selection of my favorite Scoop 3 demos. Herewith, a more comprehensive listing of my favorite Pete Townshend demos from the first two installments of Scoop. The Scoop albums have detailed liner notes informing the listener as to dates of recording, venue, instruments used and backstories about the individual tracks. Time constraints prevent me from consulting those for use here. As such, a fact-check may reveal errors in my brief annotations below. My added comments are just meant to serve no more than thumbnail sketches. At any rate, you'll find a musical style for just about everyone.
So Sad About Us/Brr
"So Sad About Us" was recorded by The Who and appeared on their 1966 album A Quick One. "Brr" - completely unrelated to "So Sad About Us" - was a jazzy experimental track recorded in 1972 intended for use on the 1973 Who album Quadrophenia but was ultimately unused.
Politician
"Politician" takes a sympathetic look at political leaders, perhaps just as controversially in the mid-1960s when he recorded it as it would be today. Dig the vibrant Motown groove, true to the early Who ethos of Maximum R&B.
Dirty Water
"Dirty Water" is a country-tinged exposition of, well.... dirty water. Gotta be a witty metaphor for something I'm too dense to figure out.
Unused Piano: Quadrophenia
Like "Brr," recorded with the intention of using for Quadrophenia in 1973. Elements of this theme were eventually incorporated into the album.
Things Have Changed
Mid-1960s pop/country-tinged demo not recorded by The Who.
Popular
Recorded for the Who's 1981 Face Dances album. The band liked the New Wave-inspired sound but didn't like the lyrics. It was re-written and renamed as the title song for The Who's 1982 album It's Hard.
Cookin'
There may be are more country influenced songs among Pete's demos than you might think. Are the lyrics here a metaphor? Are they not? It's funny, for sure.
You're So Clever
Early 1980's New Wave electronica.
Body Language
See above. Sounds much like some of the material that appeared on Townshend's 1982 solo album All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes.
Initial Machine Experiments
Early 1980s, just what the title implies. Toying around in the home studio with a new synth.
To Barney Kessel
A guitar solo tribute to a noted jazz guitarist. You'll find a lot of jazz-inspired demos in Townshend's catalog and I quite like them all.
You Came Back
More jazz, this about re-incarnation. The album's liner notes reveal that Pete couldn't work out a solo for the break so he left it with just the backing track. I think it's understated and that works well, and yes I'm very biased.
Girl In A Suitcase
A mid-1970s song about the hardships of life on the road for a popular touring musician and the photos of family carried along.
Brooklyn Kids
Symphonic Townshend from the mid-late 1970s.
Football Fugue
More symphonic Townshend from the same era as above, this with a more comical lyric which mashes up an orchestra and a soccer (football) game.
Substitute
Circa 1966 demo for The Who classic single of the same name/year.
Holly Like Ivy
Recorded one night in a Dallas hotel room on tour with The Who in 1982 about a girl Pete had just met at an after show party.
Vicious Interlude
1970s home recording interrupted by a bit of fatherly scolding. Hilarious and hilarious reaction by his daughter.
Cat Snatch
In 1983 Townshend began putting together demos for a proposed Who concept album to be titled Siege. It would have marked a significant aural change in the sound and direction of The Who, which one might assume the rest of the band would have resisted. It was futuristic and experimental and I think it would have been revolutionary. Or maybe it was just funkadelic Who? It matters not because shortly after initiating home demos for Siege Pete Townshend pulled the plug on The Who.
Prelude #556
An unused electro-symphonic intro from the early 1980s.
Praying The Game
An exploration of spirituality combining acoustic guitar with an orchestra. Mid-late 1970s.
Don't Let Go the Coat
Demo for a Who song of the same name on the 1981 album Face Dances. Many of the demos for this album have a more nimble, New Wave influenced sound than The Who as a band were able (or willing) to capture.
Never Ask Me
Recorded for The Who album Who Are You (1978). Rejected by the band. Townshend also submitted it to Quincy Jones for Frank Sinatra to record. They rejected it also. I think it may be his best-ever demo for an unrecorded song.
Ask Yourself
Another of the Siege demos from 1983. Hard to see how The Who would have been receptive to it's style. Had they gone forward, this project might have given the band a much-needed revitalization.
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When The Who convened to begin recording for what initially was to be the Lifehouse concept double-album, the demos they were presented with by Pete Townshend didn't incorporate synthesizers. Piano and organ, yes, but Townshend hadn't yet discovered synths. The Lifehouse concept proved to be too complex thematically to pull off. It was a difficult idea to convey and probably wasn't a fully-realized concept in the mind of Townshend to begin with. The recording process was fraught with technical problems. The band went from recording studios in England to New York City and back to England. 1970 bled into 1971. Along the way Townshend began using synthesizers and their producer (seen in the PBS clip, above) finally convinced the band - and Pete - to drop the concept, drop the idea of a double-album, just record the strongest material and arrange the album's playing order without any pretense of an overarching theme or narrative. Who's Next, one of the all-time greatest albums, is what resulted.
Roll the credits!
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