Review: Pete Townshend New Box Set: ‘Live In Concert 1985 – 2001’ – The Gamut Of Live, Solo Pete

“I can’t pretend that growing older never hurts…” – Pete Townshend, “Slit Skirts”

A few weeks back Pete Townshend – lead guitarist/vocalist/songwriter for the Who – released a massive 14 CD box set of live material that spans his solo performances over a 16 year span. I’ve been a big fan of Pete Townshend since junior high school when I bought Empty Glass on cassette no less, so who better than me your intrepid blogger to spend the last couple of weeks immersed in this music? It turns out these 14 CDs actually cover 7 concerts – 2 discs per show – and all of these shows were released in the early 2000s on Pete’s personal website but have all gone out of print and were unavailable. He packaged them all in one big tidy box and released them to sate desire for folks who wanted to pick up these live shows all in one fell swoop. I’ll admit, when I saw 14 discs of solo Pete, I sort of rolled my eyes. I fully expected to not love this stuff… and as usual my preconceived notions – like many people’s preconceived notions – were wrong.

Pete’s approach to his solo career is a lot different than most guys who choose to go solo. I’ve covered the topic of guys from popular bands who go solo before. Pete released his first, very low key, solo album in a very low key way. Who Came First was a tribute to Pete’s guru Meher Baba. I do love the song “Sheraton Gibson,” but when I started buying music in the late 70s, I didn’t even know Who Came First existed. His second foray into a solo project was a joint album with the Faces great bass player/singer Ronnie Lane, Rough Mix. It really is an understated gem but short of seeing it in the used record store, I was completely unfamiliar with that album as well.

To me, Townshend’s first solo album was the aforementioned Empty Glass. I loved that record. “Rough Boys” written in response to punk rock is such a great riff. The monster track “Gonna Get Ya” was epic. That album was so good, the then drummer for the Who (former Faces member) Kenny Jones accused Townshend of hording his best material for solo albums. That was something Kenny had previously accused Rod Stewart of doing in the Faces so he was familiar with that. The follow up was the wordy All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes – only Fiona Apple could come up with a longer title – and I loved the songs “Slit Skirts” and “Somebody Saved Me.” The lyric from the latter song, “Somebody saved me from a fate worse than Heaven, ‘Cause if I’d had her for just an hour I’d have wanted her forever…” still resonates with me.

For me, the last real solo album or at least the last solo Pete album that meant anything to me was White City. The songs “Give Blood” and “Second Hand Love” (which even the Rock Chick loves and she’s not a big solo Pete or blues fan) remain in high rotation here at the B&V labs. I did briefly own The Iron Man a rock opera based on a children’s book because I’d heard John Lee Hooker was on it. I sold it rather quickly. I didn’t even bother to investigate Psychoderelict although I recall seeing a performance of it on PBS that was excruciating. Hard to believe Townshend pulled the curtain on his solo career, in terms of releasing full albums of new material, in 1993.

As I said, Pete had a different approach to his solo career. Most guys do a band album and then tour. They then head back in the studio record their solo album and yes, tour. Rinse, repeat. I read something recently where Pete said of his solo career, he already had a job recording and touring with the Who and he didn’t want to have a second career doing the same thing. He said, “I tried that and it didn’t go well,” which I’d disagree with. That said, Pete never did massive solo tours. He played a show here and there, some for charity, and recorded them. He eventually released them all on his website but let them go out of print. He was very lackadaisical about his solo career. Of course he was busy over the years putting together theatrical performances of Tommy or compiling LIfehouse his lost rock opera that turned into Who’s Next so he wasn’t exactly idle.

Luckily for us Pete recorded most of those solo performances. There is the full range of what Pete has done solo in this box. You have to remember that Pete suffers from tinnitus that causes him massive headaches. I think over the years he’s learned to deal with it, but he was relegated to playing acoustic guitar most of the time. There is some good ol’ Pete electric guitar but you’re not going to hear the kind of controlled anarchy you hear with the Who. There’s not a Live At Leeds hiding in here. It’s a mixed bag but I’d call it mostly superb. Here are out thoughts divided by each show:

Disc 1 & 2: Live From The Brixton Academy, London, 1985 – This is the famous Deep End concert. Pete released an abbreviated version of this show as a single disc live album and it’s one of my favorites, although it didn’t make my list of Essential Live Albums for some reason. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd plays lead guitar. I love the version of “After The Fire,” a song he gave to Roger Daltrey, that’s performed here. I love that Pete delves into all his musical interests: the Who, solo, blues, jazz… He lets the band do a few instrumental jazz numbers which are “take it or leave it,” and Gilmour does three solo songs, “Blue Light” being the pick of the litter. This is an absolutely great performance and I am glad to finally hear the whole thing again.

Disc 3 & 4: Live From The Brooklyn Academy, New York, 1993 – This show, for me at least, is the only real stumble in the whole box. Disc 3 is a full on performance of Psychoderelict complete with spoken word passages. I would have thrown myself out the window during this performance but I was on the ground floor and it would have just resulted in a broken window and an angry wife. I don’t know why anybody would return to this disc. Disc 4 is better in that it’s a great collection of Pete’s work from “Rough Boys” to “Eminence Front” to “A Little Is Enough.” I love hearing Pete take the lead vocals on “You Better You Bet,” but I’ve always loved that song. I will say Pete’s voice is a little ragged on Disc 4.

Disc 5 & 6: Live At The Fillmore, San Francisco, 1996 – I was really surprised by this show, in a good way. It’s like an Unplugged performance with just Pete on acoustic guitar and Jon Carin on piano/keyboards. I was stunned at how charmed I was by the stripped down arrangements of these songs. Even without the bombast the Who classics come across.

Dis 7 & 8: Live At Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, 1998 – Here we have Pete actually employing a back-up band unlike the stripped down previous show. I love that he opens with the old Canned Heat song, “On The Road Again,” that I’d forgotten to include on my Playlist: Songs About Driving/the Road. It’s on there now… There are a few missteps to this show… he employs a rapper, sigh. I don’t mind rap or hip hop but just like the Black Keys employing that on their latest album Ohio Players, it doesn’t fit here. He also turns lead vocal over to a female singer, who’s name escapes me, and it left me cold. Despite that there are some great performances here and I’m glad he included it.

Disc 9 & 10: Live From Sadler’s Well Theater, London, 2000: This is a full performance of Pete’s lost rock opera, Lifehouse. I had seen stuff in the press about Lifehouse but hadn’t really delved into it… I mean, Who’s Next which was harvested from these sessions has always been enough for me, it’s a classic. Pete employs a backup band and full orchestra. This is an absolute highlight from these shows. I really loved it. It’s the first time I’d heard “Greyhound Girl” and it is now one of my all time favorite Pete Townshend songs. It’s a stunning ballad. This may be the best show of the entire box.

Disc 11 & 12, and Disc 13 & 14: Live At La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego, 2001 – The final 4 discs in the box cover two concerts, recorded on successive nights in San Diego in June of 2001. The shows were for charity and come off a bit like one of those old VH1 Storytellers. Pete plays acoustic guitar and piano. In between each songs he chats with the crowd and is amazingly engaging. I really enjoyed both of these concerts. He puts in another performance of my new favorite “Greyhound Girl.”

I don’t know many people who are like me who will want to sit down and listen to all 14 discs in a row. Well, all but disc 3… damn Psychoderelict… but I could see streaming the Deep End show or the Lifehouse performance while sipping a bit of wine. I mean, “The Sea Refuses No River,” after all. This is a great accompaniment to Pete’s fine early solo albums. I love that he plays songs from both Who Came First and Rough Mix. There’s no part of his solo work he doesn’t touch on. He does many of the great songs he wrote for the Who. He has a fabulous choice of covers and I was surprised how much blues he played. There are certain songs that he always comes back to in each show that you can just tell those tunes mean a lot to him. “I’m One” is here at almost every show and we’re all better for it.

Pete may not have wanted a traditional solo career but now with this live stuff to compliment his early LPs, we have a better, more complete view of him as a solo artist. This set takes a lot of work just in the sheer volume of material but it all pays off in spades. I realize that many true collectors have the original discs purchased through Pete’s website, but for those of us who weren’t paying attention 20 years ago, this is a great release. Kudos Pete and thank you for this gift.

Cheers!