Formed in 1964, the quartet of Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey. John Entwistle, and Keith Moon, have left a legacy that is arguably matched only by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan. Between 1969 and 1972, The Who released three albums (Tommy, Who's Next. and Quadrophenia) that are worthy of any top ten list. They also released a multitude of wondrous singles, were considered one of the best live bands ever, and set new standards for both music production and the use of the rhythm section (in this case, bass and drums). Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys, and literally over a hundred million records sold--their influence on rock and roll has been felt far and wide. And one thing you can say about the Who--there's no jazz or blues or classical influences. They swore on their music bible in the church of rock and roll.
The most compelling aspect of "Baba O'Riley" is the sheer enormity of the song--there is a joyous power to it, and in it is the soul of triumph. From the kid on Christmas morning excitement of the opening synthesizer movement to the front and center of the Entwistle's bass and Moon's explosive drumming the intro is one of the most recognized in rock and roll history. It takes nearly a minute before Daltrey's vocals appear, and they are well worth the wait. Bold, triumphant, and proud, Daltrey is a man on a mission. And only when the first verse is done does Townshend's whirlwind guitar arrive, steamrolling the listener into aural ecstasy. Throw in Townshend's unforgettable "teenage wasteland" vocal verse, a return to Daltrey, and closing it out with some dancing the jig fiddling and you have a song that underscores why you spent so much of your precious time on this planet listening to pop music, and makes every second of it ever so worthwhile.
Two more quick points: first, the intricacy of the music and lyrics are utterly amazing in the simplicity (it's power chords and brevity in words) of the song and its sound, and second, that the Who were very much a sum of their parts. Four men who literally had fist fights amongst themselves came together musically as one and created a song as close to perfection as a rock and roll can logically get.
Fun factoid: The Beautiful Boy amazed his kindergarten teacher by being able to name all four band members and their instruments....
Not to ruin a lot of teenagers dreams that their youthful disillusionment was being addressed in the line "it's only teenage wasteland," but the line was actually a snide poke at the hippies who overdosed on acid at Woodstock....
Enjoy:
Peace,
emaycee
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