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Re: doing unplugged




Yeah, I accept your observations on it being oblig. for rising artists.  I do think some fit right into 
the slot, and others it's a round peg in a square hole.  

I will probably forever not find agreement with late-model-Who fans concerning my extreme and unmitigated
disappointment at what I hear relative to their earlier glory.  LAL just fans the flames, I'm afraid.  Others
out there are far less charitable on their opinions of the Who, but then again they are not on this newsgroup.
("Townshend has turned the Who into his own living Chuck Berry nightmare") is one I heard YEARS ago....

My biggest beefs are not in Townshend's personal playing.  They are:  1) his guitar sound gettin' really 
wimpy, and no, it's not a sign of maturation or agiing, or hearing loss - That's pure bullshit - ever heard
of earplugs, Pete?  apparently not for quite awhile.... 2) getting rid of the Hiwatts.  3) getting rid of the
Hiwatt Cabinets before getting rid of the Hiwatts.  4)  turning the Hiwatts way down before items 2 and
3  5) Adding a guitarist who plays through a bunch of boxes 6) Adding a drummer who does not fit the bill.  
I appreciate the guy's enthusiasm, but then again I appreciate my own. 7) His songwriting.  I respect that
people like it, and he said he was moving away from the 2minutes50 style, but that's what I grew up with and
love, so I have moved away from his latter music and towards others who are capable of continuing the 2:50
tradition with quality (surprisingly large number of those folks out there recently - hey, I'm having a good
time listening to all the good new bands doin' it...).  

And I'd rather they play once a year and sustain the energy than a tour and not do it.  I don't know how
they could... I just know they should.  They're the musicians in the band - they should figure it out.
Part of it is that Townshend lost his heart in it after Moon died.  Well, I got news for you.. there are
drummers who I have personally experienced who coulda filled his shoes infinitely better than who he has had
in the past.  I found 'em, so could have Pete.  It frankly pisses me off that he didn't.  When Jones replaced
Moon, I went,"well, there goes the neighborhood!". Looking at some of the live stuff from '79 I will say
Jones tried his level best, but it was stiff-arming, really.  Gotta have that light, mobile, jazzy touch to
the playing.  The music Townshend is STILL putting out dictates it.  If Simon Bolivar wants to use tom-toms,
listen to Dogs Part II and get a lesson.  

Come on, folks, how could someone who wrote "I am the One" write lyrics like "slit skirts slit skirts 
Jeannie never wears those slit skirts".  My, how the mighty have fallen......

I agree about the impropriety of Clapton's schmaltz being compared to the Who, but Clapton gets a nod becuase
he did the solo in Crossroads, and anybody who does that can do whatever they want for the rest of their
lives because that solo kicks ass. 

Jeff