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Re: the "authentic" who



I completely concur with Kevin's evaluation here.... I'm a bit less sympathetic about the Who's later
albums, but who cares what I think... Plus I decided for my own personal musical development to 
go back in time with the Who - there's a whole new world out there... Plus, music has changed within
the past few years to make me completely interested in it all over again.... Amazing, that....


What follows in ranting and raving, but if you extract any pearls of wisdom/madness, so much the better.


Once again, I know what I like about the Who and what I don't like.  Same goes for every other damned
band.  I've seen bands whose live performances, while totally different from the Who, rival them in
overall greatness.  I know what they are - I've seen it.  Nothing will change or deviate from that...
If you'd ever seen the Wipers in their original incarnation, the Sex Pistols on a good day pre Sid
Vicious (I have the bootlegs to prove their greatness live when they felt like it), the Ramones in their
original incarnation, the Zeros in 1978 (my favorite live show of all time), Terry Robb on a good day, 
and the correct combination of musicians around him and a good vibe in the joint, and Black Flag when
they had Keith Morris, a band named ICE 9 when their original bass player was still alive.  Again, I have
the evidence to prove it...  Right up there was when I saw the Who in '76.  Van Halen in '78, opening
for Black Sabbath - 1st tour, second stop, PDX.  Am-f**cking-mazing!

Who '69/70 would probably 
have exceeded most of it, but not all of it.... Four guys who could take you wherever they wanted to go?
Nobody most people have seen can do it quite like the lads.... I don't care if they play frickin' banjos,
if they were in the right groove they could will themselves to do it today.  Speaking of banjos, there's 
a live neo-hippy band in PDX called Higher Ground who have this Phenomenal goddammed guitarist, who
can play incredible Violin, mandolin, banjo, acoustic and electric guitar, and appears to do all of them
with equal ease... Move way aside, Phish and Hootie and Dave Matthews, and all that stuff... Really, you'd
know what I meant if you saw it.... Filling the local 700 seater in PDX bears out their incredible popularity and talent.... 

Point is, for the mass consumption, the Who is/was probably the greatest rock band to become widely popular.  (I hold a special spot for Zeppelin, and their early live stuff bears this out... And, as Kevin said,
they did pull it off, and did a very good job at it.  Not disappointed at all.  In fact, I liked the May
'95 show MUCH MUCH better than the frickin' Kingdome show in '77, tho' video from that show indicates
they were still very good..... - end of extended parenthetical element -) 

I've just never felt that way about any subsequent live Who I've seen since
'76, though the Shepperton stuff I've always liked..... And, no, don't say, "Oh, how could you
not like such and such, or how could you compare such and such?" I don't like such and such, and I 
will compare such and such if I feel like it.  

For me, learning all the chords and leads and how the gear was used in the old days is my primary interest
in the Who.  All the rereleased and reasonably decent CD boots keep the fires burning brighter than ever.
I have, as I have said many times before, the Who as an organization to thank for Odds and Sodds, MBBM,
Whos and Twos Missing, and all the subsequent good stuff.   Thank you thank you thank you.....

JW