Re: The Creative Peak

[Jeff Williams <jeffw@mxim.com>]

Personally, I believe their creative peak to be up to and including 
Tommy.  The reason is, is that Townshend was growing into the songwriting,
and doing a wider range of experimentation.  I mean from the standard (and
quintissential) R&B sound they mastered on to some excellent psychedelia
is indicative of his growth and creativity.  Later years saw him hone, at
least for awhile, his songwriting, but later years had a modern, more 
conventional rock sound which I think made a more comfortable framework 
in which to house his ideas.  In the 60s he was having to develop and 
expand the musicianship, the sounds, the recordings, and the songwritings,
which make the finished pieces all the more impressive.  Granted, later
the musicianship had been finely honed, and the recordings and overall
sound solidified, as I said into a framework.  I just think the difficulty
of the task earlier on, factored into the finished results, required a 
different but more intense creativity.  Of course some good strong acid
always helps a bit.


JW