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Re: Pete's guitar playing in 79 & 82



>Mark, re:
>
>> JT is merely OK (IMHO). I know from being at a show (not to mention boots)
>that JT doesn't capture the strength of a single performance. This is also my
>prime argument for a live TOMMY from a single performance.
>
>May I punch a whole in that argument? The "Tommy" portion of "Join Together"
>is all from the LA Amphitheater show, except for the parts that the "guests"
>did, in which case they substituted those for the Radio City show. Having
>everying come from one performance is fine, as long as the one performance is
>good! Personally, I think the Radio City "Tommy" in it's entirety was a
>better concert, but I think they felt people would feel "cheated" since they
>played it over the air for free. As for disc 2, I have two complaints. Bad
>mix on the drums and song selection. Again, nothing the "single performance"
>would correct. 


WF:

I certainly prefer the RCMH version to the one released on JT. Which is what
my argument is all about. The one on JT, as "almost" a single performance
(nearly 1/4 of the performance being from another), isn't as good as the
RCMH version. From Daltrey's introduction to the end, RC was stronger.
I don't know the people would have felt cheated; the majority of us weren't
in an area that covered that broadcast. I was lucky and had a friend to tape
it for me...but had I not, the one on JT probably would have been it for me.
And a remastered, properly mixed version of RCMH would have been welcome. It
would STILL be welcome...how many times did Pete do Friend Is A Friend?
Disc two was from many shows, and so that makes my argument rather than
undermines it. I agree that the song selection was weak, especially in
comparison to RCMH. Even the non-TOMMY part of the LA show was better than
what was released on the 2nd disk of JT.

>As for "Who's Last" (or sir aptly named, "Who's Worst"), I would have
>objected if they took the whole thing from Toronto (a single performance--and
>a very weak one). I saw them in Orlando that year and they played their
>hearts out--John was even wearing his "Too Late The Hero" outfit! Here we
>have a case of bad song selection, bad mix, bad performances...

Toronto may not have been their best of that tour (and I'd love to hear one
better), but it's a Hell of a lot better than WL. If that was weak, it still
is stronger than what they released. I think, had they released Toronto, you
would have been more positive about the album. 
Besides, they do a great YMB and Naked Eye on there. Not to mention Cry If
You Want. And even LEEDS isn't as powerful as being there, seeing the concert.

>>Taken from many shows, it will lose something...I just know it.
>>And WF, feel free to pass that along to "those in charge of The Who" if you
>>like.
>
>Mark, I stopped "logging" this "discussion" immediately prior to the faxes I
>sent out to England. The message has been delivered, they've discussed it and
>things are under consideration. It would be kinda foolish of me to "beat a
>dead horse". When they get to the point where they start "production" on this
>stuff, I hope to have some input, to ensure that things go in accordance to
>what the majority of the people want and what is "marketable". However, I
>disagree with your "taken from many shows" postion on two accounts. 1) The
>stuff you think is out there, isn't. There's more live material in the hands
>of the bootleggers than they have. They have no intention of using inferior
>source material. 2) If they have some good material, yet it's in the form of
>2 songs from this concert and 3 songs from that concert, but they're
>interesting, good songs with great performances, should they be "ignored"
>because now we're "breaking ranks"??? 

Well, for all I knew you were keeping them updated. I can say this: the band
recorded their performances from `68 on. There is a complete library of the
TOMMY tour(s), and The Who have (or at least had) it. I have no doubt that
they have plenty of material to chose from. Riddle me this: how can they
have only a few songs from here and there? If they recorded the entire show
(and surely they didn't record just PART of a show), and I think we can
assume that they did. Then there are sources like King Biscuit, Westwood
One, television broadcasts...sure, they'll have to buy the rights. But the
production costs are so low compared to producing a new album, how can they
complain??? No matter how few copies they sell, they can't lose! You are
aware, I'm sure, of how little it costs to manufacture a CD. The packaging
costs more than the CD! Low production costs, low manufacturing costs...they
can certainly "take the risk" of putting out something that isn't completely
commercial!

>As we know, "a good chunk" of any Who performance is going to be "The Who's
>Greatest Hits". Personally, I have no use for yet another of "the Who's
>Greatest Hits". I'd prefer that they carve all that out and give us live
>performances of different songs, or songs performed differently. In other
>words, just like the ol' version of "Live At Leeds". Most likely, they'll
>probably do a combination of both.

You saw what I thought should be on the live boxed set. It was made up of
all of the "unreleased" songs they played live (that I know of), plus
definitive versions of their classics. I don't want another "greatest hits"
live album, but I wouldn't mind getting Baba O'Riley etc. from the `71 tour.
Surely it was more powerful than the one on KIDS and WL! If they are to
include their most known songs again, then they should be as they were
released (as in My Generation from `65, `66). That would make them valuable,
don't you think, and more than welcome.

>In the meantime, I think (or hope) I''ve made my points. The important point
>is, that both are points at this point (a lot of "points" on this page) are
>moot. And... at the very moment, I'm looking forward to hearing John
>Entwistle in two weeks for the solo concert that I always wanted to hear and
>enjoy, from "Heaven & Hell" to "Had Enough"...

I am also looking forward to seeing Entwistle, now that I know that he's
playing here (and during the second Whofest, too...quite nice the way that
worked out). Although I must wait until the end of March. The pleasure of
sharing the experience with other BB Who fans will make it worth the wait.

            Cheers                         ML