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Feedback, Power Chords, Bloated Ranting!



Bear with me (or skip over), due to quotes this promises to be my
LONGEST ever.  Not for the squeamish or the sane (apologies to Paul).  I
just hope it's definitive:

Chris wrote in "Feedback on 'Feedback'":

>I remembered an article on Pete and The Who from a June '94
>Guitar World magazine.  Since I do not play any instruments, it was just
>dumb luck (and a picture of Pete in his regal pose on the cover) that I
>happened to notice the magazine.  Anyway, to keep a short story from
>getting too long, I bought it!  In the article, right before my eyes, a little
>tidbit of information appeared... the year was '64 and the setting was the
>Oldfield Hotel.  Well, according to Mr. Townshend, "Where I stood on the
>stage was a piano, and I stuck my cabinet on it and it was dead level
>with my guitar, and I started to get these feedback effects that I really
>liked.  When I went to other gigs and put the speakers on the floor, it
>wouldn't happen.  So I started to put it up on a chair and then I decided to
>stack the things so that I could INDUCE feedback."  Also born from this,
>the "Marshall stack".  The article is very well written and in-depth.  

First of all, hats off to Chris for his excellent post and unearthing
this article which adds serious weight to Pete's paternity claim on
feedback.  Although I've never read this actual piece, countless other
Who articles and many Who books I HAVE read also provide this account of
Pete's 'discovery'.  I've stated before that Dave Davies and Jeff Beck
have sworn similar tales of feedback firsts also though.  I do play
guitar (badly) and as many guitarists know (especially bad guitarists),
the amp does not have to be level with the guitar for feedback to
occur.  I've stood at an angle from the amp with the guitar at least a
foot and a half higher than it and I STILL will get feedback if the God
of Decibels is displeased (in Greek Mythology known as "Tinnitus").  The
proximity of the guitar pickups to the cabinet is one factor, but sheer
volume is the major cause.  Dave Davies, like Pete Townshend, was an
early worshipper of volume, so it's possible that he 'discovered'
feedback's musical usefulness too.  To be honest though, I too believe
Pete probably beat Dave and Jeff to the punch (or the squeal, as it
were).  As the article writes (and I've read elsewhere) The Who were the
first band to stack their amps (the loudest band in the world from the
get-go).  So, The Who had MORE amps AND stacked them so that feedback
would always occur.  Pete was certainly the first guitarist to be
recognized for his ability to manipulate feedback, so it's not a big
stretch to say feedback manipulation STARTED with him as well.  All I've
been debating is that we have NO PROOF as to who first manipulated
feedback, but for my money the circumstantial evidence definitely points
at Pete.  Let's just say, the blood tests are in, all three guys have O
negative, but everyone's knows in their heart that Pete's the daddy. 

...Now, one more thing.  Chris's post concluded as follows:

>I suggest, if possible, you obtain a copy of this magazine because it also
>has an accompanying article on Pete's creation, "power chording".  The
>address:  Editorial and Advertising Offices, 1115 Broadway,  New York,
>NY  10010 (212) 807-7100.  Now, I can't remember the whole
>Townshend/Davies discussion, but this may help settle it...?  There is so
>much more information in the articles that it is impossible to tell you
>everything.   

Like I've said too many times already, I don't see a definite smoking
gun in the feedback debate, BUT the "power chord" discussion is open and
shut.  Ray Davies, Dave Davies and virtually all Rock critics and
historians agree.  Dave Davies created the "power chord".  I have
several books on the Kinks also and this point is beaten over your head
(mainly because The Kinks didn't pioneer much else on the instrument
side of things).  Weeks ago someone else correctly mentioned the
infamous "green amp"; the first amp with distortion.  Dave Davies' amp. 
Okay, so I've been claiming this 'fact' for weeks now, but unlike Chris
I have yet to back myself up with any sources.  There are tons of
sources for this claim, but I'll present the following in the hopes that
anyone else can look up the rest in a Kinks book or a book about the
British Invasion, etc.  The Defense presents exhibits A, B, C, and D.

Exhibit A:  "You Really Got Me" - Recording date: July '64 
	Distorted guitar evident throughout the song whether on the repeated
"power chords" or during the raggedly distorted solo.  First record with
guitar distortion, hence first "power chord" on record.

Exhibit B:  "I'm The Face / Zoot Suit" - Recording date for both: July
'64
	The Who's first recordings. Note the absence of any guitar distortion
on either track.  Specifically note the tinny Fifties-like solo that
Pete makes do with on "I'm The Face".  If Pete had had distortion in his
bag of tricks at the time he would definitely have used it on this
recording.  Pete is thee Power Chord King, but in July 1964 he didn't
have the key to his kingdom yet.  The key was across town inside Dave
Davies's green amp.  Note also that both exhibits are recording dates,
not release dates, thus squashing any claim that Davies stole guitar
distortion after witnessing The Who's unrecorded act prior to YRGM's
recording.  Both bands entered the studio in July '64 with whatever
goods they had to give.  The Kinks gave something no one else at that
time had.

Exhibit C:  "I Can't Explain" - Recording date: Dec '64
	The Who's first "true" single, after the false start of Pete Meaden's
made to order copycats.  Distortion is evident from the first chord
through to the song's end.  The first recorded Who song with guitar
distortion, five months after The Kinks' breakthrough. The Who's guitar
sound is radically different and the chord playing is more pronounced
than it was on the previous songs.

Exhibit D:  Article: "The Kinks - You Really Got Me" 
			Howard Massey, Musician Magazine, July 1997 (dated ahead)
	The coup de grace.  More importantly this is only one of a countless
number of sources which contains the following account:

>Their 22-year old leader knows that everything is on the line with this 
>session - in the six months since being signed, they've already had two 
>flop singles and their record company has been dropping hints about this 
>being their last chance.
>But his kid brother, distractedly blasting distorted chords out of a
>tiny amplifier in the corner, doesn't seem to give a shit anymore than
>any surly 17-year old should do. The two veteran session players
>brought in to add some professionalism to the proceedings glance at
>their watches - they've been booked for a three-hour session and
>don't want to waste any more time than they have to. Finally, the
>engineer is ready. Throats clear, the producer signals from the
>cramped control room, and the two attitude-drenched chords shatter
>the air. The Kinks are unleashing "You Really Got Me" on an
>unsuspecting world, and they are about to make rock and roll
>history.
>"The magic was in the air," recalls producer Shel Talmy. "When I
>first heard it, I said shit, it doesn't matter what you do with this, it's
>a number one song. It could have been done in waltz time and it
>would have been a hit."
>...a good part of the magic was in the song's production. It was in
>the snarling distorted guitar that kick-started three generations of
>rock guitarists into punk, heavy metal, and grunge (a sound achieved
>in those pre-pedal days not only by Dave Davies' slashing of his
>speaker cone with a razor blade but also, Talmy remembers, by
>kicking his amplifier at every opportunity). It was in Davies' raw,
>unfettered solo (no, it wasn't played by Jimmy Page) that perfectly
>encapsulated teenage angst in eight raging bars.
>To this very day, bands labor mightily after the murky, basement-like 
>sound of "You Really Got Me" (which did indeed shoot straight to 
>number one), but nobody's quite succeeded the way those four kids 
>from north London did on that hot summer night. 
 
Closing arguments:  Shel Talmy, as we all know, was The Who's producer
for "I Can't Explain" etc.  He was the recording engineer for the first
successful records of both bands (although he takes more credit than he
deserves) and as such was an eyewitness to these historic recordings. 
He quite clearly states his position; The Kinks had created a startling
new sound thanks to Davies's ravaged amp.  A sound Shel Talmy, one of
the most knowledgeable recording engineers and producers in London at
that time, had never encountered before.  Davies purposely (and
methodically) damaged his little green amp in order to get the vicious
sound his twisted soul was looking for.  To the person who claimed
"Satisfaction" was the first song with guitar distortion since it was
the first to use a fuzzbox, find your answer above and send your
apologies to Dave Davies c/o Konk Studios.  The fuzzbox, the tube drive,
the classic Marshall amp and every other sophisticated made-to-spec
distortion device was designed in answer to the primative sound Dave
Davies tortured his amp into confessing.  A sound which spawned hard
rock, metal, punk, grunge, you name it.  As Ray Davies once said,
(paraphrased), "My brother hasn't got much going for him, you know, but
NO ONE can take that away from him!  He did that!!"
The Defense rests (because he's tired).  
- -Leo