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Smothers Brothers, Who forever linked 

The irony wasn't lost on the Smothers Brothers. 

Their two-week run at the Hilton Las Vegas ended
Friday night, the night The Who, who made their
American TV debut on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy
Hour" on CBS in September 1967, were to open their
world tour at the Hard Rock Hotel. 

The tour opener was canceled after John Entwistle, The
Who's bassist, was found dead Thursday. 

"They are in our show every night, in (the exploding
drums) video," said Dick Smothers. 

The Smothers Brothers and The Who are forever linked
by that explosive debut, which VH1, in a five-hour
special, ranked among the top 10 of its "100 Greatest
Rock 'n' Roll Moments." 

Most shows by The Who came to a dramatic conclusion:
Pete Townshend would destroy his guitar, and drummer
Keith Moon would blow up his drum kit. 

"It was part of their act," said Dick Smothers. 

But something went amiss during rehearsal for that '67
Smothers Brothers show. Because of union rules, Moon
was told he couldn't load the little brass cannon in
his drum. A stagehand did it, and the explosive charge
didn't go off. 

Tommy Smothers later learned that after rehearsal,
Moon sneaked in his usual charge in the cannon. The
stagehands, unaware of Moon's action, placed a powder
charge in the cannon. And to top it off, a CBS worker
added another load. 

When The Who segment began, the group lip-synched
their soon-to-be-hits, "I Can See For Miles" and "My
Generation." 

"Then Townshend, his head right in front of the drums,
smashes his guitar," recalled Tommy Smothers. "Then he
smashes it again, and he's about to do it a third
time, when he comes over and grabs my guitar and
smashes it. 

"If (his head) had gone down in front of the drums one
more time, I don't think he'd be alive today. It was a
lucky break," said Tommy. 

"Townshend claims that he lost most of his hearing
because of the explosion," he added. 

"I was in shock. I think everyone knew we dodged a
bullet." 

Entwistle said in a 1996 interview, "There were people
in the back of the audience with bits of bass drum on
them." 


=====
-Brian in Atlanta
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