Roger Daltrey rock climbs for History

["Kevin O'Neal" <kevinandt@xxxxxxxxx>]

Roger Daltrey rock climbs for History


By Bridget Byrne

LOS ANGELES - Why would an aging rocker row backward through the roiling
waters of the Colorado River, then scale the river's sheer rocky walls using
just one arm?
''A moment of complete and utter madness,'' laughs Roger Daltrey, veteran
vocalist of The Who, who re-created the 1869 journey of explorer John Wesley
Powell for The History Channel's new series ''Extreme History With Roger
Daltrey.'' The premiere episode, ''Surviving the Colorado River,'' airs Sunday
at 10:30 p.m.
Madness? Maybe. But the 59-year-old musician obviously enjoyed himself
tackling the hardships that faced the one-armed Powell and his men as they
made their way down the wild, uncharted river on a mapping expedition.
In subsequent episodes of the 10-part ''Extreme History'' series, Daltrey dons
a wolf skin to hunt buffalo the way the Indians did, herds cattle with cowboys
on the Chisholm Trail, and learns to make a fire, caveman style. Following the
practice of his subjects, Daltrey ate only what was naturally available during
these re-enactments - rattlesnakes and all.
''It didn't bother me. I'm very open-minded about food - conscious of the fact
that we are omnivores ... and we'll eat anything to stay alive,'' he says
between munches from an hors d'oeuvres tray in a Hollywood hotel suite.
OK, so what's the real reason Daltrey took the History Channel gig?
''I've been coming to America for almost 40 years,'' he explains. ''I've been
across it probably more times than most Americans, but I've seen virtually
none of it. I've seen the inside of a lot of limos, lots of hotel rooms,
concert halls and stadiums, but I'd never seen the bits of America that I'd
always wanted to see. So this was a really good opportunity. It's been
fantastic.''
He's also a history buff.
''I feel very strongly that the only way to make history grab a new audience
is to bring something new to it,'' Daltrey said. ''I love history, yet at
school it was the most boring thing I've ever sat through in my life. It was
about as exciting as a clam race. All they wanted to talk about was numbers
and dates. It ceased to be about people,'' he says, noting he's tried to
inject as much humor as possible into the series.
Executive producer Susan Werbe sees Daltrey's involvement as a hook to attract
baby boomers. She believes audiences will react ''Wow,'' as she did. ''If you
were an animal, your ears would perk up,'' she laughs.
''Roger loves to get dirty on our show. Whenever he can do something more
dangerous, he's up to it,'' says David Leepson, who produced the series in
partnership with Matthew Ginsburg.
Ginsburg says Daltrey can ''court those challenges these figures in history
hit head-on. They didn't hesitate, or balk at the sign of danger, or at
challenge. They went right for it, and that's Roger's no-holds-barred
approach.''
Daltrey strode into the hotel in jeans, beige shirt and dark glasses, toting a
shoulder bag. His distinctive halo of curly hair is now cut short.
These days, the London native lives on a farm in the English countryside,
raising beef cattle and worms, which he notes are useful both for fishing,
and, in an experimental way, for organic waste disposal.
But his London street-level accent hasn't dulled.
''How could I not be Alfred Doolittle!'' he laughs, referring to the role of
the cocky Cockney dustman he was set to play for one night at the Hollywood
Bowl in a concert version of ''My Fair Lady,'' starring John Lithgow as
Professor Henry Higgins. The performance brought him good reviews.

http://www.gwinnettdailyonline.com/GDP/archive/article679F3F92108A435A939651E
6FA7DD638.asp

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