The 'French Grasshopper' Interview

[jimthewhofan at aol.com]

 I've echoed this sentiment on a number of occasions. That's why it's hard for me to look at any new "Who" work without at least some bitterness, bitterness that this accord could not have been reached during John's life.
 
 I can't help but wonder the extent to which Pete has found this feeling of "not letting go" because of John's death. Because Roger does not write and because Roger is not a serious instrumentalist, there is little in the way to bar Pete from establishing and maintaining total control over "whatever the Who is." Paraphrasing, Pete says in the liner notes, "I wrote and recorded this album and Roger came in later and did his vocals." It's Pete's music, Pete's concept, Pete's execution and Roger came in after the fact and did his thing.
 
 But I can't share Shrade's sense of guilt. I had nothing to do with the decisions that anybody in the band made, for better or worse. 
    
 -----Original Message-----
 From: schrade at akrobiz.com
 To: thewho at igtc.com
 Sent: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 7:39 PM
 Subject: The 'French Grasshopper' Interview
 
  > 4. Is it a final album, like some like to speculate?
>
> No. Roger and I have found a way to work together now 
> and we will not let it go.

Ugh.  Why couldn't he have reached this blessed understanding
while Entwistle was still alive.  It makes me feel sad.  And guilty.
Sad because I feel like we missed out on a bunch of great Who 
music that Pete could have given the green light to in the '80s & 
'90s.  Guilty because I know that what happened is what hap-
pened.  There's no turning the clock back.

Still, I was surprisingly moved to read the following:

> 13. Looking back on your career, are there things you 
> would've done differently?
> 
> ....I don't regret ending the Who in 1982, but I do regret 
> the reason I ended it. I closed the door too tightly, and it 
> has been hard for me to accept that although the Who were 
> in creative trouble in 1981, we weren't quite beaten. We 
> might have survived.

There's that honesty we all admire in the man....


- SCHRADE in Akron

_______________________________________________
TheWho mailing list
TheWho at igtc.com
http://www.igtc.com/mailman/listinfo/thewho
   
________________________________________________________________________
Check out the new AOL.  Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more.