Creative Peak

[Dave Hughes <dhughes@unlinfo.unl.edu>]

I think we have to separate creative peaks into two categories.  One
consists of the material itself, and the other consists of the performance
of that material.  Some people think that the live performances peaked in
the early 70's, but I think that from what I've heard from the 1976 tour
(Keith's last), they were still going fairly strong then. 

It is obvious to me that just after that, the force that allowed the entire
band to perform as it had for so long, disappeared.  There were signs that
things were starting to decay when Moon started passing out before the shows
would end and sometimes before they really even began (Cow Palace '73, and
Boston Garden '75). I guess it is pretty common knowledge that during the
recording of WAY, some days Moon could play, and some days he couldn't.
That stuff shot for the film TKAA is also very revealing in that we see Moon
go from a young boy in his late teens to look like a man in his 50's just
before his death.  And Moon was only in his early 30's.

Whatever The Who was, died when Keith Moon died.  It was also ailing for
quite a few years before that, some days able to "reach the highest high"
and other days
it almost "drowned."

Dave Hughes