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Re: Who vs. Zep sales



-- [ From: Thomas G. Farrell Jr. * EMC.Ver #2.10P ] --

NP:  Traffic, "Freedom Rider" London 1970

Mark,
	RE: > Personally, I doubt that The Who were four members because of
ego, but I> can certainly believe it about LZ...knowing Page and
Plant's thoughts via> interviews and articles.

	Well, there's one other reason Zeppelin needed a lead singer:  Jones
and Page couldn't sing for shit.  I have a Zep boot on which Jones
sings SAndy Denny's parts in "Battle of Evermore," and frankly... Jones
caterwauling borders on cruelty to animals.  The WHo on the other hand
had Entwistle and Townshend, who could both sing, but not with the
power of Daltrey.  Townshend's vocals on his solo albums, however, are
quite impressive in places, especially on "Secondhand Love."


	RE: Daltrey, with> his many attributes, is no songwriter. That too
I'll agree with. His voice> is tremendous, and his staging
outstanding...and he also contributed to> the way the songs were
performed live. All of that he did to the degree> that it became a
significant part of The Who's legend.

	I understand what you're saying.  Townshend commented once on Roger
singing YMB, saying in effect that Daltrey got the vocals all wrong,
which is to say, Daltrey deviates materially from Moses Allison's
vocals, which are comparatively soft.  Roger's vocal styling on that
song performed live, with a little help of Pete's ball-busting guitar,
turned YMB into a ferocious piece of work.
	A better example of Daltrey's vocal styling is on the song "Water." 
Having heard this song on the Young Vic boot, and the new WN, I was
under the impression (not having looked at the songwriting credits)
that "Water" was a cover of an older song, like "Baby Don't You Do It"
was (one cover deserves another, I thought).  Obviously I was wrong,
but I thought the Water was a cover of an old song for two reasons.
	First, the lyrics mention farmers, and despite "Now I'm a Farmer,"
Townshend's knowledge of crop rotation and low-impact tillage is
probably not the best, hence he could only comment on farming as a
stereotype.  "Water," with its references to farmers and the river,
sounded legit for some reason.  I guess I should have recognized the
lyric "I saw your daughter at the Oasis, and I'm beginning to blister"
as a Townshend lyric.  Not too many Oasis' in the rural area in which I
live... not much blistering going on around here, either.  Too damn
cold.  (Btw, as an aside, the lyric, "... and the drunk driver drives
like a devil..." surprised me after I learned "Water" was a Townshend
song... "Oh my god, Pete is a member of M.A.D.D.!")
	The second, and more significant, reason I thought Water was a cover
of an older song was Daltrey's vocals... they sound like traditional
blues vocals, or at least like damn good facsimile.  He has, as they
say, a lot of "soul" in his vocals during "Water."  Of course, "Water"
is a Townshend composition, but Daltrey's vocal styling on that song
turned it into a great blues-like song, which kept me confused until I
got off my ass and looked at the songwriting credits.
	So (and this is my point <sound of crowd cheering here>), Daltrey
contributed little to the composition of the Who's songs, but his
vocals and the style in which he sang added a certain tenor (pun
intended) or resonance to the Who's songs.  I mean, listen to Pete's
vocals on the demo of "Love Reign O'er Me" and well.... you realize how
much Daltrey's vocals meant to group's success.  .  They wouldn't have
been the same without him.
	Every good wish--Tom Farrell