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Re: The Who on VH1



In a message dated 97-06-08 15:11:01 EDT, Hashaa@aol.com writes:

<< To:	TheWho@igtc.COM, TheWho-Digest@igtc.COM
 
 This Saturday at 2:00 pm on vh1 they are showing lost performances from the
 Monterey Pop festival.  The description I have seen says they will show 3
 more songs not on the original movie. " A quick one while he's away" is also
 on there. The show lasts an hour and will also be on at 9:00 pm (est).
  
  >>
Speaking of which, do you happen to know the famous story about the fierce
debate between PETE and JIMI HENDRIX as to WHO was going to get the stage
first, THE WHO or HENDRIX (Between them, they were to be the last acts).

It seems that both PETE and JIMI were determined to go BEFORE the other..
WHY? Because, both acts ended with a right proper bit of equipment
demolition, etc.

It was finally settled in a one on one between PETE and JIMI Backstage. The
way PETE tells it, for the first 15 minutes or so, JIMI didn't say a word to
him, instead, he picked up his guitar and "expressed" his views on the issue
by playing furiously and rather cleverly right in Pete's face. After which,
JIMI turned the amp off and they talked it over, and ended up deciding it on
a coin toss (or something like that..)

PETE won, the WHO went first, and JIMI was very cool about the whole thing.

But after THE WHO finished, PETE was sitting in the front row with MAMA CASS
and as JIMI finished his set, and began his Keith MOONISH auto-destructive
bit, MAMA CASS leaned over to PETE and said, "Look, Pete, He's stealing your
ending.."

To which PETE replied.."NO, He's using my ending...but he's NOT stealing it!"

Seems that both guys had independently arrived at a very similar means of
ending their respective gigs at the time..no one copied anyone, but it looked
that way to the otherwise uninformed (as evidenced by MAMA CASS' statement),
which is why both PETE and JIMI desperately wanted to go before the other!

It's hard to image PETE TOWNSHEND sitting still while Hendrix "played" his
emotions into his face at close range backstage, but artist to artist, the
two guys apparently really "clicked"..

Oh, and this little firendly creative dispute was the reason that HENDRIX
ended up setting his guitar on fire that night, so that his act would have a
distinctive flavor from that of THE WHO..and of course, the fire is one of
the things that propelled JIMI into a long overdue ledgend status..

Yet another case of the pervasive effect/infulence of PETE TOWNSHEND et al...

Regards,

JB  2TheWHO!