Kenney, Quad, etc.

["Mike Nelson"<mike_nelson@medianet.com>]

     Hello all,
     
     I am new to this list and this is my first posting.
     
     I would like to offer a few words in defense of the much-maligned 
     Kenney Jones.  Am I the only one that actually LIKES Kenney?  I have 
     nothing against Simon or Zak, but unlike them, Kenney was an actual 
     MEMBER of The Who.  He also had historical relevance to the band, 
     having been in the Small Faces and having played on the movie 
     soundtracks (Tommy, Quad, McVicar) and Rough Mix.  If he sounded 
     "dinky" on the albums, I think that was as much a function of the 
     production, as anything else.  If you listen closely, you will hear 
     some fairly complicated beats on Face Dances.  I have plenty of live 
     bootlegs from 79-80 where Kenney is AMAZING.  It seemed as though it 
     was primarily Roger who did not want Kenney in The Who.  In a 1989 
     Rolling Stone article (remember when they cared?), when Pete was asked 
     about Roger thinking that Kenney was not the right drummer for The 
     Who, he said he thought Roger was "full of shit" on that matter.  It 
     always seemed kind of wormy to me that they did not invite him to 
     participate in the 1989 tour (it's not like he was dead).
     
     On to happier thingies...I saw the Who show in Tampa and it was great! 
     It is fitting to have seen what may be my last ever Who show there, 
     since I saw my first ever Who show there in 1989. (I live in Texas) I 
     also saw the Who in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.  That was 
     great because it is a smaller place than most of the other places on 
     the tour and it was good to see both versions (Gary Glitter/Billy Idol 
     vs. PJ Proby/Ben Waters).  Pete played a lot more electric guitar on 
     the second US leg, (although I enjoy his acoustic playing, too!).
     
     I got to meet them and they were, overall, quite nice.  I got a couple 
     of albums signed.  In 1989, I got an album signed by John and Roger, 
     but Pete didn't sign.  This time I got John and Pete, but Roger didn't 
     sign.  There were a lot of "autograph dealers" around and Roger did 
     not want to sign for anyone but actual fans.  (I certainly have no 
     intention of selling my autographs). I also got Simon on his solo 
     album and Rabbit to sign a Free bootleg.  Rabbit thought it was cool 
     and wanted one.  I gave him a phone number and when he got back to his 
     house in Texas after the tour, he called!  I am going to try to send 
     him one, if I can find another.
     
     Does anyone know if there are any plans to release an official live 
     album and/or video of this tour?  I hope they will, even though they 
     will no doubt receive harsh criticism for doing so (rehashing their 
     old stuff...blah, blah, blah).
     
     Finally, If anyone has any bootlegs or Videos for sale/trade.  Feel 
     free to e-mail me privately.