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Collected news stories



Hi all,
	I haven't been able to work today, but have instead cast about looking for any and all stories about John. My apologies if I'm gumming up the list, but I thought I'd include those that I had found here for your convenience. 
	Hang in there, everyone. At least we'll always have the music and memories. 
										-- Charlie

News Reports - June 28, 2002 
John Alec Entwistle

Solid as an Ox
By KIERAN GRANT 
Toronto Sun
The Ox is silent. 

As bassist for The Who, John Entwistle defined the bass player's role in rock bands and, along with late drummer Keith Moon, helped alter forever the way band rhythm sections were perceived by fans. Blurring the line between rhythm and lead playing, he stepped to the fore with thunderous bass lines that propelled his group's melodies as much as accented their beat. 

He carried the bass guitar solo into vogue but never overdid it, a lesson that would all too often be lost on his followers. 

Still, he remains arguably the most influential exponent of rock bass, and the impact of his playing lingers in bass greats as disparate as Geddy Lee, Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler, and U.S. post-punk icon Mike Watt; and that's just scratching the surface. 

He was barely in his teens when he first hooked up with future Who leader Pete Townshend in a late '50s skiffle band. By 1964 they were fast developing The Who's supercharged, mod R&B sound with singer Roger Daltrey and latecomer Moon -- though it was later pointed out that Entwistle always harboured a love for the classic rock 'n' roll favoured by the Mods' rivals, the rockers. 

Entwistle's bass innovations with The Who came about naturally enough: With Townshend as the group's only guitarist, he filled the gaps with complex parts and uncommonly high volume. Though he didn't know it at the time, his legend was in place at 21 when he laid down the 18-second bass solo in 1965's My Generation. 

The snarling, gravelly tone of Entwistle's bass quickly earned him the nickname "The Ox" -- the sound was captured early on with a song of the same name. 

At the same time, he was The Who's resident "quiet one" and countered his prominent place in the group's sound by standing rock solid and almost off in the shadows at their live shows. Both visually and audibly, there was the sense that he was holding the band in place -- a steady guiding hand that kept The Who from spinning away with the wilder members. 

Such Entwistle-penned songs as Boris The Spider and My Wife also lent an added dose of levity. Again, in complete juxtaposition with the rumble and thud of his bass, it was Entwistle's back-up falsetto that prettied up classics I'm A Boy, A Quick One While He's Away, So Sad About Us, Happy Jack, I Can See For Miles, Magic Bus and Who Are You. 

It remains a treat to listen to in itself. 

Interestingly, Entwistle's respectability and profile as a player was never compromised or eclipsed by his profile as a rock star, a fate that befell the manic legend Moon. His public persona remained safely intertwined with his music, yet he never seemed undervalued by the group and was able to complete some dozen solo albums and collections over the years, including the overlooked but critically-acclaimed Smash Your Head Against The Wall (1971) and Whistle Rhymes (1972). 

For many, The Who ended with Keith Moon in 1978. Others count the group's abortive attempts to split up in 1982 and 1989 as the end, even if few were willing to complain when Entwistle, Townshend, and Daltrey were still at it at the dawn of the 21st century. 

It's unlikely there'll be any argument that, yesterday, the world simultaneously lost its greatest rock bassist and one of its greatest rock bands. 

Fortunately for us, The Ox leaves one hell of an echo. 

The Who bassist dies
John Entwistle was 'quiet one'
By CHELSEA J. CARTER -- Associated Press

LAS VEGAS -- Stunned fans of The Who's John Entwistle left flowers and consoled each other outside a casino concert hall where the bass player who helped make the band one of the biggest in rock history had been expected to perform Friday. 

Entwistle was found dead Thursday in his Hard Rock Hotel room of an apparent heart attack. He was 57. 

"What do we do now?" asked David Stark, editor and publisher of a music industry Web site who had flown in for the Las Vegas concert from London, where he saw The Who in February. 

The co-founder of The Who was on medication for a heart condition, according to Steve Luongo, the drummer in another Entwistle band for the last 15 years. 

An autopsy was scheduled for Friday, but Clark County Coroner Ron Flud said no foul play was suspected. 

The group's scheduled concert at the Hard Rock on Friday was canceled, as was a July 1 show in Los Angeles. The rest of the three-month, nationwide tour was undecided, said Beckye Levin of promoter Clear Channel Entertainment. 

Outside The Joint, where the concert was scheduled, fans like Lauren J. Hammer, 35, of Boulder, Colo., gathered in front of a growing collection of flower bouquets and a large British flag. She held her Colorado license plate that read "WHO R U" and business cards that stated "Who Fan Extraordinaire." 

The casino played the band's songs, and the hotel changed its marquee from a concert promotion to a memorial reading, "John Entwistle. 1944-2002. You will be missed by all." 

"My whole life has been altered today," said fan Stefanie Cushing, 34, of Seattle, who had tickets for seven shows. 

The group, founded in London in the early 1960s, was part of the British rock invasion along with the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Their parade of hits included "I Can See For Miles," "I Can't Explain," "Substitute," "Pinball Wizard," "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Who Are You." 

The Who's first hit, "My Generation," became an anthem for baby boomers and included the line, "Hope I die before I get old." 

Their concerts were literally explosive -- a fusion of audacious acrobatics, martial precision and high octane rock 'n' roll that blew away audiences and left the stage and their instruments a smoldering wreck. 

"A lot of our fans liked us because we made mistakes. It made us look more human. And then the fact that we could actually sort of burst out laughing on stage when we made a real bad blunder," Entwistle told The Associated Press in a 1995 radio interview. 

Entwistle's fingers raced across his bass, but he stood silently on stage in contrast to hyperactive guitarist Pete Townshend and lead singer Roger Daltrey. 

Ray Manzarek, keyboardist for the Doors, called Entwistle "one of the great, great rock 'n' roll bassists of all time. A real genius." 

"He just was the most humble rock star I have ever met, besides having the best hands of any bass player in the history of rock and roll," said rocker Sammy Hagar. 

Entwistle's songwriting contributions to the band were minimal compared with those of the prolific Townshend. He penned "Boris the Spider" and "My Wife," among other songs, but no big hits. Yet he was the only member of the band with formal musical training. 

He was among the first in rock to experiment with the six- and eight-string bass, and he also played the French horn. 

"As a musician, he did for the bass guitar what Jimi Hendrix did for the guitar," said Luongo, 49, who played drums in The John Entwistle Band for the last 15 years. 

Entwistle was born Oct. 9, 1944, in London, and played piano and trumpet in his early years. He met Townshend and Daltrey in his high school years and by 1964 the band was born. 

The Who played at the first Woodstock, opening with Entwistle's "Heaven and Hell," and churned out a succession of albums, including "My Generation," "Happy Jack," "The Who Sell Out," "Who's Next," "Quadrophenia," "Who Are You" and "The Kids Are Alright." 

They also made 1969's groundbreaking rock opera, "Tommy," about a deaf, dumb and blind messiah. The album was turned into a film starring Ann-Margret in 1975 and later into a Broadway show. 

The Who have sold 18 million albums, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. They have had 14 gold albums, 10 platinum and five multiplatinum. 

Entwistle in many instances improvised as much as guitarist Townshend, who once said the bass player provided more lead material than he did. 

"A lot of my playing is improvising," Entwistle explained to Bass Frontiers magazine in 1996. "I will just discover different little patterns or riffs in any key at anytime. Somewhere in my brain I have a list of things I can play. It's a matter of putting them in the right order." 

He released the first of his nine solo albums in 1971, and later formed his own ensemble, Ox, while continuing to play with The Who. 

The Who retired in 1982 but reunited and toured frequently. They gave a rousing performance at last year's "Concert for New York," which raised money for the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Their latest album, "Ultimate Collection," entered the Billboard charts two weeks ago at No. 31. 

They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. 

Entwistle was also an artist and was in Las Vegas in part to open a show at the Grammy's Art of Music Gallery at the Aladdin Hotel-Casino. His work included cartoon-type portraits of himself and his fellow band members. 

Memories of John Entwistle
By JOHN KENDLE -- Winnipeg Sun

News of John Entwistle's death of a heart attack yesterday in Las Vegas affected many Winnipeggers yesterday. 

Apart from those who saw the band when it performed in Winnipeg in 1976 and also in the late '60s, several people remembered Entwistle's show at the Diamond Club, in the old Garden City Inn, in 1989. 

Playing with a group which included former Prism singer Henry Small, Entwistle put on a show featuring his solo material as well as Who staples Boris the Spider and Squeezebox. 

The club was jammed that night, and I remember doing a telephone interview with Entwistle on a Saturday afternoon before the gig. 

He was quite apologetic about forcing me to work on a Saturday and explained that he was touring with a solo band because he loved the road so much. 

"That was one show where I didn't mind getting a hassle from the road manager," said Rob Hoskin, the Winnipeg agent who booked the gig. "He was The Who's road manager as well, and Entwistle was a gentleman." 

John Entwistle, 57, bassist for The Who, dies
By Ken Barnes, USA TODAY
John Entwistle, bass player for The Who for the 38-year lifespan of the band, was found dead in his Las Vegas hotel room Thursday. The 57-year-old musician suffered a heart attack, according to a Clark County, Nev., fire spokesman.
The Who had been set to begin an American tour tonight in Las Vegas, and had just announced the addition of seven dates to the original 21-date schedule. The opening-night show was canceled, as were three concerts in California - Saturday in Irvine, Monday in Los Angeles and Wednesday in Mountain View.
Entwistle was known as "the quiet one" in The Who, a band of volatile personalities onstage and off. Standing stock-still and expressionless, Entwistle was described as the "temple of anchored watts" who provided the foundation for Pete Townshend's guitar pyrotechnics, singer Roger Daltrey's microphone-twirling and Keith Moon's anarchic drumming. (Moon died in 1978 at 31; in recent years, the group has used Zak Starkey, Ringo Starr's son, as its drummer.)
Born in London on Oct. 9, 1944, Entwistle was formally trained in music and played the French horn with a youth orchestra. He met Townshend in 1958, and they began playing Dixieland jazz. In 1960, he joined Daltrey in The Detours in the Shepherd's Bush neighborhood of London, quickly adding Townshend and enlisting Moon in 1964. As the High Numbers, they recorded a single that year, then changed their name to The Who and electrified the British charts with six consecutive top 10 hits in 1965-66, including the anthemic My Generation.
Success in the USA was delayed until Happy Jack reached the top 30 in 1967. Their pioneering 1969 rock opera, Tommy, and a series of tours established the group as a world-class rock band, to some the equal or superior of the Rolling Stones as the best live band of the day. They were among the first bands to use feedback as a guitar effect, and became notorious for destroying instruments at the climax of concerts.
Along with contributing innovative bass stylings to The Who's recordings (he was one of the first rock bassists to take a solo break, on My Generation), Entwistle played french horn and sang. He also wrote a number of well-known tracks for the band, including concert favorite Boris the Spider, My Wife, Whiskey Man, Heaven and Hell and Tommy tracks Cousin Kevin and Fiddle About. His songs were marked by their macabre, darkly humorous imagery and were firm favorites among the Who faithful.
Entwistle recorded half a dozen solo studio albums, starting with 1971's Smash Your Head Against the Wall but met with little commercial success outside of the group. A collection of his solo works, Thunderfingers, was released in 1996.
The Who broke up in 1982, but reunited for Live Aid in 1985, a tour in 1989 celebrating the 20th anniversary of Tommy, and a series of live dates in the '90s. There had been discussions about recording a new Who album after the conclusion of the fall 2002 tour.

Tributes Flow in for Who Bassist John Entwistle 
Fri Jun 28,11:07 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Tributes flowed in on Friday for John Entwistle,  bass guitarist with rock group The Who, who died of a suspected heart attack on Thursday. 
The group was about to begin a North American tour when Entwistle was found dead in a Las Vegas hotel. 
"The entire Who family is terribly saddened by John's passing," said manager Bill Curbishley. 
"Our deepest sympathies go out to his family, friends and the millions of Who fans the world over," he said in a statement. 
Fellow Who members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey were said to be too upset to comment, but they posted a message to their friend, affectionately called "the Ox." 
"The Ox has left the building -- we've lost another great friend. Thanks for your support and love. Pete and Roger," they wrote on Townshend's Web Site .
Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, another bassist, called Entwistle "a great friend for many years -- the quietest man in private but the loudest on stage! 
"He was unique and irreplaceable -- I am shocked and devastated, he said.
Fan sites also carried many tributes -- www.thewho.net changed its front page in Entwistle's honor. 
"Dear John, Thank you for all the wonderful music and wonderful times -- you will live forever in our hearts and our minds. Sincerely, Scott C. Smith," the page read. 
Entwistle's family said his death had left "an irreplaceable void," and thanked fans and friends for their support. 
"We, his family, are deeply grateful for the many tributes and messages of condolence that we have received," they said. 
"He will be mourned deeply by his family and many friends... it is a terrible loss to all who knew him and his many, many fans," the family said in a statement. 

John Entwistle: 1944-2002
Bassist for The Who found dead in Las Vegas hotel room


By J.M. KALIL
 LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL  

John Entwistle, the quiet bassist who co-founded The Who and helped anchor the British rock band's explosive performances with his precise playing, was found dead of an apparent heart attack Thursday in his suite at the Hard Rock Hotel. He was 57. 

Nothing about Entwistle's death appeared suspicious, authorities said, but an autopsy is scheduled for today. 

"At this point, everything points toward a natural death," said Lt. Tom Monahan of the Metropolitan Police Department. "There is no indication whatsoever of a drug overdose or any involvement of violence." 

The death of the musician came a day before the band was to kick off a three-month North American tour with a concert at the Hard Rock Hotel. That performance was canceled, but plans for the rest of the tour remained uncertain Thursday evening. 

Authorities responded about noon to a 911 call from Entwistle's sixth-floor suite, where he was found unresponsive in his bed. 

Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said paramedics responded to the "apparent heart attack death" of the legendary bassist. 

Homicide detectives were assigned to investigate the incident, but police stressed that their involvement did not indicate foul play was suspected. 

"We're here to make sure all the bases are covered, so there's no questions later," Monahan said. 

With the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, The Who was among the most successful of the British Invasion bands that stormed American charts in the early 1960s. 

After forming in London in 1960, The Who captured the rebellious spirit of the time with their early hit anthem "My Generation" before going on to sell millions of records featuring guitar-driven songs such as "I Can't Explain," "Substitute," "Pinball Wizard," "I Can See For Miles," "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again." 

Next to drummer Keith Moon's pounding backbeat, singer Roger Daltrey's roaring howl and guitarist Pete Townshend's blistering fretwork, the stoic Entwistle was often the least noticed and appreciated when the band was on stage. 

But he was a steady force in the group, securing the band's sound with a solid foundation during its scorching live shows, which continued long after Moon died nearly a quarter-century ago of an overdose at age 31. 

Entwistle was considered to be among the greatest bassists in rock history. "A real genius," Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek told The Associated Press. 

Like Moon, Entwistle died in his sleep, said Bill Curbishley, the band's manager. "The entire Who family is terribly saddened by John's passing," Curbishley said. 

As fans at the Hard Rock left flowers at the doors of the venue Entwistle was to perform at tonight, crime scene analysts snapped photographs, and detectives collected statements and evidence inside Entwistle's room. 

Just after 5 p.m., officials moved Entwistle's body from room 660 and transported it to the Clark County coroner's office, where medical examiner Dr. Gary Telgenhoff is scheduled to perform an autopsy. An official cause of death will not be released for two to four weeks after toxicological tests on blood are complete. 

"It was hard enough without one of them when Keith Moon died, but without John, it won't be the same," fan James Merchon said while mourning at the Hard Rock. 

Merchon, who came from Arlington, Texas, to see the band's first show of the tour, said Entwistle was among the most underappreciated bassists in rock music. 

"He played the bass like it was a lead instrument," he said. "His fingers had such melody." 
Like a lot of Who fans, P Moss found himself seeking comfort at the Hard Rock. 

Moss, owner of the Double Down Saloon at 4640 Paradise Road, came to the hotel after hearing of Entwistle's death. 

"I feel like I lost something," he said while having a drink at one of the Hard Rock's bars. "It was kind of a silly thing to do. I wanted to go to the bar and have a couple of drinks, and I just found myself gravitating toward here." 

Dr. Peter Pinto and about 15 to 20 friends mourning at the hotel Thursday identified themselves as "Who Freaks" who have partied with the band many times. 

"John was just as important as a lead guitar," said Pinto, a 44-year-old chiropractor from Phoenix who has attended about 80 Who concerts. "He's what made The Who The Who." 

In recent years, Entwistle became noted for his whimsical artwork, which featured caricatures of famous rockers. 

On Wednesday night, he had been at the Aladdin preparing to unveil his latest piece, "Eyes Wide Shut," at the Grammy's Art of Music Gallery in the resort's Desert Passage mall. 

Entwistle had been scheduled to sign copies of his work Wednesday evening but put the event off until Thursday. 

He was born John Alec Entwistle on Oct. 9, 1944, in Chiswick, England. 

He took piano lessons during his early years before switching to trumpet and later to bass. When he joined an early version of The Who, then called The Detours, Entwistle was the only member of the band with formal musical training. 

After the band's early hits, The Who scored massive success during the psychedelic era, recording concept albums such as 1967's "The Who Sell Out." In 1969, they released the landmark rock opera "Tommy" and performed at Woodstock. 

As The Who moved into their second decade playing music together, they settled on a more straight-ahead rock sound that they honed in live performances throughout the 1970s. During that decade, they released such classic albums as "Who's Next" and "Quadrophenia." 

The band retired in 1982 but reunited and toured frequently. In 1990, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Review-Journal writers K.C. Howard and Bret Sigler contributed to this report.



Calm Entwistle had 'an aura of cool'
The Who's bassist remembered 
as one of the best musicians in the world

By DOUG ELFMAN 
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL  

Las Vegas attorney Joe Ganley snuck backstage at the Aladdin after a Who concert in 1994. As a kid, Ganley had dreamed of seeing The Who play in his back yard. Now, there they were in front of him. Everyone seemed to be smoking cigarettes and drinking Heinekens out of cans from a sink. It was bassist John Entwistle's birthday, yet he acted the least silly. 

Entwistle told Ganley he enjoyed the Aladdin theater, the loud fans and the sight of a stripper who popped out of a cake onstage. 

"That was a treat," Entwistle said. 

A few years later, Entwistle would be named rock music's "Bassist of the Millennium" by Bassist Magazine. He was already known as "The Ox," for standing calm among the bloodier players in the guitar-smashing, drum-destroying rock band, The Who. 

So on Thursday, as news went out around the world that Entwistle had died in Las Vegas, baby boomers and some of their kids fell into mourning. Quite a few fans doubted that The Who, one of music's most influential bands, could recover with only two of the four original members still alive. 

"I can't imagine they can go on," Ganley, 37, said. "I'd hate to say he's the most replaceable of the three, but he is. But having said that, he was irreplaceable, and I'd think (guitarist) Pete Townshend would say he's irreplaceable, too." 

The band was supposed to play the Hard Rock tonight. The show will not go on. More heartbreak: The band had been working on its first new album in 20 years and planned to perform a few new songs here. 

Many Las Vegas fans who knew Entwistle or met him thought of him as a "pretty good drinker," a quiet but smart and witty English gentleman, and a bassist who played fun but complex bass lines quicker and more accurately than just about anybody. 

So said Ed Roman, of Ed Roman Guitars, who crafted basses for Entwistle. Roman occasionally drank with him, and watched Entwistle flirt with Roman's wife. 

"John wasn't always happiest when he was on the road with The Who. He'd have to go to `Who jail,' " Roman said. 

Entwistle seemed to prefer playing in his own John Entwistle band, and drawing pen-and-ink and watercolor art. 

Onstage, Entwistle played with three or four fingers "at the speed of light," Roman said. "He had the ability to pop, funk-pop, but he played a whole different style. Of all the bass players on the planet, up until today, he would be my first choice if I had to put together a supergroup. 

"He never sweat. It was like he was above it. He had this charisma around him. He had this halo. It's an aura of cool." 

Regarding his art: Entwistle drew portraits of himself, his bandmates and other rock superstars. He was supposed to present two dozen original drawings and prints at the Art of Music gallery at the Aladdin on Thursday. That show went on without him.

The Who eventually became popular Las Vegas act

	By MIKE WEATHERFORD 
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL  

Who weren't too popular in Las Vegas during the band's '60s and early '70s heyday, when, as Pete Townshend put it, the electric guitar "created one of the greatest generational schisms that's ever been." 

But when the baby-boomer era of rock fans became the ideal Las Vegas customer, the band became an eagerly anticipated guest. 

The band's respected but stoic bassist John Entwistle even celebrated his 50th birthday with Roger Daltrey on a Las Vegas stage. 

It was telling of his generation's livelihood that he twice visited the city for computer industry events in the '90s. 

In November 1992, Entwistle was one of several classic rockers -- including Graham Nash, Todd Rundgren and Jon Anderson of Yes -- who took part in the Comdex-related "Grand Scientific Musical Theater" concert at the Thomas & Mack Center. 

But real Who music reached Las Vegas two years later, on Oct. 9, 1994, at the Aladdin, when Entwistle joined Daltrey as a special guest for "Daltrey Sings Townshend." 
The show was the same week as concerts by the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith and drew a meager 2,800 fans. 

Still, the loyal cheered loudly to help Entwistle celebrate his 50th birthday when a topless dancer broke out of a giant cake. 

That tour was the seed of an official Who reunion. Daltrey and Entwistle connected so well with drummer Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr, that it overcame the still-lingering issue of how to move past the loss of Keith Moon in 1978. 

The three-man Who played by their real name -- though Townshend claimed, "John decided to call the band Ted on this tour" -- in the form of a theatrical "Quadrophenia" concert at the MGM Grand Garden in October 1996. 

Entwistle had been touring small clubs with his own John Entwistle Band that year. Of his own cultlike solo career he noted: "I wanted to build a band around myself, but the record company wanted solo records instead of me in a band. I wasted a lot of time." 

Commenting on their fragmented state at that time, Townshend lamented that Daltrey had not found an identity outside The Who. 

"John's managed to jump it," Townshend added. "He put a band together. They make albums and deal with the fact that they don't sell hundreds of thousands of albums." 

"We agree to disagree most of the time," Entwistle said of his on-again, off-again relationship with Townshend. 

The multimedia "Quadrophenia" concert was another Las Vegas disappointment from a promoter's standpoint, and even divided fans on whether it was overblown indulgence or a worthy attempt not to repeat the past. 

But all could agree on the poignant encore, which included a semi-acoustic version of "Won't Get Fooled Again." The balding Townshend harmonized with a still-virile Daltrey, while Entwistle kept his usual distance with his rumbling bass. 

The band was lured back to the MGM in October 1999 by a fat check and the promise of stock in a dot-com start-up called Pixelon. The company's promotional "i-bash" was intended to showcase a new full-screen Internet video technology. Who tickets went for only $10, and the gate was to be donated to charity. 

The technology didn't work, and the company's head, Michael Fenne, was later exposed as an imposter named David Stanley who was wanted by police. 

It was a better night for The Who and fans. They saw the band unencumbered by horns or background singers, hunkering down to play the hits loudly. 

The night before the show, Entwistle held court on a sofa at the House of Blues Foundation Room on top of Mandalay Bay. 

Entwistle was happy to make small talk with total strangers, and volunteered he would sing "The Quiet One" at the following evening's concert. 

The good karma ended when some guy loudly and obnoxiously asked, "Where's Pete?" 

"How the (expletive) would I know? I'm not his (expletive) keeper," Entwistle shot back, creating an awkward silence. 

Even with The Who, he was his own man.