Jay Farrar

Sweet man, that is all news to me. Pete always has interesting things to say.

I'll be first in line at my local independent when that come out.

Thanks for the info...

Love Quadrophenia.

from www.thewho.com

PETE'S BLOG
1st June, 2011
WHAT I'M DOING EVERYDAY

I am shut away in my home studio at the moment working to restore the demos of Quadrophenia. Bob Pridden is doing surround-sound mixes of selected tracks. Jon Astley is remastering the original vinyl mix, and evaluating his own 1996 remix (the one where you can properly hear Roger's astonishing vocals). I am sitting in a pile of notes, desk diaries, photos (I took a lot of my own between 1971-1973 when Quadrophenia emerged), original lyrics and writing liner notes.

I am really enjoying this work. Bob's mixes are mind-blowing. My demos are among the best I've ever done, and include some real quirky tracks that didn't make it onto the final album. I still find studio work strange – I have to have the speakers very low in volume, not what I'm used to. This package, due in October if all goes well, is another Live at Leeds and Hull – or even another Lifehouse Chronicles – in the making. You are going to love it. I hope so, because I am missing this summer sunshine to get it completed on time.

In my recent interview with my friend Simon Garfield for INTELLIGENT LIFE, I professed some difficulty in my interaction with fans as I grow older. What is so wonderful about working on Quadrophenia is that back in 1970, all the way through to the recording in 1973, the primary challenge for me was to tell the story of the Who's fans and at the same time address the wayward creative needs of the band as individuals and artists. The Who, and Jimmy as a kind of model for one or all of our fans, really had developed a powerful symbiosis that deserved a project like Quadrophenia both to honour the mechanism and address why it started to fail almost a soon as it had begun

So I am enjoying working with the music, but I'm enjoying writing about it too.

I sent Quadrophenia to my cousin for his 47th birthday last week. He had never heard it before. It's funny how we all miss out on certain albums.

One band I never quite got was The Replacements, although I know they have a pretty big fan base. I should have liked them, but I never did. That's the beauty of music...

My cousin was really digging Quadrophenia though. He called to thank me as it was playing in the background. That's about the first time that has happened. It has been my experience that people are going to like what they are going to like.

Now, it's my turn to like what he is going to send me for my birthday. I'm thinking it might be ELP's "Tarkus". Son of a...

Very nice! Thanks Mr. Owens.

Love this performance of 'The Real Me' by Pearl Jam-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jnQ3XVXMyk

They killed with 'Love Reign O'Er Me' on that honors show as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjB1r77JljM

Hell yeah. I keep wearing them out. I'm never putting this one away.

I wore out the grooves on this one. Headphones for sure.....................5:15!

"Cut My Hair" and "The Dirty Jobs" are classics. I really enjoy Daltrey's singing on this album. He was likely the most expendable member of the band, but they wouldn't be The Who without his presence. I actually owned the soundtrack first, so these songs were revelations when I heard them, along with the instrumentals.

An album I've only recently discovered for some reason is The Who By Numbers. I was really taken by the stripped-down and personal nature of it. Love Daltrey's singing on "How Many Friends".

I'm One is one of my favorite all time Who songs. I prefer the Studio album except for Sally Simpson.

I agree with Townsend's verdict that Quadrophenia was the best album he wrote. My preference is for the original version: Cut My Hair, The Dirty Jobs and Is It In My Head are on this but not on the soundtrack. I can take or leave the Chiffons.

The soundtrack is superior to the actual album. Both are great, but the soundtrack has a rawness to it. The missing sheen really allows the emotion to come through. Unfortunately, both instrumentals are not on it though.

The instrumentals on this album, "Quadrophenia" and "The Rock" are simply mind-blowing for me (I am trying to eliminate the word "amazing" from my vocabulary). I'm normally much more of a voice guy, but these tunes have always defied logic in their ability to paint a picture.

Having never been to California, I was always dumbfounded (again, avoiding "amazed") how John Steinbeck could take me to a place so real with just black print on a yellowing page.

I don't know if I have a point here, just that both artists take me to the same place, and they do it well.

Yeah, still drinking... but maintaining significantly better. I'm coming around.

Y'all have a great weekend.