“The problem with that is if I go back to that style, he won’t be able to hear a f**king thing”: Pete Townshend says Roger Daltrey wants him to play guitar like he did in the ’60s
Pete Townshend has been in the business for 60-odd years, so it’s only natural his approach to guitar playing has evolved since the early days. But as he explains in a new interview with The Telegraph, his bandmate Roger Daltrey wants him to recapture the more aggressive guitar playing of his younger self.
The Who have long had a reputation for being a band that’s loud as hell. In fact, the English rockers were named the world’s loudest band by the Guinness Book of World Records after a concert on May 31, 1976.
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But at 79 and 80, respectively, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are aware of their limitations, and how being mindful of excessive noise is key to their longevity going forward.
Townshend admits he has calmed down with age, and doesn’t plan on riffing with as much ferocity as his younger self. “Roger says he wants it to be ‘raw,’” Townshend says. “The problem with that is: if I go back to the style that I had back in the ‘60s, he won’t be able to hear a fucking thing.”
Ironically, Daltrey has also shared concerns about Townshend going deaf. Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2011, Daltrey revealed that “Pete is almost stone deaf.”
“He deafened himself in the recording studio, and when we last performed he had to stand right next to the speakers to hear anything,” he said. “I don’t know what Pete will do. I don’t want to do a tour and have him end up completely deaf!”
Elsewhere in the interview, Townshend expresses gratitude that The Who are still relevant today, some 60 years after their formation. “[Roger Daltrey and I are] both old men, and we’ve been through tumultuous times,” he says. “We’re at a point now when we both wake up in the morning, and one of the first things that we’ll think is that we’re lucky to be alive – and to still have an audience.”
Knowing that the people still want more, frontman Daltrey and Townshend have been considering their next move. “[We’ve recently talked] about the possibility of doing anything else,” he says. “We’re both a little bit ambivalent, but I’m pretty sure that we will. We have accepted an offer from Live Nation to do something in America.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
