Who I Am

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From the voice of a generation The most highly anticipated autobiography of the year, and the story of a man who is a Londoner and a Mod wanted The Who to be called The Hair loved The Everly Brothers, but not that drawling dope Elvis wanted to be a sculptor, a journalist, a dancer and a graphic designer became a musician, composer, librettist, fiction writer, literary editor, sailor smashed his first guitar onstage, in 1964, by accident heard the voice of God on a vibrating bed in rural Illinois invented the Marshall stack, feedback and the concept album once speared Abbie Hoffman in the neck with the head of his guitar inspired Jimi Hendrix s pyrotechnical stagecraft is partially deaf in his left ear stole his windmill guitar playing from Keith Richards followed Keith Moon off a hotel balcony into a pool and nearly died did too much cocaine and nearly died drank too much and nearly died detached from his body in an airplane, on LSD, and nearly died helped rescue Eric Clapton from heroin is banned for life from Holiday Inns was embroiled in a tabloid scandal that has dogged him ever since has some explaining to do is the most literary and literate musician of the last 50 years planned to write his memoir when he was 21 published this book at 67. Best Download Who I Am Author Pete Townshend For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr I really wanted to love this book I love the Who, and I m a huge fan of Townshend s solo work up until sometime in the early 90s Empty Glass and Chinese Eyes are just stellar albumsand Quadrophenia was for years my most often played album I read Keith Richards autobio, and loved it, and I m a much bigger Who fan, so I was sure I d be in love with this book toobut no It s way too self indulgent, self important, and frustrating in the author s inability to make prose readable or make an I really wanted to love this book I love the Who, and I m a huge fan of Townshend s solo work up until sometime in the early 90s Empty Glass and Chinese Eyes are just stellar albumsand Quadrophenia was for years my most often played album I read Keith Richards autobio, and loved it, and I m a much bigger Who fan, so I was sure I d be in love with this book toobut no It s way too self indulgent, self important, and frustrating in the author s inability to make prose readable or make anecdotes dance with life It was, at momentsboring Oh, he s goi...I just don t know what to make of this Is my tepid feeling for the book about the book or about or Townshend The band, as the first pages says, is Roger s thing, but everything that follows says that it s Pete s thing Pete is not just writing music he s making personnel decisions he s negotiating with managers, lawyers, signing rights He s well into Quadrophenia before any mention of input from the band is mentioned After this and , it s amazing that on p 346, Townsend says Roger was I just don t know what to make of this Is my tepid feeling for the book about the book or about or Townshend The band, as the first pages says, is Roger s thing, but everything that follows says that it s Pete s thing Pete is not just writing music he s making personnel decisions he s negotiating with managers, lawyers, signing rights He s well into Quadrophenia before any mention of input from the band is mentioned After this and , it s amazing that on p 346, Townsend says Roger was the unquestionable leaderbut Roger was the leader and always had been This is just one of many non sequitors, large and small There is his mother who ignores him throughout childhood only to clean his apartment at night once h...As a long time Who fan I ve been looking forward to Pete Townsend s frank appraisal of life with the Who and beyond I first saw them live in Auckland, New Zealand in the late sixties, and for many years kept a small piece of Keith Moon s drum kit which I souvenired after he demolished it at the concert s finale Keith Richard s Life has pretty much been accepted as the bnenchmark for rock musician s memoirs in recent times In my view Townsend at least matches it, if not eclipses it Certainl As a long time Who fan I ve been looking forward to Pete Townsend s frank appraisal of life with the Who and beyond I first saw them live in Auckland, New Zealand in the late sixties, and for many years kept a small piece of Keith Moon s drum kit which I souvenired after he demolished it at the concert s finale Keith Richard s Life has pretty much been accepted as the bnenchmark for rock musician s memoirs in recent times In my view Townsend at least matches it, if not eclipses it Certainly, while there is some commonality between Keef and Pete on their substance intake, Townsend s biggest issue isemotionally based, with self doubt and depression, prominent bed fellows until fairly recently What also shines through though is his creative drive and constant quest to grow his musicality, and with no recognition of boundaries So, yes I guess the moniker troubled genius is the dominant one He s not always easy to like but he s definitely honest and sincere...I must admit, I m really waffling on whether Pete gets two or three stars I confess that I m a sucker for a rock book I tend to leap into them without coming up for air until the last page is turned This book was no different, but I can t say that it was the scintillating prose that kept me enthralled Maybe my expectations were too great In his work with The Who and his earlier solo efforts, Pete was often a songwriter nonpareil His various interviews not only showed him to be an entertain I must admit, I m really waffling on whether Pete gets two or three stars I confess that I m a sucker for a rock book I tend to leap into them without coming up for air until the last page is turned This book was no different, but I can t say that it was the scintillating prose that kept me enthralled Maybe my expectations were too great In his work with The Who and his earlier solo efforts, Pete was often a songwriter nonpareil His various interviews not only showed him to be an entertaining storyteller but one of the first true rock music philosophers all apologies to Mr Springsteen, but Pete beat you by a good five or six years Too much of this memoir seems to bea perfunctory listing of facts with little exploration of what s being written One passage that stands out is when Pete refers to having to battle heroin addiction in the 1980s, without ever previously stating that he had taken the drug Another fault is the short shrift given to some of the mu...As a long time admirer of Pete Townshend s songwriting and musicianship, both as part of The Who and as a solo artist, I was a bit nervous about reading this book It can be very disillusioning to discover that people we look up to as inspirations are, in fact, real people, and may not correspond at all with the lofty ideals we build about them in our own minds and dreams.Let me say that on finishing Who I Am, my admiration for Pete Townshend both as an artist and as a person has only deepened As a long time admirer of Pete Townshend s songwriting and musicianship, both as part of The Who and as a solo artist, I was a bit nervous about reading this book It can be very disillusioning to discover that people we look up to as inspirations are, in fact, real people, and may not correspond at all wi...Without a doubt The Who was a major band in their time and place Also Pete Townshend surrounded himself with great eccentric figures Keith Moon, Kit Lambert, Nic Cohn, Chris Stamp, John Entwistle,and the first Who manager and visionary Pete Meaden How I would love to hear stories about these guys from Townsend, but what we get i...Much of what I read was much the same as the tales of my other pop heroes I did learn about his great love for and understanding of the technical chores and challanges of recording Also to be discoveredis Pete s need to use big words that chased me to seek the assistance of Webster sometimes three times on one page Yes, I do feel mixed I am both annoyed and challenged to better my own vocabularyoverall.you went to the thesaurus too often Pete.It seems somehow appropriate to draw p Much of what I read was much ... Every year is the sameAnd I feel it againI m a loser, no chance to winLeaves start fallingComedown is callingLoneliness starts sinking inBut I m one I m One Goodbye all you punksStay young and stay highHand me my chequebookAnd I ll crawl out to die They Are All In LoveThe Beatles Were Over With Herman s HermitsPete Townshend has long been my favorite personality in rock music, aside from all the obvious credentials, for being the best interview in the business, Exhibit A being the concert docu Every year is the sameAnd I feel it againI m a loser, no chance t...The Who was my favorite band when I was a teenager When I began to make the transition from records and tapes to CDs, the first longbox I bought was Quadrophenia I started reading Who I Am in the middle, because I think Pete was most compelling when he was in his late 30s From 1980 to 1982, he released two solo albums and the Who released two albums None are great Empty Glass and Face Dances come close , but all are interesting The book adds meaning to the some of the songs from thi The Who was my favorite band when I was a teenager When I began to make the transition from records and tapes to CDs, the first longbox I bought was Quadrophenia I started reading Who I Am in the middle, because I think Pete was most compelling when he was in his late 30s From 1980 to 1982, he released two solo albums and the Who released two albums None are great Empty Glass and Face Dances come close , but all are interesting The book adds meaning to the some of the songs from this period A Littl...Painful read Thought I would never get thru it Was very highly reviewed which led me to choosing it for my book club Not a Who fan and found he went on endlessly about recording each and every album with details I am sure even fans would find too much.I...

Who I Am
  • English
  • 15 June 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 538 pages
  • Pete Townshend
  • Who I Am