A new book about rock legends The Who hit the stores recently , and it covers a specific period in the band’s history that until now, was not well documented. That period being approximately 1970-1973 that begins with Pete Townshend’s aborted “Lifehouse” project, and concluding with the recording and release of 1973’s “Quadrophenia”.
Excerpts from the new book titled “Won’t Get Fooled Again: The Who from Lifehouse To Quadrophenia” by Rock biographer Richie Unterberger have hit the internet and can be accessed here.
http://www.richieunterberger.com/whoexc1.html
One of the most fascinating excerpts is the first one, which details how NYC’s own Record Plant studios was in fact the first place The Who traveled to in order to try and record what was then to be titled “Lifehouse”. Although The Record Plant was by all accounts the “it” studio of the moment in terms of ambiance and technology, Townshend brought The Who to NYC specifically because the band’s then manager Kit Lambert was there working on an album for Patti Labelle.
Although relations between Townshend and Lambert were severely strained by this point, Pete was still eager to tap into Lambert’s ability to take the thoughts in his head and within his songs and help cobble it all together into a proper story. The two had previously collaborated in this fashion to great success on the “Tommy” LP.
Only problem was by almost all accounts, Lambert was a heroin addicted mess. What was supposed to be a two to three week recording session was quickly abandoned after two to three days, yielding no useable material.
The online excerpt highlights a comedy of errors and missteps, not the least of which where Kit calls in musician Felix Pappalardi to play organ on one of the tracks. Only problem was that Lambert thought he was getting Felix Cavaliere from The Young Rascals and he got the names mixed up. Pappalardi was actually a bass player, and when he showed up at The Record Plant with all his gear it considerably raised the ire of John Entwhistle, who confronted Pappalardi exclaiming “ I’m the bass player in the fucking Who!”
It’s all very rock and roll, and Unterberger as usual, does an amazing job of telling the stories, providing just enough context and quotations to give the reader the feeling of being there. A re-telling of an additional meeting between Townshend and Leslie West is also quite informative and very amusing.
“Won’t Get Fooled Again: The Who from Lifehouse To Quadrophenia” is available on Amazon.com and can also be purchased in most book stores, I would suppose.