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{DOWNLOAD} Pete Townshend: Who I Am Kindle PETE TOWNSHEND: WHO I AM PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Pete Townshend | 544 pages | 11 Oct 2012 | HarperCollins Publishers | 9780007466030 | English | London, United Kingdom Pete Townshend: Who I am PDF Book I get that, I don't like talking about myself much either. In one breath he talked of no money, in the next bought a new house or a new boat. Richards, Mr. One aim of this book is to add cachet to the rafts of art Townshend has floated since the death of the drummer Keith Moon effectively ended the Who, no matter how many tours and albums the surviving members worked up thereafter. Who I Am is an honest, unvarnished account of an artist's life - of the art he makes and the struggles he faces behind the stage curtain. I remember reading a Rolling Stone interview in the student bookstore of my university some eons ago, trying not to laugh too conspicuously while Pete held forth on various peers. The title is a play on words, referring to the Who's hit single, " Who Are You " as well as the album of the same name. It was published by HarperCollins in October in both book and e-book format, plus an unabridged CD audiobook read by Townshend. Rating details. Again, there are some laugh aloud moments and he writes well. Then sympathy for a man with an addictive profile who buried himself in work; work was infused with the drama of the times. Books Smashed Guitars and Other Damage. These passages not only provide some perspective on the slashing anger and violence that animated Mr. Tl;dr: I'm glad this book finally got published. There are three passages in his autobiography which made me laugh out loud in particular. Details if other :. He also talks about his battles with alcohol, drugs, relationships, fidelity, and his own sexuality, but the main focus is on his creative process. From rock punk to rock "god", pauper to strangely wealthy, Townshend puts it all out there. Show More. But if you want the story of the onetime greatest rock 'n' roll band all due respect to the Stones , stick with Dave Marsh or the interviews. But that's me, not a flaw of the book, and Quadrophenia , Townshend's genuine masterpiece, is covered generously enough. In fact, he has written numerous short stories, worked as an editor at Faber and authored columns for British music magazines. The first was when Pete and Roger Daltrey lead singer of The Who and an accomplished actor as well were attending a party in the early s. He talks about his family, marriage, kids, sexuality, his troubles, addictions, spirituality and music highlights. Without a doubt The Who was a major band in their time and place. Even a nasty drunk knew better than to provoke him. The books shortcomings are surprisingly in its structure. Partly because I got the joke. I had many joyful experiences in the garage band days. Or, if instead of Moon it had been Roger Daltry who had an untimely demise and had been replaced with, say, Billy Joel. I just wish it had been a bit more artful. One passage that stands out is when Pete refers to having to battle heroin addiction in the s, without ever previously stating that he had taken the drug. He tells us about being abused as a child and lasting feelings of shame, anger and anxiety. But unlike someone like Bob Dylan or Patti Smith both books by these artists are more superior than Pete or Neil's are basically unique figures who rock because it is in their instinct to rock. She came to get me and picked me up on the road in Dry Brook. Unfortunately, such descriptions tend to feel like rote recitations of stories Mr. Nearly pages, it took months to read and at the end was a bit of a chore to finish. And yet for all the boats, houses and mixing boards he buys, there's rarely a sense that he's about to hit the poorhouse -- though he talks about his thin savings time and time again. The Pale Horse. The Observer. Would not recommend! Here, there is no sense of papering over past conflict. Still, I can't help but think how much more this book could have been, especially given the undeniable talent Pete's shown in so many interviews and essays rhapsodizing on rock and roll as well as his role in making it a unique art form. Included is the period he lived with his unstable grandmother, during which time he reports fragmentary memories of sexual abuse at the hands of her suitors. Moreover, it's obvious that Townshend has occasionally lived a life of financial as well as physical excess. Pete Townshend: Who I am Writer After this and more, it's amazing that on p. He spends all of a page and a half on the Cincinnati concert where 11 fans died in a stampede. Views Read Edit View history. How is it possible for the lead guitarist and songwriter of one of the world's iconic rock bands to make a memoir so utterly boring? I expected as much from Mr. He also talks about his battles with alcohol, drugs, relationships, fidelity, and his own sexuality, but the main focus is on his creative process. Retrieved 7 January Show More. Reading the memoir I was struck at just how many wonderful songs he has written. I had to go to Wikipedia to learn what the religion was about. And he is an amazingly generous evaluator of others' music, sometimes to a fawning extreme. I know that's to be expected; Pete's the tortured artist and Rod's the eternal playboy, but it was more than that. In his work with The Who and his earlier solo efforts, Pete was often a songwriter nonpareil. Clamor of seabirdsas the sun falls—I look upand ten years have passed. Classic rock albums yes, but essential Who It seems somehow appropriate to draw p Much of what I read was much the same as the tales of my other pop heroes. HarperCollins Publishers. Townshend says he remembers seeing him warm up backstage in and swinging his arms like a windmill; when he noticed that Mr. I should have been suspicious after reading Eric Clapton's memoir - another asshole - because Eric is friends with Pete - hmmm. There are great stories of the Who's greatest albums. Plus Created with Sketch. Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata EngvarB from September Use dmy dates from September His tone is less lofty than anyone would have expected, just as this book is more honest than any fan would have hoped. Jun 18, Brett C rated it liked it Shelves: memoirs. Rod's book written with a "real" writer seemed more authentic, very true to his voice. Springsteen, but Pete beat you by a good five or six years. Oct 09, Tony Nielsen rated it it was amazing. Really, if you want a list of the most sympathetic figures in the book, it would begin, 1. I started this on a Wednesday flight down to Florida from Detroit to visit grandparents and I finished it the following Monday, two very busy days after I returned. Also to be discovered is Pete's need to use 'big words' that chased me to seek the assistance of Webster sometimes three times on one page. Pete mentions this with a completely straight face, offers no comment whatsoever. And, I also admitted that I was 'pretty good' Pete Townshend: Who I am Reviews I think if I had been reading this I would not have finished it. The A. Lots of talk about the women he bedded, the boats he bought, his quest to know Avatar Meher Baba without ever explaining the attraction to him in a way in which the reader can relate , the "process" he went through writing songs, the myriad ways his work influenced others he takes a good bit of credit for the sounds of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and others , but he gives no details on the things most readers want to know about. Pete sees the Nicolas Roeg film Bad Timing. 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. He said that the "pretentiousness" and the "endless [ As for Mr. Then, sadness again that he lost out on warmth and love as a child, and seems unable to find connection as an adult. Too much telling and not enough showing. In fact, the editing of this entire volume sometimes feels odd: while the reader gets far too much information about Mr. He does address in detail the controversial use of his credit card to register with a website advertising child pornography, which he claimed was research for his campaign against child pornography on the internet. Having long resisted the sexual and pharmacological stupidities of the rock lifestyle and succumbed with palpable reluctance when he did, he takes pains to examine his faults and tell stories that make him look bad — although not, to be clear, about the child pornography charges that hit him in , which he argues altogether credibly occurred only because he was campaigning against such images. And he tells us about being arrested on suspicion of possessing images taken from a child-pornography Web site. No not to me. After all his years of musical confessions, Pete Townshend still has secrets to get off his chest.
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