The Tale of The Who

On a late summer evening when you were four, a car drove past us as we played down by the big rock at the old apartment blaring the song "Baba O'Riley" by The Who.  It had been a while since I'd heard it and I had forgotten the sheer joy of the song.  I showed you Pete Townshend's trademark windmill guitar playing, which made you laugh, and you asked to hear the song.  I only had Who's Next on an LP and since we had no record player at the time, I downloaded it from iTunes for you.

You fell in love with it instantly.

And thus began for you a love affair with The Who--and a revival of one for me.  You listened to their songs thousands of times--on your iPod, on my albums, on my CDs, on the countless DVDs we bought for you.  I was amazed  at how even after thousands of listens (unlike, say, Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping") it just never got old (your mother would beg to differ, though).  And how much I loved listening to them even more.

We watched countless youtube performances and I learned how good they were live (I had seen them twice, both times after the death of Keith Moon--enjoyable, but not as good as the Moon days).  I learned that they had a charitable foundation through which they had funneled millions of dollars.  I learned that Pete Townshend was the first to make his rhythm section more than just a rhythm section--"Baba O'Riley" is the perfect embodiment of this, but to watch and listen to other songs you can see again and again what an integral part of the band John Entwistle and Keith Moon were.  And how much better they made the music.  I watched them age (and you learned what aging was after seeing them on the Super Bowl halftime show when they were in their sixties and at Kilbourn when they were in their thirties).  I learned that Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey may not have always seen eye to eye (or even fist to eye), but as they aged you could see them enjoy each other's talents more so than ever.

You heard things I'd never noticed--the snippet of "Pure and Easy" in "The Song Is Over," Townshend playing the tambourine on "Baba O'Riley," the hand claps in "Who Are You."  I saw how diverse their music really was, heard so many songs for the hundredth time like they were brand new.

But most of all, thanks to your love for them, I learned that The Who are, in my humble opinion, without a doubt the greatest rock band to ever walk the face of this earth.

                                                                     The End