What's so special about John Entwistle?

[Peteyboy]

By the way, who loks at his fretboard anyway?

Just wondering.
S

I often do...

 

[HanPogo]

...you're kidding, right? If you ever had the chance see the man live, it would have blown your mind... he could play with all 4 fingers of his right hand...a monster...

All 4 fingers?

"ol' mumble fingers"... DANG! Ya know... that little thing he does in "My Generation"... pretty epic... for 1967... wasn't dubbed "the ox" for nuttin'... hat's off John...

 

[Gwyn ap Nudd]

Yes. Badge is a great tune. I think Clapton wrote that with George Harrison.

And Harrison played rhythm guitar on the recording.

 

[Lindoom]

not one mention of Dreaming from the waist in all this shame shame shame any live version will do go listen that is all it should take yep that should do it

 

[John Tomaselli]

His Distinct Sound and the Ability to Fill. He is a True Electric Bass Guitarist

 

[mark harison]

He is simply one of the best bass players ever. Listen to his bass solo on "Who Are You". He's playing that solo with his fingers. I don't know many bass players that could play that fast with a pick. Awesome.

 

[Skokiaan]

He is simply one of the best bass players ever. Listen to his bass solo on "Who Are You". He's playing that solo with his fingers. I don't know many bass players that could play that fast with a pick. Awesome.

There is no bass solo on "Who Are You."

 

[mark harison]

Listen with good speakers at around 2:25 in during the break Entwistle solos
Perhaps you just missed it.

 

[StereoPlayer]

Listen with good speakers at around 2:25 in during the break Entwistle solos
Perhaps you just missed it.

Isn't that Pete on guitar? I heard it on a demo recording.

 

[Briton]

I cannot here John at all during that segment, I think what you are referring to is Pete playing an Acoustic, well that is how it sounds to me.

 

[mark harison]

I cannot here John at all during that segment, I think what you are referring to is Pete playing an Acoustic, well that is how it sounds to me.

It's clearly a bass riffing . That isn't Pete's style of playing and he can't play that fast. You can hear his finger plucking the strings.

 

[jbhaugh]

Even if that were a bass solo, which I'm pretty sure it isn't (timbre is much closer to acoustic guitar than electric bass), I wouldn't put that particular passage forward as evidence of greatness.

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

There is no bass solo on "Who Are You."

That is Pete on acoustic. He does it live, and they are "pull offs" chromaticswith a run or two.

 

[mark harison]

That is Pete on acoustic. He does it live, and they are "pull offs" chromaticswith a run or two.

Well I stand corrected. We'll agree to disagree because it sure doesn't sound like an acoustic guitar by any means.

 

[StereoPlayer]

Well I stand corrected. We'll agree to disagree because it sure doesn't sound like an acoustic guitar by any means.

I have the Pete Townsend demo of this song. He played all the parts on the demo. I sounds to me like they used the part in the song.
I know that is Pete playing that solo.

 

[Briton]

Well I stand corrected. We'll agree to disagree because it sure doesn't sound like an acoustic guitar by any means.

I think you need to get your ears tested mate!

 

[Gwyn ap Nudd]

Listen with good speakers at around 2:25 in during the break Entwistle solos
Perhaps you just missed it.

Maybe the live set would help.

 

[Julian G]

To have an electric bass guitar solo in My Generation their first single (I believe it was) at a time when people were still getting used to what an electric bass was, was a revolution in itself.

The adlibs, the fills he seemed to do effortlessly whilst still holding the whole song together. At times Keith Moon and Pete Townshend were all over the place but the song stayed in place, stayed in shape because of the talent of Mr. John Entwistle.

 

[Lindoom]

true dat! what Julian G said.

 

[Roger W]

Yes Pete Townsend broadened his horizons by incorporating synthesizers, but his main role in the Who was guitar player, his skills as a guitar player was less than the skills of his contemporaries, such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix etc. Perhaps he realised this himself and perhaps that is what motivated his investigation and utilisation of synthesizers and sequencers. And as agreed before Yes, Pete can write a song.

Like I stated on my first post in this thread, John Entwistle did really well to cover for his other band members, perhaps that is why he played so many notes, why he needed to develop such a bright cutting sound.

I see the Who as primarily a Bass Player driven band. Take Entwistle out when they were in their formative years, what would you get? A mod band with maybe couple of hits at a guess.

Entwistle is the one that makes that band different.

I think I see the problem here. You're essentially saying that Pete is the sole guitar player in the Who and therefore should be compared with other people who were also the sole guitar player. You mention Clapton, Hendrix, and Beck. I don't think you know that when the Who were the Detours, Townsend was the rhythm guitar player and Roger Daltrey was the lead guitar player. Daltrey decided he'd rather be the singer and left Townsend as the only guitarist. I also think you fail to understand that the Who inverted the standard musical roles so that the drums and bass were the lead instruments while guitar was provided rhythm with which ever of the other 2 were not playing lead at that moment.

If you're going to compare Townsend to other guitarists, you should choose guitarists such as John Lennon, David Crosby, Keith Richards, Paul Krassner, etc.