Rock Music History 1973 – Part 4

The Two Careers of Roger Daltrey

by John Halsall; pictures Pieter Mazel/Mike Putland/Chris Walter
(from Music Scene, Nov. 1973)

Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle are The Who, one of Britain’s biggest heavy bands. As individuals, however, they also stand in their own right as creative performers. Inevitably, one is forced to deal with them one at the time, finding out about each one both as a member of the Who and as a solo performer.

Daltrey sits alone in BBC Green area dressing room No. 116. His only company being Comfort of the Southern type and he whiles away the hours waiting for a rehearsal call by sipping plastic cupful’s of this and reading an ancient Penthouse. The BBC is boring, especially the eternal waiting and because of this, I am welcomed like a long lost brother when I enter the dressing room to do my interview. A large BBC-cupful of SC is poured for me and I first ask Roger if he thinks that it is a good time to release an official follow-up to “Giving it All Away” with the ‘pirate’ single from Tommy still high in the charts:

“It’s probably the worst time I could ever have picked. Actually it’s rather an awkward situation. The record company wanted to put out another single, they chose ‘One Man Band’ from the album but I didn’t entirely agree with that choice so they said I could pick one. So I chose ‘Thinking’ and I thought, seeing as it was my choice, that I’d better get right behind it.

I’m surprised that ‘I’m Free’ has become such a big, hit. The thing is that I’m not really prepared to go into a studio for the sole purpose of recording a single, ‘Giving It All Away’ was great because I thought it was worthy of being a single. The new one’s a sort of row-in, a thing to smooth, over a situation . . . I quite like it, the lyrics are good and if they’re going to release it then I might as well do everything I can to try and make it a hit”.

Roger’s main occupation over the past few weeks has been working to complete the new Who album, “its definitely the best ever. Most groups say that about their next album but we definitely get better. With pop I think that everything stayed pretty well the same over the past two years .. . apart from David Bowie there s been very little progression. The new Who album will effectively bridge, that gap. It will change the way that people think, because it’s very impressionistic. Peter, of course, has written all the songs for it and I think I’ve done my best ever in putting them across vocally which is my main concern”.

With Pete Townshend writing all of the material for the Who albums and Leo Sayer writing all of Roger’s solo material I wondered why Roger hadn’t ever ventured into writing things himself. It appears, however, that the ambition is there, but not the ability: I’m really not a very good writer so I just don’t bother . . . I’ve had a couple of ‘B’ sides but that’s about it. I’ve got a lot more confidence now, maybe I ought to start because it really is my number one wish to be able to write a fantastic song . . . but it hasn’t happened yet”.

Surely though, I thought, living in the country, surrounded by wild life and green fields and peace, would provide the necessary stimulus to Roger’s creative instincts?:

“I think that’s what it won’t do … tends to make me lazy if anything. I think what might happen is that I might get to do some things when we’re back on the road working our balls off over the next two years . . . that might well bring it on”.

After a two year sojourn the Who are about to tour. “We do about seven dates here before we go to the States. One of the problems about deciding to tour after two years is that the places to play are all the same. We opened at the Rainbow when we last toured and this time we’re doing the Sundown, but nobody’s tried to make any changes; they’re all, still, basically bad venues. I mean, we played Wembley Pool way back in ’65, at the time of ‘My Generation’ . . .  so I don’t think that’s a step forward as far as venues are concerned. This is one thing where Pete and I agree completely about, that a pop concert shouldn’t be just a show . . . it should be an event”.

If pop shows have to be ‘events’ rather than just concerts what have the Who got planned for their forthcoming tour?: “I can’t really say yet, there’s a few ideas knocking about. After having been to see other groups and seeing them put over a lot of gimmicks out of what seems to me to be some kind of desperation I think it possible that we’ll just come back and be The Who, plain and simple.”

If Roger and the Who are so perplexed about the ‘no change’ situation as far as British venues are concerned have they any plans to do anything about it?:

“Yes, what I’d like to do, possibly next year, is to hire a whole chain of the local football stadiums and attack them in the off-season. What we’d do is spend two, possibly three days at each one and turn it into a really big event. Open air gigs are always pretty good anyway”.

Over the past year, with all the publicity given to Roger’s part in “Tommy” and his solo success, a great deal more attention has been given to him by the teenage press in the form of pin-ups etc:

“I’m really flattered by all that, I’m also getting a whole lot more fan mail, but that’s not what really interests me. What does is the fact that we’re obviously grabbing more people who’re interested in the music. it doesn’t really matter whether they’re young or old, interested in my solo stuff or the Who … Who must be one of the heaviest bands around … if you can gain more followers after ten years then its great and it’s a sign that all is healthy within the business. I don’t think that we’re in the scream category but, then again, we haven’t toured since before this recent weeny-bopper uprising. Anyway, I love 16 year olds!”

Roger is going to try and put down a second solo album in between finishing the Who album, the tour and the filming of “Tommy” which is another upcoming project. I asked him if, having tried to kill off the spectre of Tommy for several years, it was ever going to go away:

“I think the film, which is to be directed by Ken Russell incidentally, will be, the final accolade. As far as I’m concerned that will be where I want to leave Tommy. I never get fed up with it because, as far as I’m concerned, it has never been fully realised what Tommy really means and I think the film will do that. Take ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, now that has possibly sold ten times as many albums as Tommy but it doesn’t say half as much … so I won’t really get fed up with it until Tommy’s sold as many albums as that, it should mean a whole lot more to people today than Jesus Christ Superstar ever will.

“Incidentally, there’ll be a whole lot more material in the film which Pete is writing so the soundtrack album will be a whole lot different to the other two albums and Ken Russell’s tightened up a few holes in the story line so that now its got a lot more continuity than it had before. I’ve talked to Russell and he’s got some really good ideas, I can’t think of anyone better to film ‘Tommy’ than him”.

We’ve been reading a lot, lately, about Roger Daltrey’s country house and his antics in damming lakes and planting fields. The favourite expression used has been ‘Squire Daltrey’ but the subject of this title is not impressed at all: “I hate all that talk, I’m no bloody squire. You’ll usually find me mowing the lawn or digging ditches … I m no lord of the manor. The story is that I found this big old house that was in a pretty bad state of repair and I, at the time, had a really tiny cottage and I used to love bricklaying and mucking about and building and this two up two down cottage ended up with about six up and six down so I thought ‘Sod this I m going to be half way up the M.4. soon’, so I thought I might as well buy a house that I’ll never finish.

“The house needed completely re-decorating and the gardens were all overgrown and I bought it cheap, simple as that … I didn’t go out to buy a big house to be flash, this is the most un-flash house you could have ever found but I’ll probably never finish re-building it in my lifetime. Alright so I dammed the lake, but Squires don’t do that, they go pheasant shooting and maiden chasing … and I haven’t got a maid. There’s just me, my wife and occasionally a few friends living there, nobody else, no servants, nothing”.

And that, Roger hopes, will put to an end all of the rumours that have been abounding about him settling down to the life of a country gentleman. In fact, all he wants out of life is to be allowed to sing with the Who and on his own when occasion demands, potter about in his garden and home and generally be regarded as a successful Rock star rather than a status symbol crazy idol. In fact, in support of his statements, you’re more likely to find copies of Penthouse in his magazine rack than you are the now famous County Life magazine which seems to be mentioned when any Rock star is interviewed at home.