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Pete Townshend /// The Secret Policeman's Ball, June 30, 1979
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ส.ค. 2024
- 00:00 "Pinball Wizard"
02:35 "Drowned"
06:51 "Won't Get Fooled Again (with John Williams)"
All songs written by Pete Townshend.
1979 Secret Policeman's Ball, played at Her Majesty's Theater, London, England.
Best strumming right hand in the history.
This version of 'Drowned' is sublime.
Precisely
Ohhh ouiii. Sublime !!
His voice is fantastic. The only other version that comes close is at The Albert Hall in 2000, and I only prefer it cos i was there lol 😉
Agreed!
Pete at the height of his power
The You Tube flavor of the month gangster rapper gets a million hits over a year, while TRUE genius and artistic inspiration manages a mere 134,000 in 7 years. Mind boggling. Something has to change. And change fast in 2021.
OK Boomer
@@jeffbrown-hill7739 Organic vs Artificial. You don't have to to be a "Boomer" to recognize the difference between actually taking the time to learn how to master musical instruments VS. pushing buttons to EMULATE musical instruments.
@@gr.vo.3058Yes, but even pressing buttons to get a good sound takes some skill and creativity. There is a difference, and not everyone recognizes it. I'm just sick of hearing people with no musical talent pontificate pompously about how "no one understands what REAL music is these days". I've been playing since I was 7. I have respect for anyone who can create a successful piece of music, no matter how they did it. Music that uses samples (for instance) is no less valid than music made with "organic" instruments.
@@jeffbrown-hill7739I hear your argument. Though it's still no comparison. For example. You'll never see one dude/DJ/Rapper pressing buttons replacing a symphony, orchestra or even an ensemble. That goes Ten Fold for live performances.
Already had this on two other formats!
Rolling Stone had Pete ranked the 10th greatest guitarist of all time. I think he's accomplished enough in his career to be ranked MUCH higher.
No disrespect to Roger, but this is the definitive version of Drowned for me! As the author, Pete captured the desperation in that song better than anyone else ever could.
His already excellent voice is literally flawless here
That's funny you mentioned that...my mom use to watch this with me when I was younger and developing as a musician. And even she commented on his voice here. It's the strongest and most confident I've ever heard from him.
@@ConglomerationCat I’d say from like 1980 like 2000 his voice was basically flawless. One of the great great voice of music. Again, no training he learn to sing on empty glass! He’s just so ridiculously naturally talented!!
@@superamanda Absolutely!
Everything everything everything.
When Pete performs & he really finds hisw sweet spot, it's a spiritual experience listening to him. This performance in particular, there's a real longing in his voice & guitar. He's one of the greatest rhythm guitarists, & he really uses rhythm to drive the song & quicken your pulse. And has the tone of his voice ever been better? Perfection.
We all have to leave this earth sometime, but I'm so glad I'm here at the same time as Pete. It is going to destroy me when he takes his leave. Pete , you've given me the eternal present over & over & over again. Thankyou.
His heart was really into this performance!!!
Well said.
Hopefully Pete is with us for many years. Along with his music, his poetry-like lyrics, his books, Pete has proved himself prescient in many ways.
The only time I’ve seen him sing better, live, is the Toronto 82’ concert. His singing on Emincence Front is amazing. For a brief moment, he really seemed to have the power and ease of Roger Daltrey.
Thank you very much, Johnny, your first paragraph in vibrant hommage to Pete is so in tune with how he delivers here and who he is, I feel, that it makes me shiver in the emotional continuity of watching and hearing him!
I didn’t know this video, but I was born in 1953 _(now a strong 70er since “8 days a go”!),_ learnt bass in ‘69 and guitar later, so strong and exhilirating were the British and American rock, pop, hard-rock, etc. new music winds.
At one time I was similarly awed and enjoyed by two of the “super-groups” that appeared in the wake of (the) Cream, with their twin pairs of front-stagers, a seriously gifted guitarist-main composer, on the side of that front stage, and a singer-performer extraordinaire extending his spectacular presence, as a huge living billboard for the group, and I couldn’t put one above the other, groupwise or singerwise _(I sing too, with “a voice”)._
Led Zeppelin and The Who were similarly *explosive* groups, with distinctly original and very exciting ‘material’/songs.
I was primarily focused on those two Christ-like figures with a rare powerful “organ”, Robert Plant _(“on my left side, Ladies and Gentlemen!”)_ and Roger Daltrey _(“…”),_ but aware that their music, in both cases _(and quite a bit more so in The Who),_ came from the one-step-behind guitar man’s head and soul.
During an unforgettable 1974 “hippie” 2-month trip in the States with my then music brother Louis Bertignac _(already amazingly gifted at 20),_ pack in the back, guitar case in hand, the most striking music memory among many was that time when, hosted by the gentlest of fellow guitar-player in Boulder, “Nash”, Louis and I launched on the intro’ of *“Tommy”*… and lead it on, both playing and singing… to the end of that masterpiece, some 40 minutes later, and what a grace it was!!
This guy Pete’s, here, eternal ‘chef-d’œuvre’… _[where’s an emoticon for positive, inspiring “awe”?!]._ Truth be said, it was impossible for me not to attribute part of my awed & enthusiastic feelings to Daltrey. *He* was the spectacular ‘deaf, dumb and blond boy’ telling it all with incredible force!
This clip here, which I’d never seen _(and got to because I’m hooked on the exhilarating Clapton/Beck ‘battle of giants’ on “Further on up the road”, which lead me, after 15 years of revisiting it, to want to know more about the venue),_ this clip *reveals* to me, close to “50 years after”, the sole amazing creator of “Tommy”, alone on stage, finding it in him to re-present a couple of emblematic ‘arias’ of that work in the naked sincerity and universal battling Eros/Thanatos, hope/despair emotions of the human condition.
The words are his, the melody is his _(and the classical-applied-to-modernity opera-worth music, of course);_ they were masterfully amplified and envigoured by that brillant, light-catcher performer of a partner that Daltrey was, protecting Townshend from too much feedback light.
At the time, I felt there was an underlining discrepancy between the heart-wrenching quality and episodes of the story and Daltrey’s in-control and powerful rendition.
Today, at last, I can make sense of it all, give back fully to Pete’s what is due, and I’m awed again, but in a much more tender, touching/touched/‘touché!’ way, soul-to-soul with Peter Townshend, may he be eternally blessed!! 💫🙏🏻❤️
The beauty and simplicity of an acoustic set is pure magic!
I'm feeling very selfish now being only one of ~ 35 thousand who have viewed this on youtube... for free! May this venue (TH-cam) forever remain that way.
I learned how to play Won’t Get Fooled Again after I heard this back in the early 80’s. Spent hours, weeks, months learning it and pinball wizard. This was the first song I got balls enough to get up and play in front of people with confidence because I believed in the words. The strumming, the wrist control, the chord inversions - this guy is a genius - not for the soloing but for making the guitar sound like a guitar.
He can do some great soloing though. Live at Leeds is a great example.
Mark Haus Live at Hull is better! The solo on Young Man Blues is atomic
@@tacogladiator7503 that's one live Who album I don't have I'll have to check that out.
Mark Haus it was recorded the night after Live at Leeds. In my opinion Hull is more fluid especially the Tommy portion. You can download it on ITunes. You can never have too much live Who
I learned to play the French horn part to The album Tommy! I figured it out by playing along with the album as it played. Much fun. I'm glad to meet another person who likes to play along.
One of my altime favorite performances ever, remember owning this on vinyl. Good times.
Same here.
@@mmsabre7931 Me too still have it somewhere....
Interestingly on vinyl John William's guitar is more Balanced with Pete's. This seems like John is buried in the mix.
I love this performance. I realized I came to love Drowned though this one. But I love the extra verse he added in the 'last' Toronto concert was priceless. "Some people die by the razor, some people die by the knife. In the movies they die by the laser. Some people die by the wife. Some people die by the shotgun. Some people get lost in a maze. Some people think it's a whole lotta fun gettin' high, gettin' lost in a haze, I just wanna drown in your love." Isn't that what we all want in the end? Whether it's a girl or love for the God that put you into existence?
Don't Get Fooled Again was especially powerful. Read the story of how that was inspired. Crazy. "Give us your children, We want to liberate your children!"
Don't Get Fooled Again? Correcting you: the tune is Won't. But I agree with the rest!
Listening to this with my daughters. They are so impressed with Pete and his solo performance--“he expresses his own vision alone like no one else can.” Beautiful.
Townshend is nothing short of a genius - his contributions to modern music are so vast (equipment, performance, composition) it is really difficult to fully quantify it. But it all comes down to what happens when you put a guitar in his hands - the result is nothing short of magical as this performance demonstrates.
I saw the film when it ran in theaters. This Drowned was what convinced me to go and buy an acoustic guitar and learn to play.
Lol. I just put an acoustic on my Xmas list simply because of Mr. pete Townshend💜! I think Donovan said a poet lives his life like poetry and I think of Don and Pete as living and breathing that poetry. That is a challenge that he meets and inspires others to do the same.
Huge Who fan but never heard the quality of Pete´s singing like this before, Amazing ..
Nab a copy of Who Came First -
Check out the "Scoop" series, I believe that there are three volumes. Pete's version of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" is simply beautiful.
Beating that guitar like it owed him money.
His flamenco type strumming is just brilliant.
He is brilliant.
The best rhythm guitarist ever! PETE TOWNSHEND
He might be the most important music person of the 20th century. A direct and powerful influence on Bowie, Gabriel, Hendrix, Floyd, Page, Punk, et al. - a unique and innovative lyricist and a master of melody and rhythm. What a guy.
Colin Wasp and he’s so modest, kind and generous.
Dont be so fuckin daft
@@pyleen If you disagree, try to articulate it instead of just another douchebag who resorts to petulant fighting.
cool man.
Genius, I'm reading Roger Daltrys life story, excellent 😁
Nice gutair style beatiful singing
wow never seen this, he is one of the great writers with Lennon and Mcartney
I have often referred to this as being my single favorite performance ever of anything, ever.
I will never ever get tired of this. One of his best performances and I believe it has to be my favorite- -with or without the Who. God I love that man!
Lynda - Yes, Yes: I love that man. quintessential, giving, expressive, genuine. He was the most authentic musician expressing himself through his natural talent that ever blessed the power to the people movement. And clarity as a human movement. Van Morrison, Joe Cocker, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, etc.
I’ll never understand why this is still not available on CD just vinyl,,
Pete is a composer far more than a musician. He says John Entwistle is truly a musician that he can't even begin to keep up with. Is there another guitar player so balanced between electric and acoustic, and yet can any of those hold a candle to him acoustically? I could be off base, my apologies, but all the great contemporary rock guitar players (Hendrix, SRV, Page, Clapton, EVH, Rhodes) except for Page are known as electric guitarists. Pete is fully both. But at Live at Leeds/Isle of Wight, Pete's quiet moments on his SG have something about them that remind me of Segovia and no other rock musician. And still, he impaled his hand on the whammy bar of his Strat not too terribly long ago...
It drives me nuts when I get the inevitable eye-roll from people when I mention Pete Townshend as one of my favorite guitarists. There's a lot more to what makes a guitarist great than shredding, speed or note-for-note perfection. To me it's more about feel and attitude, and man does Townshend ever have both. The aggression, the power of his playing, and the anthemic nature of some of his best songs combine to make him a truly unique guitarist and composer.
I highly suggest you watch Woke Up Dreaming from Royal Albert Hall by Joe Bonamassa. Blows Pete outta the water, and I'm a Who fan. And, of course, Bonamassa is 20x the lead player that Pete is.
I think Steve Howe is in the ballpark. They are both Masters.😋
One of his best solo spots ever.
One of the all time great rhythm guitarist!
as a bonafide queen nut who loves everything from acdc to zappa i have to say pete is an absolute genius.
Agree.
@@IMeMineWho Thank you Suzanne. Jeff
if pete never sung a word and I love his voice he would still be legend just based on his playing
Agreed.....his playing is a one off. Nobody sounds exactly like him and when you hear him playing wether it's acoustic or electric you know exactly who it is. Brilliant.
I still have the vinyl record of this i bought in 1979 mint !! Priceless !!
Love this !!!
Heard this many years ago.
Classic.
Drowned is unreal.
Original Punker .
Pete attacks his instrument.
Power cords strummimg.
Love his playing and singing.
Great performance.
Love Who Came first.
Empty Glass.
All Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes.
Love his Demos.
Way Cool.
Pete Townsend.
A True Genius.
Tortured Soul .
Sensitively Beautiful.
Like John Lennon, Lou Reed,
Nick Cave.
Sinead O Conner.
All great Artists.
Those Tortured Souls.
Beauty flows from them.
Happy 75th Pete. One of my very favorite of his performances. Genius.
Pete Townshend is an animal. In 2000 from the front row, I watched him lose his pic after crazy windmills, and he had put so much force into it that the pic disappeared into the universe.
Pete, you're an angel
I'm hearing the sound of Heaven!! Unique voice!
This set truly brings into focus his skills as a rhythm guitarist and a vocalist. Phenomenal.
Pete completely shreds on guitar !!
how lucky are we to have had a talent like him. A modern day Mozart.
Oppie - Yes; a modern day Mozart. As talented in instrument as he was in message. I've known of Pete since he began. His Style was born of the gods. No one else - and truly no one; handled a guitar like Pete.
totally agreed but, mayby, or quite posible a stupid question, who is Freddie Green?
why say 'have had'? He's not dead.
True. lol
No doubt in 100 years people will be watching this (and reading this). Hi guys! Have a beer for me OK?
Won’t get fooled…go Pete. That stare…deadly. Brilliant mate. Cheers
Best version ever
The song drowned… wow what can you say His strumming on that highlight part is so fast It’s like a machine gun boo boo boo boo boo boo boom !!!.. It proves for sure why he is considered one of the immortal ones
Can you imagine having 1 or 2 good songs in you, let alone 100's over like 40 years?
Townsend was always good with the chords. He knows lots of them. Never gets boring. Pete's the best at double and triple strumming his cords like fast rolls. Very good as a solo man. McCartney couldn't do much better.
He actually invented new chords in his music, and are still being studied in music school in college!
@@fairday2 he couldn’t of created a new chord they’ve all been around since before the guitar was even invented unfortunately
@@MIKE-TYTHON He combined chords so they would have the effect he wished.
@@MIKE-TYTHON However, he did. I had one music history book in college that showed the chords that were not used before.
@@MIKE-TYTHON he created variations of many existing "sus" chords...
The Secret Policeman's Balls featured some of the best live musical performances in history. I have never seen a better performance of "Pinball Wizard" than this one. Absolutely phenomenal. The same can be said for future Balls. The musical performances at "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball" are just as amazing. Sting was nothing short of excellent with his performances of "Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle". I am blown away every time I see Bob Geldof's excellent performance of "I Don't Like Mondays". I must mention Donovan as well. I always felt he was an excellent singer and performer and he showed that at the "other Ball". I have the soundtrack album for the "Other Ball". I wish soundtrack albums for the other Balls were available. The Balls had great comedy sketches, but the music is nothing short of classic.
I've got big balls! ...................."I've always loved big,silver,shiny balls,very sensual..." (K.Moon)
What a beautiful guitar 🎸....
PT sure could sing.
Lucky bastards. What a performance.
For me, these are some of the best versions of each of these songs. I recall a magazine music critic saying the same when this came out. He said they were some of Townshend's best work. I also recall a contemporary musician (his name escapes me) who said he based his rhythm guitar style not just on Townshend's in general, but on this specific performance. The acoustic solo on Drowned is just magnificent. What I love about this is the clean, pure sound, along with the emotion. In other versions, Townshend's playing is either not quite so clean, or his vocals are not as heartfelt. One negative here is that the Won't Get Fooled Again is edited near the end -- the version off of the LP is either unedited or edited differently, and I prefer it. Too bad this concert is so obscure -- it is a classic performance that probably only a handful of Who fans will ever hear.
+captkdog I got it on DVD many years ago because of the cover, didn't know much about The Who back then besides the hits. And after seeing much of Pete's solo and band output, I can say this is very much likely his best performance of these songs.
captkdog I completely agree on all your points!
Thankfully I am One! (I guess you are too!)
@@kevinb3812 All are One! And all of us are Whooligans! Lol!
I wonder how many people who have watched this performance actually realise who John Williams is? Probably the most technically accomplished guitarist the world has ever seen.
Scrolling through the comments and thinking exactly that
Accoustic Pete!!! Friggin awesome!
I cannot express more how these two songs played here as they are have influenced my guitar playing. i have these in vinyl in bootleg format which was the only way to get them pre-internet. I had to figure them all out from playing them over and over again. These two recordings freed me from lessons. Thank You Pete!
When I was a kid someone learnt me A Decade of The Who, Pete hand wrote the chords of the songs out himself. Changed my whole life forever, as a guitarist, as a musician. As a person.
@@stefanhamilton8713 I still have my copy of that
Been searching for this on iTunes. Outstanding. Pete in his prime. This is right around when Empty Glass came out. A TREMENDOUS album that has fallen by the wayside over time. Need to remind rock radio of what a gem that record is beyond just "My Love Open the Door."
to a tee correct. empty glass from top to bottom is an astounding musical creation. "i am an animal" and "and i moved" are so beautiful it should be criminal.
I know what you mean "They don't give a shit Keith Moon is dead!"
Empty Glass....TREMENDOUS
@@chrishorton615 LongLive....Keith Moon!
This is the acoustic cover of "Won't Get Fooled Again" I never knew I needed until now.
can't be a cover if he was the one who wrote it
Pete Townshend è il più grande genio musicale del novecento. Tommy, Lifehouse e Quadrophenia sono il punto più alto che il rock abbia mai raggiunto.
Had not seen Pete do Drowned...only Pinball Wizard and Won't get Fooled again appeared on the video of this I have...thanks for posting...awesome :-)
One of the greatest performances he ever gave.
This version of Drowned is for me the greatest live moment of Pete's ever recorded.
"Talent is what a man possesses. Genius is what possesses a man." Pete is a man possessed!
Incredible. So inspiring. I was 7 years old when this happened. Had I seen it back then, my life might have turned out differently.
When I first got this (vinyl) album, I remember reading the liner notes a dozen times to confirm the Pete was solo on Drowned. I couldn't believe that all that sound was generated from one guitar. Seeing it now, all these years later, I still don't believe it.
See, that's why i was never any good. 'Cause i always heard the buzzers and bells.
This is, BY FAR, the best version of Won't Get Fooled Again that you will ever hear. It's how the song was meant to be. (all apologies to Keith)
... c'mon....
@Mark Cianfarani You're probably right, and i was likely drunk when i said that!
Used to have this album back in the day. (Yes, kids. You used to have to go to a store to "download" albums on vinyl). Loved it then, love it now. Genius is not a strong enough word for Pete Townshend.
Pete proving that he is one of the most formidable players / songwriters On
the PLANET!! GODDAMN
No schtick, go gimmicks, no fake angst or put on front. When its real its real and this is as real as it gets or ever got. And it rocks.
"Volume's a fantastic thing. Power and volume. Power....and volume." - Pete Townshend. True, that, but Pete shows equally impressive playing on an acoustic. There's just no one else like him; so unique and individual.
Thanks, Pete. And sorry that we got fooled again. And again and again. We mean well, but we're a bit dim.
Some weren't fooled we just need to sway the rest
Speak for yourselves
Or, not fooled, but can't do anything about it ....
The secret policeman's other ball was amazingly good, everyone involved in it was in top form!
I recall reading an interview years ago. So many in fact I can't remember who it was with or where it was published. Any way, John Cleese purportedly gave Townsend a bottle of brandy to calm his nerves before the performance. Pete drank the whole thing! I played the Secret Policemans' albums to death growing up. That version of "I shall be released" is sublime. Thanks for sharing this. Brings back a lot of memories.
Found this album in the early 80's These PT cuts are fantastic. Secret Policeman's Other Ball had some Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Sting cuts. That one was a winner too.
p is a total genius and when it comes to acoustic guitar he is brilliant , his songwriting catalog is impeccable
My dad had a bootlegged copy of Secret Policeman's Ball that as a young kid I personally played until the tape broke. This was my introduction to The Who, David Rappaport (RIP), and many other artists of the time. Best charity series ever.
One of the most underrated Who songs ever. And low and behold what person made it underrated....The man who wrote it and MADE it underrated by PERFECTING IT.
Pete Townsend.......f'kn ae I'm
speechless.
Such an incredible talent.
best version of pinball wiz imo...
Acoustic talent = raw talent
This makes me think of my bestie Dave. We both loved the Who/Pete but he died of cancer before the TH-cam era of awesome content like this.
Thanks for the upload, brother. This is awesome.
Drowned is sublime!
No one like them. Fantastic can't beat them
Love love love love love this so so so so much!
Shame you can't hear John Williams here...he accompanied Pete beautifully on the record.
Clearly more balanced on the ol' vinyl... I played the heck out of it.
Looked like a John was silently testing out chords and allowing Pete to solo. I am sure they gave it another go around for what was recorded
spellbinding playing ,the best in the world
Pete Townshend is magnificent!
Absolutely beautiful
That J200 is on display at the Rock Hall of Fame. He wrote much of Tommy on it
Owned this and the 'other' Ball album too. Magnificent.
Sublime ecstatic your rendition of drown evokes gamut if emotions akin to sea fever and Maria Rainer Rilke transcendent poetry. Warm affection and camaraderie a rapport.
possibly his greatest solo performance
Agree but look for Pete having to do a solo version of My Generation on a Who Tour because Roger had a breathing issue.
Beautiful performance.
Still fucking brilliant. Thank you, Pete.
WOW...Pete's the best!
:) I love this. I never heard this version.
Pete is/was a powerhouse. The main ingredient in the Who
I wish this was on a CD.
Beautiful
I heard "Won't Get Fooled Again" (this version). I've searched for it for years.
Wow, that tough, hard and bright kid plays a mean Secret Policeman's Ball!
Pete's an artist first and foremost..his guitar sound doesn't dominate the song, but rather it colors the landscape, while the powerful bass and drums mostly do the driving
I definitely remember the album. These three tracks were the only ones I would listen to. The story behind this performance is after Pete played the first two songs, he went backstage to wait for his third song, which actually HE was supposedto be the 'Guest" on the John Williams set and was waiting for his re-entrance. The performers played the concert for free, but the promoters gave little gifts to them as a token of their appreciation. Well after the set, Pete went backstage and found his, which was a bottle of brandy (I may be wrong but I think it was a bottle of Remy Martin). Well, those who know Pete of the late 70's and early 80's can guess what happens next (and for those who don't - He drank nearly the whole bottle backstage) and was a little snockered by the time he came out for Won't Get Fooled Again. He even admitted latter that he did fall asleep during the song for a couple of seconds!