Music |
Pete Townshend: Who Came First
By
Published: Oct 04, 2022
Category:
Rock
Pete Townshend has a guru, Meher Baba. Not a Jew. And here we are, on the holiest day of the Jewish year. Why feature Pete Townshend? For the same reason there are photographs of the Dalai Lama gazing warmly on a painting of Jesus. The same reason Thich Nhat Hanh titled a book Living Buddha, Living Christ. Simply, all religions intersect at key values: love, respect, compassion, humility. And that’s exactly where Pete Townshend is at.
There was another side of Pete Townshend, and you may not know about it, though you almost surely know “Baba O’Reilly,” the song that begins Who’s Next with an addictive synthesizer riff. That song was inspired by Townshend’s guru, Meher Baba (1894-1969), a delightful-looking man with a big smile and a bushy moustache. Baba’s best-known idea: “Don’t worry, be happy.” And then there’s this curious fact: Baba did not speak for the last 40 years of his life.
This side of Townshend was very private during The Who’s heyday. But journalist Nik Cohn traveled with the band, and, in 1968, he witnessed a remarkable event — while on tour, Townshend got to spend time in Baba’s former house. He hoped to be bathed in his Master’s love. But Baba’s spirit was brutal: He “ravaged Townshend, obliterated him, left him so smashed that, when the other followers opened the door again, they found him prostrate, unable to speak or move, scarcely able to breathe.” It took him days to recover.
In 1972, Townshend released “Who Came First,” an album of songs about and for the recently departed Meher Baba. It’s exactly what a love letter should be — personal. Townshend wrote all but three of the songs. He played all the instruments. He did the engineering and mixing. It was, he noted, “one gynormous ego trip.” Let’s start with “Let’s See Action.” Watch it here.
Is there a pure love song? Yes, and totally sincere: “When people keep repeating/ That you’ll never fall in love/ When everybody keeps retreating/ But you can’t seem to get enough/ Let my love open the door.” Watch it here.
The centerpiece of the CD for me is “Pure and Easy.” He wrote it in 1972. It reads like prophecy. (Lyrics at the bottom of this review.) It’s…sweet. Gossamer. Under-produced. And yet — and this is the strangest thing — it rocks. By holding the power back, Townshend shows you the power in the song. Watch it here.
One more song. “Time Is Passing.” Watch it here.
Townshend would go on to make two more solo records. There are great songs on both, but neither is as satisfying as “Who Came First.” [To buy the CD from Amazon, click here.]
I’ve been listening to “Who Came First,” on and off, for four decades. What’s the charm? I’ve often wondered. My answers are usually merely fashionable; right now, everybody’s hungry for authenticity, so I cite that.
But beyond all that is a mystery: Take a musician of infinite gifts. Give him time alone. Have him write love songs to a silent, smiling guru. And when you listen, you hear a sparkle, a shine, in those grooves.
—
“Pure and Easy”
There once was a note
Pure and easy
Playin’ so free, like a breath rippling by
The note is eternal
I hear it it sees me
Forever we blend
And forever we die
I listened and I heard
Music in a word
And words when you played your guitar
The noise that I was hearing was a million people cheering
And a child flew past me riding in a star
As people assemble
Civilization
Is trying to find a new way to die
But killing is really
Merely scene changer
All men are bored
With other men’s lies
I listened and I heard
Music in a word
And words when you played your guitar
The noise I was hearing was a million people cheering
And a child flew past me riding in a star
Gas on the hillside
Oil in the teacup
Watch all the chords of life lose their joy
Distortion becomes somehow
Pure in its wildness
The note that began all
Can also destroy
We all know success
When we all find our own dreams
And our love is enough
To knock down any walls
And the future’s been seen
As men try to realize
The simple secret of the note in us all
There once was a note
Pure and easy
Playing so free, like a breath rippling by
There once was a note
Listen
Listen
Listen
