''Who I Am'' is a memoir by rock guitarist and composer
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s.
Townsh ...
of
the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
. It was published by
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
in October 2012 in both book and e-book format, plus an unabridged 15-CD
audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
read by Townshend. The book chronicles Townshend's upbringing in London, the formation and evolution of the Who, and his struggles with rock stardom and drugs and alcohol. The title is a play on words, referring to the Who's hit single, "
Who Are You
''Who Are You'' is the eighth studio album by English rock band the Who, released on 18 August 1978 by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and MCA Records in the United States. Although the album received mixed reviews from critics, it was a ...
" as well as
the album of the same name.
''Who I Am'' entered ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' best seller list at No. 3 in October 2012.
[ It received mixed reviews from critics, with some admiring its frankness and intimacy, and other complaining about its editing and being too dull.
]
Background
Pete Townshend signed a contract with Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...
in May 1996 to write his autobiography, but abandoned it two years later, when, according to Townshend, "I found it too hard". He published small extracts of what he had written on a blog. He later signed a deal with HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
, and the memoir, originally entitled ''Peter Townshend: Who He?'', was published in October 2012 as ''Who I Am''.[ Townshend said he preferred the original ''Who He'' title: "''Who I Am'' seems so final, so grandiose, so....Pete Townshend. It's just too perfect."][ The original manuscript Townshend presented to HarperCollins was 1,000 pages long, but the publisher cut it back to 500 pages.
]
Synopsis
Pete Townshend's memoir begins with his upbringing in London after World War II (he was born in May 1945, the month the war in Europe ended). Included is the period he lived with his unstable grandmother, during which time he reports fragmentary memories of sexual abuse at the hands of her suitors.[ Townshend discusses the Mod scene of the 1960s, the effect the war had on his generation, and the development of rock music. He also discusses the effect his childhood had on his music, particularly the rock opera '']Tommy
Tommy may refer to:
People
* Tommy (given name)
* Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film
* ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...
''.[
The book traces the formation and evolution of ]the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
, and includes details of their appearance at Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
in 1969 and their storied trashing of hotels.[ Townshend calls ]Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band The Who.
Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Ge ...
"the unquestionable leader" of the band.[ He says he started smashing his guitars at the end of performances after he accidentally pushed one through a club ceiling in 1964 and damaged it.][ His "windmill" style of striking guitar chords was adopted from ]Keith Richards
Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...
, whom Townshend says he once saw swinging his arm to warm-up before going on stage.[
The book also includes the many encounters Townshend had with other rock musicians, including ]Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
, whom he called a shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
because of the way he played his guitar.[ Townshend says that in a way Hendrix's "performances did borrow from mine – the feedback, the distortion, the guitar theatrics," but he added that Hendrix's "artistic genius lay in how he created a sound all his own".][ Townshend recalls that at the 1967 ]Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16 to 18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix ...
the Who and Hendrix argued backstage as to who would play first, and Townshend won after a coin flip
Coin flipping, coin tossing, or heads or tails is the practice of throwing a coin in the air and checking which side is showing when it lands, in order to choose between two alternatives, heads or tails, sometimes used to resolve a dispute betwe ...
.[
Townshend describes himself in the book as "probably bisexual" because of a brief affair he had with journalist ]Danny Fields
Danny Fields (born Daniel Feinberg; November 13, 1939) is an American music manager, publicist, journalist and author. As a music industry executive from the 1960s to the 1980s, he was one of the most influential figures in the history of punk r ...
and his interest in Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
, saying "Mick is the only man I've ever seriously wanted to fuck".[ ]Keith Moon
Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Moon grew ...
and John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band The Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member ...
felt that Townshend was too prudish around groupie
The term groupie is a slang word that refers to a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is usu ...
s and once paid one $100 to infect him with gonorrhea
Gonorrhea, colloquially known as the clap, is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium '' Neisseria gonorrhoeae''. Infection may involve the genitals, mouth, or rectum. Infected men may experience pain or burning with ...
.[ Townshend says he tried to distance himself from rock stardom as much as possible. He studied the works of Indian spiritual master and mystic ]Meher Baba
Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A major spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of ...
, and while he was able to avoid drugs and extramarital sex most of the time, Townshend says he periodically lapsed and indulged in cocaine and alcohol.[
The book details Townshend's work as an editor at London publisher ]Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
, some of the literary personalities he worked with, and some the books he commissioned.[ It also covers his charity work in rehabilitation programs and establishing a shelter for battered wives.][ In 2003 Townshend was arrested for allegedly downloading ]child pornography
Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...
. In the book he claims that he accessed the images as research for a campaign against the presence of such images, and was helping to set up "a research program for a new support system for survivors of childhood abuse".[ He was later given a formal ]police caution
A police caution is a formal alternative to prosecution in minor cases, administered by the police in England and Wales. It is commonly used to resolve cases where full prosecution is not seen as the most appropriate solution. Accepting a caution ...
. Townshend wrote that he had accepted the caution only because "I was in no frame of mind to live through another eternity – this time in court", although he later wished he had gone to trial to prove his innocence.
Reception
Music journalist Rob Sheffield
Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author.
He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at ''Blen ...
writing in ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' called ''Who I Am'' "intensely intimate" and "candid to the point of self-lacerating".[ He said Townshend seems to want to deflate his rock-star image by exposing his "defects and contradictions: the 'Angry Yobbo' guitar hooligan he plays onstage versus the introspective composer, the spiritual seeker versus the hedonistic drug addict".][ '']The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' said that while many rock memoirs "run out of gas once the classic songs dry up and the major crises have been overcome", Townshend's life "was never dull".[ It said Townshend's prose is "crisp, clear and unflinching", and called the book "unusually frank and moving".][
Literary critic ]Michiko Kakutani
Michiko Kakutani (born January 9, 1955) is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998.
Early life ...
writing in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' said ''Who I Am'' "is an earnest, tortured, searching book", and was impressed with the way Townshend documented how the Who "articulate the joy and rage" of post-World War II Britain's "teenage wasteland" generation.[ But Kakutani felt that the book's editing was uneven, resulting in too much detail in some sections, and "jump cuts" in other areas that "chop the narrative into herky-jerky pieces and slow the book's momentum".][ '']The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' said Townshend's accounts of the making of albums like ''Who's Next
''Who's Next'' is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Who. It developed from the aborted '' Lifehouse'' project, a multi-media rock opera conceived by the group's guitarist Pete Townshend as a follow-up to the band's 1969 album ''T ...
'' and ''Quadrophenia
''Quadrophenia'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the two previous being the "mini-opera" song " A Quick One, While ...
'' are "breathtaking", but complained that "there are glaring gaps and dead ends in his story. Daltrey, Moon, and Entwistle are shunted to the background, leaving the alchemy of their unique collaboration mostly in the dark".[ It felt that "Townshend's intellectual tone sucks up too much of the emotional oxygen".][
British journalist ]Simon Garfield
Simon Frank Garfield (born 19 March 1960) is a British journalist and non-fiction author.
Biography
Garfield was born in London in 1960.[The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...]
'' complained that the book is too "well-behaved and ordered" and lacks the exuberance of Keith Richards's "indulgent memoir", ''Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
''.[ He said ''Who I Am'' is "insightful about the creative process", and is "a worthwhile, comprehensive and culturally valuable account of a life", but "it didn't leave me with the sense of elation I normally feel after brushes with the Who".][ Rock music critic ]Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
said in ''The New York Times'' that while he was impressed by Townshend's literary career, he tries to cram too much into the book, leaving little room to make the text "come alive".[ American author ]Louis Bayard
Louis Bayard (born November 30, 1963) is an American author. His historical mysteries include ''The Pale Blue Eye'', ''Mr. Timothy'', ''The Black Tower'', ''The School of Night'', and ''Roosevelt's Beast'', and they have been translated into ...
said in ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' that he expected more out of ''Who I Am'' from such an "articulate" person as Townshend. He said that the "pretentiousness" and the "endless ..therapy" that pervades the book "makes you long for the angry yobbo
Yob is slang in the United Kingdom for a loutish, uncultured person. In Australia, the word yobbo is more frequently used, with a similar although slightly less negative meaning.
Etymology
The word itself is a product of back slang, a process wher ...
who clobbered Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989) was an American political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies") and was a member of the Chicago Seven. He was also a leading proponen ...
at Woodstock, ndgot kicked out of every Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...
in the world".[
]
References
Works cited
*
{{Authority control
2012 non-fiction books
British memoirs
Music autobiographies
English-language books
Pete Townshend
HarperCollins books