THE OTHER GUY: Keith Moon

The Who: "Bell Boy"
[Purchase]

For this entry in the Other Guy theme, you could almost say it's the Other Other Other Guy. Yes, when it comes to the Who, Roger Daltrey was the lead singer, Pete Townshend (The Other Guy) sang the songs that Roger couldn't interpret the way Pete heard them in his head (at least that's the way I've always figured it), and then John Entwistle (The Other Other Guy) would sing his one composition per album. But unlike the Beatles, where Ringo always had a song per album as well, Keith Moon typically didn't sing on Who albums.

But on "Bell Boy," from the Who's classic 1973 double-LP concept album, Quadrophenia, Moon took the lead for a good chunk of the song. Daltrey starts things off by setting the scene for Moon's entrance, letting you know that he (in the character of Jimmy, from the album's storyline), has found that his idol, "Ace Face," is now a bell boy at a resort hotel ("I can see The Face coming through the haze/I remember him from those crazy days"), no longer the anti-authority figure he had been as leader of the Mods. And then in comes Moon as Ace Face himself, singing in a gruff Cockney accent, bemoaning his current situation. Obviously, Moon is hamming it up, so his singing isn't really as off as this might lead one to believe. In fact, while he's thinking back wistfully ("Some nights I still sleep on the beach/Remember when stars were in reach") you can hear him channeling his inner Townshend. Clearly it's a part that would have otherwise been sung by Pete -- but Moon handles it quite well, showing that he did in fact have some melodic range, even if it was rough around the edges.

Townshend has said that he tried to get Moon to sing the song more seriously, but that Moon simply couldn't help mugging for the part, so he gave up trying to get him to do it any other way. And he should be glad he did, as it's certainly one of the most memorable songs on a very memorable album -- and, it should be added, has one of the greatest power-chord riffs in the Who's repertoire. Moon's moment in the vocal spotlight was no throwaway tune, by any means.

Pipes and Woodwinds: Behind Blue Eyes

The Chieftains with Roger Daltrey: Behind Blue Eyes

[purchase]

To finish out my posts for this week’s theme, I wanted a song that had both pipes and woodwinds. For that, I knew I would need The Chieftains. The Chieftains began life as an Irish traditional band, one of the best. But, in 1991, they were looking to make a live album, and leader Paddy Maloney wanted to do something to make it special. So he invited Roger Daltry of The Who and Nanci Griffith to participate. It was a decision that would turn out to be very important to The Chieftains. Since then, most of their albums have included collaborations with artists who wouldn’t normally be thought of as traditional artists of any sort. In the process, The Chieftains have made fascinating connections between their music and those of their guests. It doesn’t always work, but the results are never dull. With Daltrey and Griffith, it did work beautifully.

Behind Blue Eyes, as rendered here, shows that Roger Daltrey could have been an Irish ballad singer in another life. The woodwind here is Matt Molloy’s flute. The pipe is the Irish version of the bagpipe, the uilleann pipes. It is played by Paddy Moloney.

If: If I... - The Wizard of Oz Edition

Jackson Browne/Jewel: If I Only Had a Brain

Roger Daltrey: If I Only Had a Heart

Nathan Lane/Jewel/Jackson Browne/Roger Daltrey: If I Only Had the Nerve

Nathan Lane and Full Company: If I Were King of the Forest

[purchase] - also available in VHS here...

Poor Darius - one of our dear fellow Star Makers has been out of commission for the last few weeks, suffering from computer problems, which it appears will take a while to resolve. He sent me an e-mail yesterday (in response to my previous note of concern for him), a bit of which I reprint here:

-----Original Message-----
From: Darius
To: ozwoman321
Sent: Wed, Feb 24, 2010 11:37 pm
Subject: If Darius could post...

Meanwhile, I noticed this week's theme. Do you remember that version I sent you a while back of If I Only Had a Brain?

Sadly, I looked everywhere, on *both* of my computers, and cannot seem to find the version he sent me - I am hoping my offerings above might be a charming substitute...

[This blog post was already written but not yet uploaded... and I went out for the evening, only to return to find Darius is back in the cyber-saddle... with the version he referenced - great news... and I'm still going ahead with my homage!]

It is no secret on SMM that I am an Oz fanatic - about a decade ago, I was flipping through the TV channels and virtually stumbled across a treasure on PBS: The Wizard of Oz in Concert... with quite the eclectic cast: in addition to the four main characters listed above, Natalie Cole was Glinda the Good Witch, Joel Grey the Wizard, Debra Winger the Wicked Witch of the West... Phoebe Snow, Lucie Arnaz, Ronnie Spector, Ry Cooder, Dr. John and David Sanborn were featured... and The Boys Choir of Harlem played various Munchkins...

I found out later that 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the CD benefited The Children's Defense Fund, which was the proverbial icing - it remains a joy to hear and see my literary traveling companions brought to life by some of my musical heroes...

And Toto too? - and Toto too!