![]() Finally, they will examine their own generational identity, and, following the Who’s lead, compose new lyrics for a new generation. In this lesson, students will evaluate live performances of “My Generation,” focusing on the one from the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, and analyze the lyrics and sonic character of the song. “My Generation” captures the spirit of the Who as well as, if not better than, anything the group recorded over its long career: confrontational lyrics that are simultaneously full of angst and defiance, stuttering vocals that evoke frustration and confusion, and a performance that at times feels on the edge of collapse. This lesson centers on the Who’s 1965 song “My Generation.” The band’s second hit single (after “I Can’t Explain”), it has become perhaps its best-known record, an anthem for the youth of the 1960s that still resonates today. Through their songs, which expressed the visceral frustrations of adolescence and young adulthood, and their concerts, which set standards for a new kind of showmanship, the Who established a reputation as one of the toughest, most articulate, most influential bands in Rock and Roll. While neither the Beatles nor the Rolling Stones appeared at either of the most iconic 1960s music festivals-Monterey Pop in 1967 and Woodstock in 1969-the Who delivered signature performances at both. One of the most important bands of the British Invasion, the Who had a remarkable voice for expressing generational rage and an explosive performance style to match it. ![]() Life Songs: Telling Your Story Through Music.Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World.CNN Soundtracks: Songs that Defined History.Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead.LADAMA: Movement, Music, and Community in South America.Segregation and Integration in Asbury Park.Math and Music: Algebra Featuring Mickey Hart.But their recorded legacy remains vast, deep, and ripe for exploration. The wheels came off in 1978 with Moon’s death, and fallow periods meant virtually no new material until 2006’s Endless Wire, released four years after Entwistle’s death. ![]() Success as a stadium rock act followed, but Townshend’s impulse to eclipse Tommy led the group into another troubled phase, which saw concept album Lifehouse aborted (it was trimmed into the majestic Who’s Next) and the appearance of their final magnum opus Quadrophenia. But this was really the start: wowing America at the Monterey Pop festival in June 1967, the group elected to refine and elevate the album as an artform, a path which reached an apotheosis in 1969 with the ‘rock opera’ Tommy. “Violence, resentment and intra-band rivalry remained at their heart.”Ĭontractual and financial problems dogged them throughout their early days, and two years after their debut 45 I Can’t Explain charted, hit singles were drying up. Daltrey’s role as straight man kept the ship from capsizing – handy considering the group’s early management team of flamboyant visionary Kit Lambert and East End tough-nut Chris Stamp was often as out of control as the group. John Entwistle’s bass and Moon’s drums became lead instruments, vying for attention with Pete Townshend’s guitar, which he’d bash and trash to create an unholy wall of noise, citing Gustav Metzger’s auto-destructive art as inspiration. Starting life as R&B-playing Mods, they quickly transformed into rule-breaking pioneers, perverting, distorting or ignoring the accepted rock tenets. And thankfully so, since music as powerful as theirs was unlikely ever to be created in an atmosphere of calm. He was soon reinstated, promising pacifism, but violence, resentment and intra-band rivalry would remain at The Who’s heart. Months before December ’65’s debut album My Generation, singer Roger Daltrey was dismissed for beating up drummer Keith Moon. THE WHO AS WE KNOW THEM could have been two-hit wonders.
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