Pete Townshend, The Who’s guitarist and principal songwriter, paid a visit to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday, March 26, to promote the Broadway revival of the musical based on his band classic 1969 rock opera, Tommy.
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During an extended interview with host Jimmy Fallon, which has been posted on YouTube, Townshend discussed his infamous penchant for smashing guitars on stage during much of The Who’s history.
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Townshend explained that he never felt any regret about destroying his instruments because he never formed an emotional attachment to them.
“Young kids that buy their first really good guitar end up in a love relationship with her,” he noted. “I’ve never had that.”
Fallon then asked the rock legend what he would do if he had multiple gigs in one day.
“You know, I would fix them … with glue,” Townshend replied, as the audience chuckled. “No, I did. I used to glue guitars together.”
The 78-year-old musician then shared a recollection about one of The Who’s early trips to the U.S.
“When we first came to New York, we did a thing called ‘The Murray the K Show,’ where we had to do four shows in a day,” Townshend recalled. “And I only had the one guitar, so I had to break it and fix it four times a day. And in the end, it was kind of more glue and string than a guitar.”
Townshend then reiterated, “You know, I don’t apologize for this. I should do, but I don’t.”
He continued, “I think a lot of people struggle to buy their first instruments. They build up a relationship with them. But I never had that. And I don’t know quite why.”
Townshend Recalls His First Guitar
Townshend proceeded to share a story about his first guitar, which was a cheap instrument that his grandmother bought him. he explained that he’d wanted his father, who was a professional musician, to buy him his first guitar, but, to his disappointment, his dad had told him that his grandmother wanted to do it.
“[S]he bought me a guitar from the Greek restaurant in [the London neighborhood of] Ealing, where we lived, off the wall,” Townshend said. “So, you know, nobody’s gonna tell me that that hunk of wood with some strings stretched across it is sacred. … Not to me.”
Townshend on the “Really Great” Tommy Musical and Its Star
Later in the conversation, Townshend discussed the Broadway revival of The Who’s Tommy musical, which has it’s official opening on Thursday, March 28, at the Nederlander Theatre. Townshend said the new production is “a really great version” of the show, and praised Ali Louis Bourzgui, the young actor who portrays the lead character of Tommy Walker.
“He’s a great Tommy,” Pete continued. “He’s probably … the best we’ve had, partly because of his youth and energy. … He’s spectacular.”
Townshend Performs with the Tommy Cast
After the interview, Townshend joined the cast of The Who’s Tommy for a medley performance of “Pinball Wizard” and “See Me, Feel Me.” Townshend strummed an acoustic guitar and added some backing vocals to the performance.
Tickets for The Who’s Tommy are available now via various outlets, including StubHub.
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