Maximum R&B: The 'Orrible 'Oo

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Susan Foreman

Before Ed Force One and Zeppelin's Starship...

1967 - The Who undertake a 10 week North American summer tour, playing support to Herman's Hermits with special guests The Blues Magoos

The bands have chartered a DC-7 plane for the tour, with each of the group's names painted on the side

Buses are used for venues that are closer!

Excellent. Rock n' roll excess. Can't beat it!

It needs to come back into fashion.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Excellent. Rock n' roll excess. Can't beat it!

It needs to come back into fashion.

It's too safe now

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

It's too safe now

I think the words you were looking for are 'F*cking Boring'.

[Susan Foreman]

1965 - presumably this was the first time that the boys had an advert commission

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Excellent. Rock n' roll excess. Can't beat it!

It needs to come back into fashion.

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

It's too safe now

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I think the words you were looking for are 'F*cking Boring'.

You want rock and roll excess?

You got it!

Keith's milk float!!

Mind you, it does come complete with drinks cabinet, record player and phone box!!!

Also pictured John and chauffer Dougle Butler

[Susan Foreman]

Pete in his home recording studio in Twickenham in 1970

[Susan Foreman]

August 15, 1975 - Keith appears in a UCLA film student's movie entitled 'Sonic Boom'

In a very short scene shot at the Burbank Court House, he plays a character called "Mad Doctor Cherman"

The opening "Warning" to the movie says it all: “For the next twenty minutes you will be catapulted into one of the shortest and most terrifying disasters ever written”!

The movie would play in at least one theater on Christmas day 1975, where it opening for 'Man Friday' in Los Angeles

https://vimeo.com/285587705

[Susan Foreman]

'The Elves', who would later shorten their name to 'Elf', cover 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and 'Baba O'Riley' in 1972

The band consisted of David Feinstein (guitar), Nick Pantas (guitar), Doug Thaler (keyboards), Gary Driscoll (drums, later to be in an early version of Richie Blackmore's Rainbow) and Ronnie James Dio (vocals & bass guitar)

[Susan Foreman]

August 16th, 1964 - Playing after The Kinks, who were super-hot with their song 'You Really Got Me', The High Numbers open for The Beatles during a Sunday Night at the Blackpool Opera House concert. It is one of only two times that the band plays the same venue as the Fab Four

It has been suggested that John Lennon takes the idea of using feedback at the beginning of the next Beatles single, 'I Feel Fine', from watching Pete's feedback-laden performance on this night

The High Numbers manage to make an impression, despite the strong competition, thanks not only to their performance but also to new professional stage lighting designed for them by Mike Shaw. When The High Numbers leave the stage, their Marshall stacks are removed and replaced with the Beatles' equipment. John later remembers the Beatles' amps were half the size of what The High Numbers are using!

After the show the Numbers get a taste of Beatlemania as hysterical Beatle fans attack them as they leave the show, desperate for any souvenir of any band, ripping off pieces of their clothing and unknowingly ending up with Who collectibles

[Susan Foreman]

August 17th, 1969 - The Who play the Woodstock Music & Art Fair in Bethel, New York

They take the stage at 4AM and Pete was not happy. He recalls arriving at the festival: ""People coming up to me - 'You're going to Woodstock? You're crazy. Turn back, go home, there's millions of people there, the food's poisonous and the water...' Well, I immediately got into an incredible state and I rejected everyone. I wouldn't talk to anyone. And I was telling really nice people like Richie Havens to f*ck off and things like that. And it just got to a point where when we finally did get out of the helicopter and the helicopter never arrived and we eventually got in a queue of cars it took about six hours to get there. Well, we got there and then we waited another ten hours in the mud; the first cup of coffee I had had acid in it. I could f*cking taste it."

Now that they are in a really bad mood, the promoters tell the band that, since Woodstock is now a "free festival", they do not have the money on hand to pay them but can write them a check. The Who will have none of it leading to a fourteen-hour standoff as They refuse to take the stage. Finally a bank manager is flown in by helicopter with money, the standoff ends

Finally on stage, and Pete lets out some of his fury by kicking Michael Wadleigh, who was on stage filming the acts as part of his documentary Woodstock

The Who run quickly through opening songs 'Heaven and Hell' and 'I Can't Explain' before launching into 'Tommy'. All the fury and tension come out through their instruments as They blaze through the rock opera in a spectacular performance captured by Wadleigh's cameras

At the conclusion of 'Pinball Wizard', radical firebrand Abbie Hoffman runs out and grabs Pete's microphone to announce, "I think this is all a pile of shit while John Sinclair rots in prison!", referring to the manager of the Detroit rock band MC5 who got ten years in prison for possession of two marijuana joints. The Who are friends with the MC5 but Pete is in no mood for interruptions. "F*ck off my f*cking stage!", he yells, and pokes Hoffman in the back of the head with his guitar neck causing Hoffman to retire from the microphone. Audio exists of the incident but, for some unknown reason, it is either not filmed or the film has been lost. A search of the outtakes in 1976 by Jeff Stein and Woodstock editor Thelma Schoonmaker found no trace of it

The sun comes up just as The Who reach 'See Me, Feel Me' and it is the first time the members of the band see the size of the crowd, a half million people stretching off to the horizon

Finally realizing the importance of the event, The Who put their all into the finale. After they play the new long version of 'My Generation', Pete tosses his guitar into the crowd as the band walks off. The Who's roadies run out into the audience and quickly retrieve the guitar

Footage of The Who's performance at Woodstock is included in the movies Woodstock and The Kids Are Alright.