A couple of weeks ago, I visited the storied Troubadour nightclub in Hollywood to see the latest installment of “In the Attic,” the series of acoustic showcases starring Pete Townshend (on his days off from the Who’s world tour) and organized by his girlfriend Rachel Fuller. I interviewed the two of them (plus Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie); the resulting article was intended for Rolling Stone, but due to the magazine’s ongoing page crunch (times are tough all over), it ended up on their website, which means that you can read it by following this link.

A few stray thoughts that I didn’t have room for in the article:

1. Townshend’s a marvel on the acoustic guitar. He didn’t ever solo by finger-picking; he did it strictly by varying the tempo of his attack, but always kept the beat swinging.

2. It’s remarkable how few studio albums the Who have released: just eleven, including 2006’s Endless Wire. Sure, they’ve had regular hiatuses, but so have most bands of that ilk. The Stones, who have been active over roughly the same four-decade time period, have twice as many to their credit. R.E.M. gave the Who an eighteen-year head start, but have released three more studio records.

3. I asked Townshend about his autobiography, which he used to mention periodically in interviews. I was quite eager to read it, and wanted to know how it was coming along. Alas: “That, I dumped,” he said. “I write all the time. I write essays and poetry and stories and stuff, but you know, it [the book]’s nowhere at the moment.”

posted 1 December 2008 in Articles, Outside and tagged Pete Townshend, Rachel Fuller, Rolling Stone, The Who. 2 comments