Pete Townshend’s favorite band

If we talk about the history of rock we cannot fail to mention the Who. And if we talk about Who you can’t help but mention it Pete Townshendthe guitarist and main songwriter of the English band. Like everyone, even such a giant of music had musical preferences and examples to look to in order to do his best. For the 79-year-old Townshend, it’s no mystery, among his favorite groups he counts those more or less the same age Rolling Stones And Keith Richardstheir guitarist.

Already in 1980, in an interview with Sound International,

Pete Townshend he stated that Richards was his greatest influence as a rhythm guitarist. “I think my biggest influence in that area was Keith Richards. I still really like the way it sounds, but in that particular area I don’t think I have any rivals. There is no one who can surpass me. That’s where I do really well. I would have no problem having a guitarist in The Who so I could just focus on the rhythm. Because I love it. It’s a physical thing, it’s like dancing. There’s no guitarist I’ve ever worked with who hasn’t said it: Jimi Hendrix, Stephen Stills, Eric (Clapton, ed.). They all said, it was great playing with you.”

Pete Townshend And Keith Richards they have been good friends since the 1960s. So much so that in 1989 the Stones chose the guitarist of Who for the inclusion speech in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. In his speech Townshend called them the “greatest”. “Keith Richards once told me that I think too much. The truth is, I think I generally talk too much. But I don’t think before. Tonight I realized that thinking won’t help me much. I can’t analyze how I feel about the Stones because I’m an absolute Stones fan, always have been. Their first concerts were simply shocking. Absolutely enthralling, surprising, moving and completely life-changing. The Beatles were fun, there’s no doubt about that. I’m talking about live shows. I’m demeaning them. The Stones were really the ones who woke me up. At Beatles concerts there were a lot of screaming girls, the Stones were the first to have a screaming boy. The sheer strength of the Stones on stage and that perfectly balanced audience: me and 1000 girls.”

He then went on to say, “They’re the only group I’ve never really been ashamed to idolize. I got a lot of who I am from you, me and the Stones had no idea that most of the stuff was second hand. Enough gags, for me the Stones are the greatest. For me they embody British Rock. Even though they’re my friends now, I’m still a fan.”