Special thanks to ThisDayinMusic.com.
Long before he smashed guitars, composed rock operas, invented the windmill or bestrode the Earth like an SG-wielding, rock and roll colossus, Pete Townshend was a little boy from the West London suburb of Chiswick. The son of a professional saxophonist and a singer, he was perhaps destined to make a life of music. But it wasn’t a simple journey.
His paternal grandparents were musicians who played shows for the troops during World War I, and that musical heritage was passed down to Pete’s father, Cliff Townshend. Cliff was playing in bands, himself, by the age of 16 and was—perhaps a portent of his progeny—a bit of a rebel, getting expelled from school and playing music at wild, boozy parties. When he was 24, Cliff Townshend enlisted in the Royal Air Force. Quickly, he was conscripted into The Royal Air Force Dance Orchestra, better known as The Squadronaires. Like his parents, Cliff spent much of his generation’s World War entertaining the troops.
A young, Irish girl named Betty Dennis did the same thing during the war, singing with various R.A.F. bands in between her duties as a truck driver. The two met and fell in love, marrying in South Wales, where they were both stationed, in April 1944. On this date in 1945, Betty gave birth to the couple’s first son, Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend, in a West London hospital. That same month, the war with Germany ended and, after demobilization, Cliff’s band reformed as a civilian group under the same name and continued to play. Now retired from performing, Betty assisted The Squadronaires with office and management duties.
Pete grew up loving music, early on adopting the banjo to pluck out jazz music. On some occasions, Pete and his mother would travel with The Squadronaires on tour, giving the young boy a taste of the nomadic life of a musician. His household was indeed a musical one, though not completely idyllic. Cliff’s touring schedule put a great deal of stress on his marriage. At times during his childhood, Pete would be left in the care of his maternal grandmother, Emma Dennis, whom he later revealed abused the young boy.
When Pete was 11, his father took him to see Rock Around the Clock at a local theater. The film, which featured Bill Haley and His Comets and The Platters, among other acts, had a huge impression on the boy. He saw the film repeatedly and convinced his father to take him to see Haley live in concert the following year. The younger Townshend was hooked on rock and roll. Within a year, he had his own cheap acoustic guitar. While he still appreciated jazz, Dixieland and flamenco stylings, Pete also began to gorge himself on Bo Diddley, Link Wray, James Burton and other 1950s rock guitar pioneers.
In 1961, Pete enrolled at Ealing Art College in London, where he studied graphic arts. It was there that he formed a musical partnership with his old grammar school pal, John Entwistle. Entwistle had also grown up in a musical household with similar influences to Townshend’s. They formed a traditional jazz and Dixieland duo called The Confederates. Townshend played banjo and Entwistle played trumpet and French horn. After a while, John took up the bass guitar and the duo wrangled some classmates to form a rock band called the Scorpions.
Despite the fact that Townshend had grown up in a musician’s household, the home was agonizingly bereft of a decent record player. Finally, at Ealing Art College, Townshend rectified that situation and began devouring blues and jazz music, learning the catalogues of artists like John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy Reed, Mose Allison and Ray Charles, among others.
By 1962, Townshend had developed into a skilled guitarist. His years on the banjo had given him an uncanny right hand, simultaneously deft and percussive. Over the following years, this unique style would redefine rock guitar. This, then, was the Pete Townshend who was offered a position with a local R&B band, The Detours, led by a former classmate one year his senior named Roger Daltrey. Entwistle had already joined the group and had suggested bringing in his old Confederates mate. The Detours, of course, would develop into one of the great bands of the rock era, The Who. And it was Pete Townshend, the son of a jazzman, who would lead them to greatness.
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