Ticket 2 Ride

John Entwistle was an extraordinary bass player. I believe that he was one of three best bass players of all time, Chris Squire and Jaco being the other two. He played the bass like a lead guitar at times, finding notes that almost copied the melody, but was a melodic counterpoint to Townshend’s guitar. At other times like a thundering herd of elephants, aggressively pushing the song through Keith Moon’s frantic, barrage of drums. He had a unique fingering of the bass strings. No one could, or seriously could, copy Entwistle’s style.

Entwistle maintained a solo career aside from The Who, which I’m less familiar with, so I’m only going to pick his Who penned songs. Entwistle’s writing was a change of pace from the Pete Townshend penned songs.

“My Wife” 1971, Who’s Next. Often referred to as the song that doesn’t quite fit on the album. I disagree. This is a nice rocker, perhaps written about the woman he was married to at the time. He said that he wrote it to replace “Boris the Spider”, in concert because he was tired of signing it. Entwistle played bass, piano and the horns.

Success Story 1975, Who By Numbers. Entwistle sings co-lead with Roger Daltrey. The song has a rocking groove and is one of the more upbeat songs on a dour album. Entwistle also designed and drew the album cover.

“Had Enough” 1978, Who Are You. Released as part of a double A side single with “Who Are You.” Daltrey sang lead, which helped it sound more like a Townshend-written Who song. Reportedly, Entwistle was planning for this song to be part of his own rock opera, which was never completed. The production is elaborated, with a full orchestra, which motivated Daltrey to get angry with producer Glyn Johns.

“Trick of the Light” 1978, Who Are You. Daltrey sang lead. The song refers to an interlude between a man and a prostitute where the ending was not as happy as he intended. Entwistle plays an eight-string bass guitar, which gives the performance an intensity and driving force.

“The Quiet One” 1981, Face Dances. Instead of saying it’s rocking, it’s rollicking. It’s definitely in Entwistle’s writing style, it gallops along at a constant speed, with driving bass and drums, and Townshend offering up some aggressive guitar slashes, like the early days. Entwistle sings lead, almost shouting. The song feels like a throwback to the late 1960s when The Who had an anger about them and things got destroyed. One might reassess whether Entwistle is quiet, or merely awaiting his chance to erupt.

More…

Entwistle was not a prolific writer for The Who, although he contributed a song or two for each studio album. He was usually relegated to the B side of singles, which at least earned him publishing royalties. Later, his work earned more notice and found an A side.

Entwistle made five solo albums, released a soundtrack album from The John Entwistle Band, and an album with the group The Rock. Sadly, Entwistle died in 2002, a day before The Who were to begin a major tour. The official cause of death was a heart attack, and other findings included significant heart disease, blocked arteries, and ingestion of cocaine the night before.