Who I Am

by Pete Townshend

Overview

“Raw and unsparing...as intimate and as painful as a therapy session, while chronicling the history of the band as it took shape in the Mod scene in 1960s London and became the very embodiment of adolescent rebellion and loud, anarchic rock ‘n’ roll.”   — Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

One of rock music's most intelligent and literary performers, Pete Townshend—guitarist, songwriter, editor—tells his closest-held stories about the origins of the preeminent twentieth-century band The Who, his own career as an artist and performer, and his restless life in and out of the public eye in this candid autobiography, Who I Am.

With eloquence, fierce intelligence, and brutal honesty, Townshend has written a deeply personal book that also stands as a primary source for popular music's greatest epoch. Readers will be confronted by a man laying bare who he is, an artist who has asked for nearly sixty years: Who are you?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062127259
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/06/2013
Pages:	544
Sales rank:	290,758
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Pete Townshend is the legendary lead guitarist and principal songwriter for The Who, one of the most influential rock-and-roll bands of all time. He's also the author of The Age of Anxiety as well as one of Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and resides in West London, where he was raised.

Table of Contents

Act One: War Music

1 I Was There 3

2 It's a Boy! 6

3 You Didn't See It 26

4 A Teenage Kind of Vengeance 49

5 The Detours 62

6 The Who 86

7 I Can't Explain 113

8 Substitoot 130

9 Acid in the Air 151

10 God Checks In to a Holiday Inn 175

11 Amazing Journey 199

12 Tommy: The Myths, The Music, The Mud 226

Act Two: A Really Desperate Man

13 Lifehouse and Loneliness 277

14 The Land Between 304

15 Carriers 334

16 A Beggar, a Hypocrite 351

17 Be Careful What You Pray For 374

18 The Undertaker 398

19 Growing Into My Skin 416

20 Rock Star Fuckup 451

Act Three: Playing to the Gods

21 The Last Drink 489

22 Still Loony 526

23 Iron Man 559

24 Psychoderelict 589

25 Relapse 607

26 Noodling 627

27 A New Home 644

28 Letter to My Eight-year-old Self 665

29 Black Days, White Knights 694

30 Trilby's Piano 703

31 Intermezzo 714

32 Who I Am 721

Appendix A Fan Letter from 1967 725

Coda 728

Acknowledgements 730

Picture Credits 740

Editorial Reviews

Unusually frank and moving…[Who I Am] isn’t one of those rock memoirs that puts the what before the why. His past is a puzzle Mr. Townshend is sweating to decipher.

The Guardian (UK)

Intensely intimate…candid to the point of self-laceration…[Townshend’s] tone is less lofty than anyone would have expected, just as this book is more honest than any fan would have hoped.

Rolling Stone

Mr. Townshend’s self-portrait is raw and unsparing...as intimate and as painful as a therapy session, while chronicling the history of the band as it took shape in the Mod scene in 1960s London and became the very embodiment of adolescent rebellion and loud, anarchic rock ‘n’ roll.

Michiko Kakutani

Intensely intimate…candid to the point of self-laceration…[Townshend’s] tone is less lofty than anyone would have expected, just as this book is more honest than any fan would have hoped.

Rolling Stone (Four 1/2 Stars!)

"Unusually frank and moving…[Who I Am] isn’t one of those rock memoirs that puts the what before the why. His past is a puzzle Mr. Townshend is sweating to decipher."

The Guardian(UK)

"Intensely intimate…candid to the point of self-laceration…[Townshend’s] tone is less lofty than anyone would have expected, just as this book is more honest than any fan would have hoped."

(Four 1/2 Stars!) - Rolling Stone

This long anticipated, completely unghosted autobiography demonstrates the impressive writing talents and touching candor of world famous leader of The Who. Much more than a dry tabulation of gigs or a tally of rocker misdeeds, Who I Am is the honest reflection of a gentle, multi-faceted man.

Townshend has been working on this memoir for a decade—without the help of a ghostwriter. (It says something that this fact is emphasized.) Here he is as a child, raised by a mentally incapacitated grandmother as his parents led an early version of countercultural life; an adolescent, founding the forerunner of the Who with buddy Roger Daltrey; and a full-fledged rock star wrestling (as rock stars do) with drugs, sex, fame, fortune, and notoriety. With a one-day laydown on October 8 and a 400,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

The soul-searching of a deeply conflicted rock star will likely draw a mixed response from readers. As the creative force driving the Who, one of the most explosive and ambitious rock bands in history, guitarist/composer Townshend (Horse's Neck, 1985) has shown himself offstage to be an uncommonly articulate and reflective musical celebrity. For those who want to go deep into his psyche, from the Dickensian childhood in which he believed he was sexually abused (and was unquestionably mistreated) through the marital fidelity that he tried to sustain and the depression, anxiety attacks, alcoholism and other conditions he has successfully battled, Townshend bares his soul and is tougher on himself than most readers are likely to be. (Even those readers aware of the scandal in regard to his accessing child pornography are likely to agree that it was a careless mistake.) Along the way, he lets Who fans know just what inspired and influenced audacious achievements such as Tommy and intriguing hits such as "I Can See for Miles" and "Pictures of Lily." He's remarkably generous in the credit he gives other musicians, particularly the Kinks' Ray Davies and a whole lot of jazz artists (he idolizes pianist Keith Jarrett). Yet the narrative falls surprisingly flat in its surfeit of details (on houses, boats and much younger women who seemed to attract and torture him mainly because of their beauty), while adding little understanding to the unique dynamics of the Who. Jimi Hendrix comes alive in these pages, but ex-wife Karen Townshend does not. Regarding the "odd couple" relationship he has sustained with singer Roger Daltrey, Townshend doesn't seem to understand it any better than readers will. Fans will find plenty of revelation; others may be overwhelmed or just confused.

Kirkus Reviews

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