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Questions for Pete Townshend May 2005

Q. What is your earliest recollection of IBC studio?
A. The Shel Talmy album sessions. (My Generation)

Q. Looking back, with your vast knowledge of recording, how did you get on with Shel
as a producer and who chose the songs for the album (My Generation)
A. I hated working with him. But he got good results. I submitted a few songs that weren't
included, but Roger was keen to include plenty of R&B. I think Kit may have liaised with Shel -
or tried to - to get a good mix of material (nb. I think Kit won as 8 of the 13 tracks (uk) were PT compositions)

Q. Do you remember any of the engineers or staff you worked with?
A. Shel, Glyn Johns. Later Damon Lyon Shaw. (NB Shel Talmy got his first break from walking off the streets into IBC Studios. Damon use to be Glyns tape op and both worked with the Stones and The Who.)

Q. Glyn use to work at IBC, but not in the later years you recorded there. How did you link up
again?
A. We met up at Olympic during 1967/68 where he was working with the Small Faces and the
Stones.(NB. Olympic studios were rivals of IBC and I personally think that their management were more tuned into what was happening and they over took IBC as the leading independent recording studio in town).

Q.I went to your house once in Twickenham where you showed me where you recorded your
demos, when did you start to take an interest in engineering.
A. At art college. The school band (the Detours) were invited to record one of my first two songs
at the home studio of the film composer Barry Gray, and I was struck by the fact that he used EMI equipment at home.(NB Barry Gray was the man who composed the "Stingray" and "Thunderbirds themes)

Q.And can you remember the first track you engineered or mixed down.
A. I did a demo for a song called "IT WAS YOU", which, strangely enough was the one Barry Gray
then re-recorded. I had a tape recorder at home from a young age. Before I had a record player.

Q.You spent a few months at IBC working on Tommy, did you find it frustrating to keep breaking
off from recording so that you could go out on the road to pay for the sessions.
A. Yes. I hated that. The theory is that we had to pay for the sessions. Not sure why that was. We
were on TRACK records by then and they should have paid the bills.

Q. But while on the road did you write songs or come up with ideas that you would use when you
got back into the studio.
A. I did some lyrics sometimes. But usually only what I would call 'lyric guides.

Q.Can you remember writing any of your songs at IBC?
A. That never happened.

Q.So most of your song writing happened in your home studio. Was there anywhere else?
A. No, home studio, or later on when equipment got portable almost anywhere.

Q.Was there any truth in the story that you met Jimi Hendrix at IBC? (The only time I can recall
him being at IBC was the day I cut Hey Joe, which was the day after he recorded it at Kingsway
Studio)
A. That's the story. I met him under the control room. He wanted advice on amplifiers. He looked unkempt and tired, and covered in dust! When I first saw him on stage it took a while to reconcile
the astonishing vision I saw with the shy, scruffy young man I met at the studio.

                                      Studio A and the conrol room

Q. How did he end up on Track Records, did you put a good word in?
A. No idea. He was on Track before I met him I think.

Q. Do you think there is much difference between the Who tracks mastered on CD and those on
vinyl?
A. Yes. CD at 44.1 is horrible. I welcomed it at first because all my vinyl was scratched. Soon after
I realised that there was an edge to 44.1 that offended my hearing, possibly because my hearing
was damaged already,

Q. I am still a vinyl lover, smell and all. Do you ever play vinyl anymore and have you kept some of those old albums from the past?
A. I still have about 2000 of the 15000 I used to have. I only listen to 'Classic' vinyl, the audiophile
re-releases. The rest of my vinyl is wrecked.

Q. Other than The Who and Thunderclap Newman were there any other times you used IBC?
A. I don't think so.

Q. I played the Thunderclap album the other week and its still fresh. Unfortunately I hear that
Speedy Keen died (recently?) Would you like to say a few words about him?

A.Thanks. I hadn't seen Speedy for nearly 25 years when he died, I was chasing him with a
royalty cheque for a £1,000,000 (I am his publisher).

Q. At the end of the version of "Happy Jack" that I mastered you say, "I saw ya" What did you see?
A. That didn't happen at IBC. We were at CBS (then in Bond Street?). Keith had been told not to distract us singing. He peeped up through the con troll room window. (NB apparently there was a recording of "Happy Jack" recorded at IBC, but this is listed as "acoustic version")

Q.You used quite a few studios around town, was this because you were looking for a certain
sound or was it for another reason?
A. Kit booked them. IBC was hard to get into because of the Bee Gees, and the Ryan Twins or have you forgotten the other clients? (NB I would sooner have had The Who or The Small Faces but we had a good reputation for string sounds and it was a chance to fill the place with a 40 piece orchestra. They always started on time too!!!!!)

Q.I would just like to end by saying The Who brought a bit of fresh air into IBC and beneath
the John Adams ceiling some great tracks were created. Which was your favourite track that
you recorded at IBC?
A.My Generation. Then Anyway Anyhow Anywhere. I also loved Something In the Air of course.

Q. All those tracks are a big part of my youth but my favourite Who track is "The Seeker" as it
said how I and many others felt at the time as well as a rocking good track. How and why did you
write it?
A. Sitting in a Florida swamp with my old friend Tom Wright, feeling romantic. Started to scratch together the lyric. Why? Can't remember. It's strange you should say it reflected your own feelings because of course I had already found my 'Master' in Meher Baba who inspire Tommy. Did you
ever find what you were seeking?

Cheers Pete, its nice to know you have good memories.

If you want to know more about Pete and the band visit http://www.petetownshend.co.uk for up to date information.