Roger Daltrey 10: A Celebration

Perhaps knowing what his legacy would always be, Roger Daltrey turned his attention to staging a pair of all-star concerts at Carnegie Hall for his 50th birthday. A Celebration: The Music Of Pete Townshend And The Who put Roger—tux-clad but tie- and sleeve-less for the first half, shirtless under a leather jacket for the second—in front of an orchestra conducted by Michael Kamen and a band featuring veterans of the 1989 tour and such Townshend familiars as Jody Linscott, Rabbit Bundrick, Phil Palmer, Jon Carin, Pino Palladino, and Simon Phillips. The set consisted of a curious mix of familiar songs and surprises, even a few solo choices, the spotlight occasionally ceded to or shared with special guest performers.

A Michael Lindsay-Hogg-directed pay-per-view special followed, while the official Bob Ezrin-produced album only presented half of the music performed at the 2½-hour shows. As Roger no longer had a solo deal of his own, it was released on an independent label the same damn day as the Who’s heralded box set.

The show opened with an “Overture”—not the one from Tommy, but a new medley of orchestrated Pete melodies. From there Roger sang some of the expected hits, but also some deep cuts. Yet the most startling and best rendition was that of “The Sea Refuses No River”, making us wish he’d explored more of Pete’s solo catalog.

Relegating contributions from Spin Doctors, Eddie Vedder, Lou Reed, and Alice Cooper to the video document, CD listeners were treated to Linda Perry, then of 4 Non Blondes, with a frankly excellent take on “Doctor Jimmy”, and the Chieftains, who augmented “Baba O’Riley” and “After The Fire”. (Sinéad O’Connor, who was still getting booed in those days, sang on the last two, but was not included in the mix.) David Sanborn was touted as a featured soloist on “5:15”, John Entwistle contributed bass to “The Real Me”, and Pete himself played a few songs without the other two; of those, only “Who Are You” was included.

A Celebration wasn’t exactly a sales smash, but the subsequent “Daltrey Sings Townshend” tour attempted to keep the party going with some of the same players, plus key additions like John Entwistle, Pete’s brother Simon on guitar, and young Zak Starkey on drums. As John always needed the money, more tours would follow, making the album something of a catalyst for future Who activity.

Roger Daltrey A Celebration: The Music Of Pete Townshend And The Who (1994)—3