The person who earned the outline “the greatest Keith Moon-type drummer in the world” was Keith Moon. Who referred to as him that? That was Keith Moon, too, and his greatest performances reveal precisely why The Who’s late drummer stands other than all who got here earlier than or since.
The quote conveys the sheer individualism of the person, however far past the “Moon The Loon” caricature, Keith John Moon was an excellent and irreplaceable musician. Bear in mind, for instance, that he was positioned at No.2 in Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Drummers Of All Time record, second solely to John Bonham and forward of such fellow giants, now sadly additionally gone, as Ginger Baker, Neil Peart, and Hal Blaine.
Moon’s demise, in 1978, at a desperately early 32, introduced The Who near everlasting shutdown, till the thankless process of sitting at his drumkit fell to Kenney Jones and, within the newer incarnation of the band, Zak Starkey. However The Who’s authentic drummer left a mighty cache of performances, captured within the studio and on the stage, from which we provide this record of the 20 greatest Keith moon performances.
20: ‘Dreaming From The Waist’ (dwell in Swansea, 1976)
Moon within the studio was thrilling; Moon on stage was exhilarating. So we start with this dwell recording, captured at The Who’s Vetch Discipline Stadium present at Swansea Metropolis Soccer Membership on the Who By Numbers tour: a easy instance of the distinctive cohesion of the Townshend–Daltrey-Entwistle-Moon machine, underpinned as at all times by Keith’s unflagging beat.
19: ‘So Sad About Us’
Again to late 1966 for an instance of the band’s youthful sound and a power-pop prototype from their second album, A Fast One. “So Sad About Us” positive aspects a lot of its momentum from Moon’s powerhouse efficiency. Quickly after the drummer’s demise, the music was coated as a B-side of “Down In The Tube Station At Midnight” by The Jam, whose personal sticksman, Rick Buckler, stated within the e-book Keith Moon: There Is No Substitute: “I admired Keith Moon as a drummer even though he wasn’t my sort of drummer; his drumming, like his life, seemed close to the edge.”
18: ‘Happy Jack’
Full with a suitably wacky interval video wherein Moon finally ends up coated, naturally, in cake, right here’s The Who’s UK No.3 and first US High 40 hit. It’s an early instance of his innate capability to deal with tempo and temper adjustments, laying a depth cost beneath Townshend’s formidable and episodic writing. Hear particularly to the dazzling dozen seconds or so from 0’57”, that includes what may be very almost a drum solo in a 1966 pop single.
17: ‘The Real Me’
The primary of a number of inclusions from Quadrophenia demonstrates the way in which Moon performed drums not as mere accompaniment, however as a lead instrument. The three-way fluidity within the verses between his vivid fills, Entwistle’s bass and Daltrey’s consummate rock vocals is electrical energy itself.
16: ‘I Can’t Clarify’ (dwell in Texas, 1975)
The primary single launch by The Who beneath that title was already greater than a decade previous once they performed it on the Summit in Houston, Texas, on November 20, 1975. The footage could also be a bit grainy, however the efficiency is spot-on, underpinned by Moon’s feverish zest.
15: ‘The Rock’
Maybe not immediately recognizable by title, that is the mighty instrumental that preceded “Love, Reign O’er Me” on Quadrophenia. “I knew he was a one-off drummer, but in the same way as the rest of us were one-off,” stated Entwistle of Moon. “We constructed our music to fit around each other. It was something very peculiar that none of us played the same way as other people, but somehow, our styles fitted together.”
14: ‘Substitute’
The package is smaller, the eyes a bit wider, the antics extra measured, however that is the essence of Moon aged, most likely, 19. His fills on the finish of every verse are, as so usually, like vocals of their very own.
13: ‘Behind Blue Eyes’
Moon’s drums don’t even seem on this basic from Who’s Subsequent till properly over midway by way of. However then, from 2’18” onwards, he dances just like the satan with Daltrey’s vocals and Townshend’s lead guitar, earlier than serving to to steer the music again into port, for its light and majestic conclusion. Daltrey has referred to as “Behind Blue Eyes” his all-time favorite Who music.
12: ‘Pinball Wizard’
Not simply an immortal Who music from Tommy, however a efficiency of it that’s carved into rock historical past, from their look on the Isle Of Wight Pageant within the early hours of August 30, 1970. Similar to the title character in Townshend’s vivid narrative, Moon performs by instinct and turns into a part of the machine.
11: ‘Sea And Sand’
To the introductory sounds of the ocean and seagulls, The Who launch into one other nice second from Quadrophenia. Moon’s percussion is an excellent mixture of restraint and persona. As with all the nice rock drummers, all the things stems from his enjoying, and it’s thrillingly cohesive.
10: ‘Baba O’Riley’ (Shepperton Studios, 1978)
This efficiency of the opening monitor from Who’s Subsequent was filmed on the B-stage at Shepperton only a few months earlier than Keith Moon’s demise. It was captured in entrance of an invited viewers which included fortunate members of Pretenders, Intercourse Pistols and others, with Moon as magnetic as ever.
9: ‘Love, Reign O’er Me‘
The final monitor on Quadrophenia is the album’s magnificent crescendo, described by Jim Beviglia in American Songwriter as a “majestic catharsis.” He continues: “The drama conjured up by the music is potent. Townshend’s tone-setting synths eventually give way to Keith Moon’s peppery drums and John Entwistle’s thudding bass…‘Love, Reign O’er Me’ exemplifies the band’s ability to combine tough and tender.”
8: ‘My Generation’
The idea of drums as a lead instrument is to the fore once more on the music that defines The Who’s early riot. The back-and-forth between Moon and Daltrey particularly, because the vocalist pauses for dramatic impact and the drummer cues him again in, is among the most sensible call-and-response results in rock. Steve White, the revered drummer and longtime collaborator of Paul Weller, remembered in Keith Moon: There Is No Substitute that this was his introduction to Moon’s drumming. “I was struck by the way the cymbal propelled the whole track along,” he stated. “There was very little playing to the back beat. Keith was playing along more to the vocal, but as well as playing for the song, he was playing for himself, too, and I really liked that.”
7: ‘Bargain’
“‘Bargain’ opens with a classic rock’n’roll drum fill,” wrote Brad Schlueter in Drum!, “in which Moon plays snare ghost notes between the accents; these are felt more than heard, yet they contribute lots of energy to the feel. For the timekeeping duties, Moon again makes frequent use of his bass drum, playing eighth-notes of varying volumes while hammering snare notes and brief tom fills on top of them.”
6: ‘Young Man Blues’ (from Dwell At Leeds)
A monitor from not simply The Who’s definitive dwell album, however one of many biggest albums ever made, this can be a should for our record of the most effective Keith Moon performances. The band coated the Mose Allison music of their early days, nevertheless it grew to become a staple of their set within the late 60s. As one admirer put it, the extraordinary Dwell At Leeds efficiency has the drummer going “from total anarchy to a dead stop, over and over.”
5: ‘Bell Boy’
A Moon signature and a uncommon singing/talking function, in a key second of the Quadrophenia narrative. The album’s engineer, Ron Nevison, remembered: “The biggest problem with Keith on the drums was finding a place to put the microphones. He had so many drums – two hi-hats, two kick drums, six or eight tom-toms – it was challenging just to get in there to get the snare drum covered.”
4: ‘Who Are You’ (dwell at Ramport Studios in Battersea, 1978)
Filmed at The Who’s Ramport Studios in Battersea, south London, Moon’s efficiency, together with his headphones gaffer-taped to his head, is as superb as his half on the document.
3: ‘I Can See For Miles’
An early Who masterpiece, with Moon enjoying his full half in a basic of psychedelic pop that ought to, as Townshend himself avowed, have been a No.1 single. Moon’s drums are, in some ways, the lead instrument, a soloist amongst soloists. Rock critic Dave Marsh referred to as it “The Who’s best: thunderous Keith Moon drums, a Townshend guitar line that starts out like an earthquake and finishes like a razor.”
2: ‘A Quick One (While He’s Away)’ (The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus, 1968)
Extensively revered by Who followers as one other of Moon’s most superior performances, this model affords the additional visible deal with of the band’s look on The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus. Filmed in Wembley in December 1968, it’s a marvellous timepiece and even, round 4.27, captures Keith hurling his facet tom throughout the stage. However in fact.
Uncover the life and legacy of Keith Moon.
1: ‘Won’t Get Fooled Once more’
It appears solely proper that this scintillating rendition of The Who’s 1971 anthem ought to high our record of the most effective Keith Moon performances – partly due to his breathtaking work on each the unique and this Might 1978 model (once more taped at Shepperton Studios), and partly as a result of this was his last-ever efficiency. His solo that units up Daltrey’s definitive rock scream close to the top has virtually unimaginable drama and stress.
“There’s something in the back of my head that tells me Keith never would have made an old man,” Daltrey advised Dan Moderately in a 2013 interview. “He wouldn’t have wanted to be an old man. He wanted to be the world’s greatest rock drummer, and he died being that.”
Store for The Who’s music on vinyl or CD now.
