post your favorite protest song

[Manifestor_of_Light]

249. I am not saying that they would be The Who without any one of them.

All four of them were necessary. They played different parts than rock bands usually have. They had a lead bass and a lead drums. That's unusual. Bill Wyman of the Stones also played complex bass parts.

Pete's leads, unless they were on acoustic as in "Behind Blue Eyes" were not melodic, they were basically rhythm. All of his windmilling was rhythm. He wasn't playing anything melodic, just playing chords. If a band had 3 guitars, like the Beatles, you had a bass, a lead and a rhythm.

The most complicated part for The Who was the bass. In most rock songs, the bass is pretty simple, like what Paul McCartney played. You always need a solid bass in rock, whether it's simple or complicated. In The Who, the bass was the backbone as well as often the ornamental part of the song. Keith was bashing drums quite fast and sometimes erupting on the last beat of the measure with tons of percussion and temporarily overtaking the lead part from Roger's extraordinary voice.

You don't have to have a conventionally "good" voice (I'm talking good pop singers and good opera singers) to have a good rock voice. Roger is rough around the edges but it gives it that cutting edge that rock sometimes needs. Roger always has a discernible pitch. Don't get me started on that imposter named Johnson they replaced Bon Scott with in AC/DC, who is hoarse.

Sometimes The Who sang harmony together as in "Behind Blue Eyes" and some of the numbers on "The Who By Numbers" with acoustic guitar that were softer. Other times it was usually Roger on the lead with John and Pete doing more conventional backing vocals.

Same thing with the Beatles. They could sing three part harmonies, especially in their early stuff, but also John Lennon could rip his throat out singing "Revolution" or the definitive version of "Twist and Shout".

John Entwistle singing one of his songs -
"My Wife". They called him "Thunderfingers" and his nickname was "The Ox" because he was very large and quiet.

Won't Get Fooled Again -- with John Entwistle's isolated bass.This shows you how complex his bass playing was as a lead instrument:

THIS is the amazing talent that is Roger's vocals.
I think this is better than the Queen original video version with Freddie Mercury singing "I Want it All". They never performed it live with Freddie.
This is from 1992 benefit concert for AIDS awareness, after Freddie died, with Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath on guitar jamming with Brian May, and Roger Daltrey singing lead.

This song is so powerful it peels paint off the walls.

At the beginning Brian and Tony play a bit of "Heaven and Hell" and then they play a bit of "Pinball Wizard" in honor of their guest Roger Daltrey. Roger Taylor, Queen's drummer, introduces Roger Daltrey.

Fashion note: Brian's wild vest is French silk painting. I know how to do that!

As a woman, I think Roger Daltrey and Brian May are truly beautiful in their life force or stage presence here.

I WANT IT ALL:

I started out studying classical as a child and listened to sixties rock at the same time. Hope this bit of analysis of which instrument is doing what at different times helps.