Before I Get Old: The Story of the Who

Rating:
Summary: A fun read
Review: Dave Marsh can be an arrogant, snotty,and belligerent writer. Which is fitting as The Who often shared the same faults. Marsh does everything he possibly can to don the cloak of The Who and write as though he was one of them.

I agree with other reviewers in criticising the book's overall veracity. But that really is a small matter as "Before I Get Old" frequently is as entertaining as the group it documents.

Pete Townsend certainly is one of the few geniuses Rock music has produced. "Before I Get Old" certainly works extremely hard at presenting Townsend as Rock's All Father, a mantel Townsend himself worked very hard to develop. As a result, Townsend often comes off a real prententious jerk. But God, what great music he and his band mates produced out of their many disputes.

Marsh works hard at praising the contributions of Daltrey, Entwhistle and of course the incomparable Moon the Loon in producing some of the finest music Rock could ever hope to produce (boy, that was an arrogant statement- see the book rubs off. Marsh also never loses the fact that he is first and foremost a rabid fan. Maybe that is the book's biggest weakness, maybe it is the book's biggest strength. Marsh builds the case that The Who were the greatest Rock and Roll group of all time. An opinion I share (The Beatles are in a class all by them selves). He also makes the case that The Who really died with Keith Moon.

"Before I Get Old" is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it will do until we get the definitive work. As is, this is a blast to read.

Rating:
Summary: Marsh kills the spirit of rock and roll
Review: I agree with the reviewer who mentioned that Dave Marsh's preachiness and know-it-all attitude really is a detriment to this book. Before I Get Old is well researched and thorough, the only problem is that it takes all the life out of what is one of the most exciting and dangerous rock groups of all time. Marsh really fails to capture the early days of the Who, because he seems to judge everything as the elitist American reviewer he is. In other words, he has no sense of humour and doesn't capture the essence of what made the Who what they were. Pete Townshend is quoted at length, and he can be a real bore, he does his best communicating with a guitar in his hand and writing great songs of angst, rebellion and rage. Marsh has done some good work here and there, but he is totally out in left field with this one, he really captured nothing of The Who.

Rating:
Summary: Clever use of the word Who here...
Review: It seems to me that if you pick up a rock bio and expect to get something even close to the reality of what really went on, you are setting yourself up for a hard fall.

Dave Marsh does a really good job, however, at summing up the Who's career and belting out the facts with nice writing and concise direction. You're given behind the scenes looks at a lot of infighting, songs, albums, lives and careers and it all gels rather well together.

Marsh definitely has his opinions and is not hesitant in letting loose with them. I say good. Rock journalism is not the place for objectivity, just as rock n' roll is the essential forum to spill out everything you ever thought about everything. He has his biases and likes and it's nice to see because from that you understand that you are reading a Who fan's bio of the band. A much more well-informed fan than most, but basically, a fan.

The downside is also an upside. The downside being that almost all the quotes and personal asides in the book are taken from other interviews or films or whatnot, but that's also an upside. You get a collage view of the Who from their early days of snotty-punk-rock and their later days of fried-out elegance.

Pound for pound, in my book, the Who were the best band to come from the whole British invasion. And this book is as good a companion piece to the music as you're apt to find. Either it's this or waiting for their respective autobiographies....

Then you really won't know who to trust.

Rating:
Summary: Still The Best Who Biography
Review: Like many Who fans, I suppose, I found my interest in the band recently rekindled by the tragic death of Who bassist John Entwistle and the near-miraculous rebirth of the band on their subsequent North American tour. One day while going through some old books of mine, I came across my (very) battered old copy of Before I Get Old, and, being "between books", decided to give it another whirl.

I was pleasantly suprised to see how well the book holds up. If nothing else, the sheer amount of research Marsh obviously did to put the book together is enormously impressive. Marsh's knowledge pays off in his ability to treat the book almost like a really wonderful non-fiction novel - it's a story many would consider unbelievable if it weren't actually true. Also in the book's favor is the fact that Marsh has herewithin abstained (praise God!) from the kind of "this guy/these guys can do no wrong" hero-worship which marred his Springsteen bio Glory Days.

The main issue I have with Marsh's book (and this is largely a matter of taste, I suppose) is the short shrift he gives to so much of the Who's post-Who's Next work. For example, he seems to regard their magnificient Quadrophenia as pretty much a failure. I think this is absurd. Quadrophenia may not be a perfect album, but I believe it stands as the ultimate realization of Townshend's long-standing ambition to create a musically- and narratively- linked song cycle, not to mention as one of the finest studio albums created by ANY artist, the Who or otherwise.

In spite of this, Before I Get Old still stands as the best Who bio that's been written to date. If you're a fan of the band, or are merely curious about the greatest rock band of all time, I highly recommend you pick this up.

Rating:
Summary: A detailed history of the Who's career.
Review: Marsh's writing can be extremely annoying, but if you can get past that, it's not a bad book. A very good detailed story (especially the band's early career) of their rise to the top. Marsh can be extremely self-rightous, and that gets in the way sometimes, but if you want to learn about the band, this is the book.

Rating:
Summary: Who Good, Marsh Bad.
Review: Not a bad book, but Dave Marsh's style of writing/preaching/knowing-it-all really got on my nerves (minus 2 stars because he wrote it, and not someone else). There's way too much about the making of "Tommy", and not enough about the older albums. Some great stuff in here about Shel Talmy, Kit Lambert, Radio Caroline, New Action/Track Records, and a good section about Mod culture (essential reading for those outside the UK... Mod was more than just wearing a bulls-eye T-shirt). The book ends after Keith Moon dies, and the first "final tour", so if you were looking for more recent Who history, it's not in here. Still, it's a decent read if you can stomach Dave Marsh.

Rating:
Summary: All Who'd Out
Review: Sorry guys, but Americans have no place writing about British Rock bands. This is by no means a bad book, it's just that the British have so much more class. This book is rather clinical and there's not really enough story telling for my liking. It does cover the early period quite well. Maybe Entwistle's book will be good (if he ever finishes it.)

Rating:
Summary: On balance, a great read
Review: This is an exhaustive account of the Who's early to middle career, through the "Who's Last" tour. (It was published in 83 and hasn't been revised, so the Tommy revival tour and the Quadrophenia revival tour and Entwistle's death are not discussed.)
There are a couple of criticisms, chief among them that it seems Marsh didn't get much in the way of original interviews and relies heavily on other sources, giving it a bit of a "clip job" feel. He's also not shy about his opinions, some of which are right on target (Kit Lambert's shortcomings as a producer) and some which are way off base (his slighting of Quadrophenia). The later the story progresss throughout the band's career, the less time he spends on the narrative. In a 525 page book, you're barely out of "Tommy" by page 375.
Still, the 525 pages flies by, as the book is so well organized and the material freshly presented. Kudos especially to Marsh for his portrayal of the evolution and continuing contradictions of Townshend's thoughts.