Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 12/20/1991
Run Time: 38:45
Pete Townshend and
the Deep End Band played live for two benefit outings -- November 1 and 2, 1985 at the
Brixton Academy -- to help support
Townshend's own "Double O' Charities. The performances are excerpted here and were used in a made-for-home-video, also called
Pete Townshend's Deep End Live!. Initially, a promotional 12" EP of the show was released to
AOR radio stations in August of 1986. However, significant interest in the project would ultimately yield a 10-song LP which was issued to retail a few months later.
Townshend (guitar and vocals) is backed by an ensemble that includes a core band of
John "Rabbit" Bundrick (keyboards),
Chucho Merchán (bass), and
Simon Philips (drums) with
Peter Hope-Evans (harmonica),
Gina Foster (backing vocals),
Billy Nicholls (backing vocals), and
Jody Linscott (percussion) as well as an eight-piece brass section. When compared to
the Who, the extended instrumentation provides
Townshend with a larger sonic pallet to work from. The artist takes full advantage on the stylish update of the
R&B classic
"Barefootin'," and a suitably dramatic overhaul of
"I Put a Spell on You." Plus, perhaps just to demonstrate his top-shelf taste in modern music,
the English Beat's
"Save It for Later" is a stone gem with the intimacy of an "unplugged" type of backing complete with sax -- by either
Tim Saunders or former
Stiff Little Fingers member
Simon Clarke. Even though it could be considered a
Who tune,
Sonny Boy Williamson's
"Eyesight to the Blind" is given a big city swing that presented the familiar melody in a fresh context. The
Townshend originals serve up one offering from the '80s solo albums
Empty Glass (1980) (
"A Little Is Enough"),
All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (1982) (
"Stop Hurting People") and
the Who-related tunes
"Behind Blue Eyes," "I'm One," and
"Pinball Wizard." ~Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
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