Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend [Paperback]

Geoffrey Giuliano (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1997

He was the brains behind the innovative and phenomenally popular band The Who. He invented the rock opera with Tommy, and his new version of that show was a long-running Broadway smash. He is an outstanding guitarist whose career has flourished over more than three decades. Pete Townshend has lived a fascinating, often troubled life, but strangely, he has never been the subject of a biography--until now. Rock authority Geoffrey Giuliano, who has known Townshend intimately for almost twenty years, provides a complete look at Townshend's turbulent and eventful life. Giuliano details Townshend's stellar career with impressive insight, candor, and compassion. Giuliano also delves into the sensational aspects of Townshend's much-talked-about personal life, including his devastating addiction to heroin and alcohol, his volatile and sometimes violent relationships with fellow band members, and his recent admission of his bisexuality. * Appendices feature a complete discography of Townshend's recordings over the last three decades and an exhaustive chronology of events. Relying on countless interviews with close friends, co-workers, and fellow musicians (including Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, and Keith Richards), as well as with Townshend himself, Giuliano draws an enlightening and entertaining portrait of rock's often contradictory and all-too-human elder statesman.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The man who became a voice of the young when he penned such 1960s anthems as "My Generation" and "I Can't Explain" has grown from a guitar-bashing rebel to a revered inductee (as a member of The Who) in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In this spirited chronicle, veteran rock biographer Giuliano (Dark Horse: The Private Life of George Harrison, etc.) captures nearly everything in between, the excesses as well as the successes. Townshend's tumultuous life has gone through several incarnations. Giuliano adequately documents the musician's struggles to continue to break new creative ground after the public embraced Tommy, his conflicts with his bandmates and, of course, his highly publicized substance-abuse problems. But Giuliano also peels away the layers of Townshend's public persona to find a complex, passionate man who is full of contradictions. Although Townshend has been married to the same woman most of his adult life, he has carried on numerous affairs with both men and women; in the 1970s, he followed the teachings of spiritual leader Meher Baba, which required him to abstain from alcohol and drugs, but he continued to struggle with his addictions. In tracing Townshend's later years, Giuliano, who's known the rock star for nearly 20 years, reveals that his subject hasn't lost his bite: "You know what happens to the likes of Bowie, Jagger, and me?" asks Townshend. "Our teenage kids turn around and say, 'You look like mutton dressed as lamb. How can I possibly have my friends around?' " The kid's still all right, and so is this penetrating look at his life.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Touted as the "world's loudest rock band," The Who has also been one of the most innovative and popular musical groups for more than 30 years now. The creative force behind the band has always been Townshend, who, surprisingly, has never been the subject of a full-fledged biography. Giuliano (Born Under a Bad Sign, St. Martin's, 1994) uses his 20-year friendship with Townshend, interviews with Who insiders, and previously published interviews to create an admiring but gritty and insightful account of this contradictory man. He covers Townshend's troubled early life, his transformation from jazz guitarist to guitar-smashing rocker, his addiction and subsequent recovery, his search for meaning and discovery of guru Meher Baba, his creative output (especially the rock opera Tommy), the autobiographical nature of his writing, and his recent admission of bisexuality. Though Giuliano's style is often florid, this is a highly readable account of a popular musical genius and his demons. Recommended for all music and popular culture collections.?Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Lib. System, Cal.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Plume (November 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452275628
• ISBN-13: 978-0452275621
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,960,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Best left on the shelf, August 24, 2005

By 

Daria "johntracytb5" (Rancho Dominguez, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend (Paperback)

"I cannot wait until all of the Beatles and the other rock stars drop dead, because then I can write whatever I want about them and after they're dead, none of them can sue me." That quote (from author Geoffrey Giuliano's own website) is enough to let the wise reader know what they are up against when approaching this book. In a word, this plodding expose' is a bore, partly because of the author's lackluster handling of the subject matter and partly due to the subject himself. I love Pete Townshend and his music dearly and will always think of him as a hero of mine, but reading this badly-written dross about his exceedingly complex personality, drug and alcohol bouts and jealousy-fueled abusive behavior against his little brothers and Roger Daltrey (post Daltrey's 1965 boot-out for his own violent behavior) is more than tedious, especially since all of this has been documented elsewhere in firsthand interviews with Townshend which were written by far better, more inspired writers.

Worse still is having to wade through the author's self-serving section of the book in which he digresses about having stolen and apparently abandoned some of Townshend's personal tapes (outtakes from the "Tommy" recordings) from a locked office while on the man's payroll and while claiming to be a fellow devotee to the teachings of Maher Baba. He gleefully reprints painful replies from Townshend, responses sent as the author shamefully continued to contact the man after having betrayed him in the most ungrateful fashion, all the while desperately avoiding expressing either guilt or remorse for his actions (outside of being sorry that he was found out). At this point the author's constant references to his own irresponsibility become pretty nauseating and it's difficult to rebound to the point of reading any further.

My recommendation: Search out a book about The Who written by a more reputable source. There are many enjoyable books out there which will get you caught up on what's what with the band's members during their heyday. This isn't one of them.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Must to Avoid, September 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend (Paperback)

GG keeps pumping out these lack luster, poorly researched rock bios. As a Pete Townshend fan I unfortunately let down my guard and purchased this one.

Don't make the same mistake I did.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars stunningly dull, May 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend (Paperback)

As good as the Dave Marsh book "Before I Get Old" was, is as bad as this book is. Even the great subject could not hold my interest. I am embarassed to own it.