Customer Reviews

Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

"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.

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.

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.

This is a difficult book to get through. If you've already picked up any bio or two on THE WHO in general, you've covered much the same territory. The only things gone into greater detail here are Townshend's unabashed megalomania and his downward spirals into drinking, drugs and marital infidelities. Also is made much of his spiritual father "Baba" - whom Roger Daltrey snidely referred to as "Ali Baba." That, at least, earns a smile. But there's not much to smile about in this overwrought book. There is sketchy admission of Townshend's occasional bisexuality, and there is tossed-off hints as to the decade's old - and immediate - tension between Townshend and Daltrey, wherein Townshend confesses to long envy of Daltrey's beauty and charisma. Before joining Daltrey's group along with Entwistle, John Entwistle had been Townshend's best friend. But once Daltrey was in the mix, literally in the middle, Townshend admits his focus became Daltrey and Entwistle just a guy he had a professional relationship with. Actually, reading the book, one becomes fed-up with Townshend and his erratic, self-serving behavior which damaged all the people around him. If you want to remain a fan, you're better off not reading anything in-depth about Pete Townshend - it's a complete turn-off.

Charmed by seeing the Who's phenomenal performance in the dull dull dull Rolling Stones Rock n Roll Circus, I bought this book. I wish I had read these reviews before I bothered. The chronology is muddled, the author spends far too much time on his own involvement with Townsend, and we learn too much about the drivel Townsend churned out later in his career. Not enough about the early days. Read Dave Davies' and Ray Davies' brilliant books. They hide nothing.

The back jacketcover is the first clue as to what a waste this book is. All it hypes are previous works by the author. The book is boring, gives no insight into the person or times. It is filled with stupid errors ie. it's common knowledge that Mick Taylor was hired before Brian Jones death. The author states that Jagger went to Townshend for a recommendation after the death. How can anything be believed after that.

I wanted a more clever and biting title for this review but not sure I would get away with it. This "writer" has written books by three of my favorite musicians-Townshend, Rod Stewart and Paul McCartney. Unfortuntely, I have read all three. His prose is nothing to get excited about, his books contains errors that any casual fan could point out, and he is just rather slimy in his selection on what to cover. If he ever get to Springsteen, I will know not to bother. You would be wise to avoid anything with this man's name on the cover.

Since this is a review about the book, I normally do not wish to mention anything about the author. But it is truly hard to do so: apart from the several pages devoted to his interaction with Pete, the style of writing betrays a strange disconnection of the author from his subject: while his life did cross paths with Pete's more often than most of us readers, the author doesn't seem to have "gotten" his subject. He quotes George Harrison at the back while seemingly being unable to see what George, the master of thoughtful sarcasm, meant.

Pete's writing his own book and that will be worth the wait. Get another book in the meantime, unless you can pick this up at your local used books place.

I don't know what I expected from this book. Perhaps I was looking for the tell all book of the Who that filled me in on all of the details that I didn't already know about the band, and really get into the shoes of one of the greatest musicians alive. It didn't happen for me with this book. Yes, there were things that I learned about Townsend, and The Who, but there wasn't enough interesting things to fill a whole book in my opinion. After this book I was not left with any overwhelming feeling of WOW! That was great, or, WOW! I learned a lot from this book. It covered the basics, but to me, never really went into things with much detail. I didn't find myself glued to the book except for a very few parts. I'd almost say I found it boring, but it wasn't quite that bad. I was left thinking that there must be better books about the Who and Pete than this one. If I were you, I'd look for those ones.

As a Townshend fan, I was disappointed at the way this book was written. Too much about Meher Baba, the chapters on The Who years were too short, and the chapters on Townshend's solo career were too long. I have yet to find a good bio on The Who. "Maximum R & B" is a fantastic illustrated history, but "Before I Get Old" analyzes too much minutiae to the point of boredom. This book, however, is better than nothing.