We still got the ball and chain

(Photo by Matt Kent.)

 

Sadly, Pete Townshend's solo recording career has more or less been in hibernation since c.1993 when he released his last solo album of all new material, Psychoderelict. It's certainly not the case that he's been sitting around resting on his laurels, though. Since then he's appeared on the recordings of other musicians, done 2 albums with The Who, toured with them as well as on his own. He's done lots of charity work, written a book, contemplated a musical, and, no doubt, tried to resurrect the ideas behind Lifehouse in some manner or other. So Townshend has managed to keep the creative juices flowing. Plus, he has taken time to be a family man.

 

Back in 2012 he sold the publishing rights to his work, past and future, so I have read and those people want to get their money's worth out of the deal. In addition to attempting to have songs like "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Pinball Wizard" used in TV shows and movies, there's always the greatest hits album to keep an artist not currently making music in the public's view. And so in 2015 we got Truancy: The Very Best of Pete Townshend.

 

It's a fine single disc overview of Townshend's solo career with a couple tracks each from most of his albums with the last couple being represented by a single song. In classic style, the record company tacked a couple new songs on the end of the album to entice existing fans into purchasing a bunch of material they already own in order to hear the new stuff.

 

Those new songs were "How Can I Help You" and "Guantanamo". The former is a fine tune that, for me, has an Iron Man vibe to it with a steady beat and some clean-sounding guitar. But the latter is a classic.

 

I don't know when these songs were written and recorded but, as far as subject matter goes, "Guantanamo" was not exactly timely. Had it come out 10 years earlier, it would have been a needed reflection of our War on Terror™. But in 2015, Barack Obama's pledge to close the detention camp (a.k.a.- prison) there had never been carried out and most people had forgotten about the place and the people held within its walls. As far as I know, here in 2022 there are still prisoners at Guantanamo who have not been charged with a crime or given any kind of trial. So, in that sense, the song is still topical even if the subject is not popular.

The song begins with an acoustic guitar and an undulating keyboard sound that recalls Townshend's organ & synthesizer experiments from the Who's Next era. A drum beat enters and canters along as Townshend angrily intones "Down in Guantanamo/We still got the ball and chain". He layers more synth sounds but they're not intrusive and let the beat and acoustic guitar continue churning forward. Plus he adds some great backing vocals. Sometimes they repeat and emphasize the main vocal line but there's also a chorus of "Oooo's" has he laments "There's a long road to travel/For justice to make its claim".

"Guantanamo" harkens back to The Who's glory days but also sounds fresh. The mix is crisp with the drums up front and the snare having a loud snap to it. Townshend is in fine form vocally as he alternates between a clean tone and a raspy one for emphasis. This is great stuff.

Townshend re-recorded the song with The Who on their 2019 album Who as "Ball and Chain". Roger Daltrey gave a bluesier vocal performance and the song has a more muscular arrangement with Townshend's trademark electric guitar. Both are worth your time but Pete's solo version is the one I heard and came to adore first.