John Entwistle met Pete townshend in their early school days. They played together in bands titled, The Confederates and The Scorpions. In 1961 John was asked, by Roger Daltry, to join The Detours. John then persuaded Daltry to include Townshend and later Keith Moon. Within a few months they were recording as The Who.
Their third single, “My Generation”, was a huge hit and included a bass solo by Entwistle. It was the first of it’s kind for a rock band.
Content to stand motionless, as the rest of the band leaped about and smashed equipment, John Entwistle’s contribution was integral to the sound of The Who.
After years of his songs being over shadowed and not able to sing songs he wrote, he was the first of the band members to record solo. He later formed his own band, Ox.
John Entwistle died of a heart attack at the age of 57 on June 27th, 2002.
My friends and I saw John Entwistle’s Ox perform at Bill Graham’s Winterland in San Francisco on February 22, 1975.
To see photos of that show and read our comments,
I got John Entwistle's autograph after the concert. He was very generous with his time and gave out many autographs. After a few moments he asked us if there was anything else?
No one could think of anything to ask,
so he shrugged his shoulders and left.
No one could think of anything to ask,
so he shrugged his shoulders and left.
The article below is from "The Harmony
Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock"
by Mike Clifford.
© Salamander Books, 1986.
Entwistle is interviewed
about his first solo
album. He discusses why
he made it and how the
cover art came about.
A review of his first
solo album, "Smash
Your Head Against The
Wall", December 9th, 1971.
A review of his second solo album,
"Whistle Rymes". December 21, 72.
Entwistle is interviewed
about his third album,
"Rigor Mortis", which is a
collection of rock standards instead
of self penned tunes.
December 23rd, 1972.
Entwistle is interviewed December 12th, 1974.
He discusses The Who, his solo career and
how he named Led Zeppelin.
John Entwistle's fourth album, "Mad Dog"
is reviewed and so is Keith Moon's solo
effort, "Two Sides Of The Moon".
May 22nd, 1975.
The Who's album, "The Who By Numbers"
is reviewed, December 20th, 1975.
John Entwistle drew the cover.
Here are some of the albums in my
collection that make up the history of
John Entwistle.
The Who's first album.
Their second album.
The back cover shows John Entwistle playing
the French Horn. He was formally trained
to play the instrument.
The original title on the British release was,
"A Quick One While He's Away."
It seemed too suggestive for the US release,
so they changed it to "Happy Jack", not
realizing that it was a reference
to masturbation.
Their third album.
John was supposed to pose in the
Heinz Beans shot, but purposely showed
up late. Instead, he got the girl.
Roger Daltry was recruited to fill the spot
while they waited for John.
The beans were freezing cold
and gave Roger a mild case of pneumonia.
A different brand name was used
on the Australian release.
"The Who On Tour" was a
compilation album.
John's first solo album.
He posed in a death mask which was
superimposed over a chest x-ray
that he borrowed from
his doctor.
The inside gate fold.
The inner sleeve.
His second album.
The title was a play on words and
a poke at how his name was often misspelled.
The inside gate fold.
His third album.
The one on the left is the British release.
The US release in on the right.
Once again , the US version is softened.
His fourth album.
The poster / lyrics sheet for Mad Dog.
"Flash Fearless Versus The Zorg Women Parts 5 & 6"
was a concept piece. It was based on a fictional comic
book character and made to look like an old movie cereal
from the 30s and 40s. It was loaded with top stars, like
Alice Cooper, Elkie Brooks, James Dewar,
Frankie Miller and John Entwistle. It was recorded
in late 1974 and released early 1975. It suffered
from lack of continuity and sub-par writing.
John did the cover art for
"The Who By Numbers" in 1975.
Pete Townshend's first solo album.
John Entwistle is not on this album.
Townshend was heavily into
Meher Baba, who is pictured on the inside
gate fold and back cover. It was
released in 1972.
Roger Daltry's first solo album. Released in
1973, it was made up mostly of songs by
Leo Sayer and Dave Courtney. Leo had not
released an album of his own and had
mixed feelings about his songs being used.
John Entwistle did not play on this album.
Keith Moon's only solo album.
It was released in 1975. It consisted of a few rock standards and
a song written by John Lennon, "Move Over Ms L".
He also does a version of The Who's, " The Kid's Are Alright."
Many contributed, including Joe Walsh and Ringo Starr.
John Entwistle did not play on the album.
Below is a drawing by John Entwistle.
John Entwistle died on June 27th, 2002.
Related websites of interest -
