Who – "My Generation" (1966)

I hope I die

Before I get old

“My Generation” – which Pete Townshend wrote when he was only 20 years old – has more pure attitude than any rock song ever recorded.

There are a number of things that make “My Generation” great, but primus inter pares of all those things is Roger Daltrey’s stuttering lead vocal.  (The song’s coda – which devolves into utter musical chaos – is also noteworthy.)

Daltrey had performed the song live without the stuttering.  But when the Who went into the studio to record it, Kit Lambert – one of the group’s managers – suggested that Daltrey stutter to sound like he was on speed.

“When we were in the studio doing ‘My Generation,’ Kit Lambert came up to me and said ‘STUTTER!’” Daltry told an interviewer in 2001.  “I said ‘What?’ He said, ‘Stutter the words – it makes it sound like you're pilled.’  And I said, ‘Oh . . . like I am!’ And that's how it happened.”

The BBC refused to play the record at first because they thought it would offend stutterers.

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Just days before “My Generation” was recorded, Daltrey and Keith Moon had gotten into it over speed while the Who were on tour in Denmark.  Roger didn’t take speed, but Keith popped pills like there was no tomorrow.  

Between their shows one night, Daltrey’s flushed Moon’s pill supply down the toilet.  The enraged Moon came after Daltrey, but Daltrey beat the crap out of him.  

Keith Moon and Roger Daltrey

Townshend, Moon, and bass player John Entwhistle got together and decided they would fire Daltrey – who Townshend later described as “one of the most aggressive, violent people I knew” – after completing the upcoming studio sessions.  But the success of “My Generation” made Pete, Keith, and John decide to keep Roger around.

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“My Generation” was a #2 hit in the UK, but was not hit in the U.S.  In fact, it topped out at #74 on the Billboard “Hot 100” – which is why it’s being inducted into the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” ALBUM TRACKS HALL OF FAME instead of the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.

Similarly, “I Can’t Explain,” “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,” “Substitute,” “I’m a Boy,” and Pictures of Lily” were top ten hits in the UK, but failed to crack the top 40 in the U.S.  It was until “I Can See for Miles” that the Who had a bona fide American hit single.

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There’s no denying that “My Generation” belongs in the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” ALBUM TRACKS HALL OF FAME.

Have you forgotten the twenty previously inducted that “My Generation” will be joining on the Mount Olympus of album tracks?

Here’s the class of 2018:

Jimi Hendrix Experience – “Are You Experienced?” (1967)

Vanilla Fudge – “You Keep Me Hangin’ On (1967)

Beatles – “Helter Skelter” (1968)

Led Zeppelin – “Dazed and Confused” (1969)

It's a Beautiful Day – “White Bird” (1969)

Stooges – “I Wanna Be Your Dog” (1969)

Janis Joplin – “Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)” (1969)

Rolling Stones – “Gimme Shelter” (1969)

Traffic – “Freedom Rider” (1970)

David Bowie – “Suffragette City” (1972)

And here’s the class of 2019:

Cream – “Tales of Brave Ulysses” (1967)

13th Floor Elevators – “Slip Inside This House” (1967)

Arthur Lee and Love – “You Set the Scene” (1967)

Led Zeppelin – “How Many More Times” (1969)

King Crimson – “21st Century Schizoid Man” (1969)

Kinks – “Shangri-La” (1969)

MC5 – “Teenage Lust” (1970)

James Gang – “The Bomber” (1970)

Spirit – “When I Touch You” (1970)

Jethro Tull – “Aqualung” (1971)

(Mama mia, that’s a spicy meatball!) 

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Click here to listen to “My Generation.”

Click below to buy the song from Amazon: