<\/p>\n In the course of teaching Bolton his songs, Townshend told him the surprising details behind some of the guitars he used for classic Who tracks, including \u201cMy Generation\u201d and \u201cI Can See for Miles.\u201d<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n \u201cI learned quite a few things about Pete that I didn’t know, especially with the correct way of playing the songs,\u201d says Bolton, who previously told Guitar Player about how he had to endure Townshend\u2019s temperamental ways during rehearsals<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, on all the songs on the My Generation album including the title song, you\u2019d think, because it\u2019s bombastic, there\u2019s loads of guitars. But there’s only one guitar on every track, and it is a 12-string Rickenbacker [360-12].<\/p>\n \u201cIf you listen to it, all the main racket is coming from the bass<\/a>. There are no other guitars, or any overdubbed guitars or anything. There may be a little piano on, but that\u2019s it. It\u2019s just how they sounded.\u201d<\/p>\n My Generation (Stereo Version) – YouTube Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n Bolton recalls a moment during the tour\u2019s stopover in Seattle where Townshend\u2019s less-is-more modus operandi was further affirmed.<\/p>\n \u201cI went into a record store and they had this fantastic sound system, and they were playing, \u2018I Can See For Miles\u2019 really loud,\u201d Bolton recalls. \u201cAnd it just sounded great with the drums, guitar and bass.<\/p>\n \u201cI got back to the hotel and saw Pete and said, \u2018Listen, I’ve got to tell you, I was in a record store and they were playing \u201cI Can See For Miles.\u201d And it was just the most amazing experience!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd he was just like a little boy. He said, \u2018Oh yeah, should I tell you how I did that? And I answered, \u2018Please do!\u2019 He explained that it was just a Telecaster<\/a> through a Fender Champ<\/a>. And that was it. Yet, the guitar sounded absolutely enormous.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018My god, Pete, it sounds like 50 Marshall<\/a> stacks!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The reunion tour also brought Bolton a glimpse into Townshend\u2019s approach to songwriting and how jazz pianist Mose Allison inspired \u201cMy Generation<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn the \u201960s, everyone used to do a song by Mose Allison, who was this white jazz piano player,\u201d he explains. \u201cAnd one of his songs, \u2018Young Man Blues,\u2019 was covered by the Who.<\/p>\n \u201cPete told me that when he wrote \u2018My Generation,\u2019 he actually wrote it and demoed it like a Mose Allison<\/a> song. That was what was in his head. But by the time it got into the lion’s den with Keith Moon, it turned into that bombastic anthem.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition, Bolton learned the correct way to play \u201cMy Generation.\u201d He says Townshend tuned his guitar down a whole step and played an A chord shape, which sounded as a G.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an interesting technique,\u201d Bolton says. \u201cPete plays the main riff using his thumb on the bass string<\/a>, then the thumb goes down to play the F.\u201d<\/p>\n When it came to the gear for the tour, Bolton used a 1962 Fender Stratocaster<\/a> that he first bought back in 1977.<\/p>\n \u201cI bought it in London for 240 pounds and sold the Strat for 12,000 pounds only few years ago,\u201d he exclaims. \u201cSo that guitar was my main electric for the tour, and I alternated between that and a 12-string Rickenbacker and my stack of Mesa\/Boogie amps<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPete mainly played a Takamine acoustic<\/a>, a 12-string Rickenbacker and a bunch of Eric Clapton Signature Strats. And he used rack-mounted channel-switching Mesa\/Boogie studio preamps \u2014 one for the electric, one for the acoustic and two for backup. He primarily played acoustic guitar<\/a> at the start of the tour, and the crew had built him a little gazebo onstage to protect his hearing.<\/p>\n \n Townshend playing a Fender Strat on the Who’s 25th Anniversary tour, in Buffalo, New York, July 18, 1989. \u201cBy the time we got two thirds of the way through the tour, he was breaking out the Strats,\u201d Bolton says. (Image credit: Ebet Roberts\/Redferns)<\/p>\n \u201cBut by the time we got two thirds of the way through the tour, he was breaking out the Strats. So we were both playing Strats.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were recording the shows every night too. Pete came up to me one night as we came offstage and said, \u2018I spent all night listening to the live recordings and it’s fucking fantastic. Don’t change a thing. I love what you’re doing.\u2019 Which was great to hear because he\u2019s a tricky guy, you never know what\u2019s going to happen with him.\u201d<\/p>\n And what was one of the most surprising discoveries Bolton made from his time working with Townshend?<\/p>\n
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