(Credits: Far Out / TIDAL)
Sun 18 January 2026 15:00, UK
Almost every artist imaginable usually has to deal with some form of imposter syndrome during their lifetime. As much as people like to talk themselves up as the next big thing, it’s hard to really believe in yourself when you’re the one who’s your biggest critic half the time. Although someone like Joe Walsh shouldn’t need to prove himself to anybody, he said he didn’t get his true confidence as a guitarist until he heard Pete Townshend praise him.
Because if someone like Townshend likes you well enough to compliment your work, you don’t forget it. Outside of bands like The Beatles and The Stones, The Who were the ones that ushered in Walsh’s taste for heavy rock, and Townshend saying that he likes something is usually like being anointed by a rock god.
Granted, it’s not like Townshend was everyone’s first look at what a guitar hero was supposed to be. Since John Entwistle and Keith Moon were known for flying all over the place whenever they played, Townshend was more of the timekeeper in the group half the time, usually playing the rhythm right up the middle.
When he did decide to play lead, though, it was always in service to the song. There was no way that he was going to give someone like Jimi Hendrix a run for his money, so a lot of Townshend’s licks were closer to what a vocal melody would sound like half the time, usually complimenting whatever Roger Daltrey was singing.
After being gifted a signature guitar by Walsh for the recording of Who’s Next, Townshend would say that he considered Walsh a phenomenal player, saying, “Joe Walsh is a fluid and intelligent player. There’s not many like that around”. Whereas Walsh already had a great gig in the James Gang, that one compliment turned his entire outlook on its head.
Pete Townshend on stage with The Who. (Credits: Far Out / Bent Rej)
Pete Townshend’s compliment did not land like casual praise, it landed like permission. Walsh had already proven himself in every practical sense, but imposter syndrome is rarely defeated by evidence. It is defeated by recognition from someone whose taste you trust, someone who understands the quiet mechanics of what you do. When Townshend called him “fluid and intelligent”, it was not flattery for the sake of it, it was a guitarist naming another guitarist, the kind of endorsement that bypasses ego and goes straight to the nerve.
And maybe that is why it mattered that they bonded over the same frustration too. They were both men trying to make music feel bigger than the equipment they were given, both chasing melody inside a format that can turn into a cage. Walsh found freedom when he stepped into the Eagles’ wider frame, but the switch did not start with the band, it started with belief. Sometimes the turning point is not a new guitar, a new song, or a new crowd. It is a single sentence that makes you hear yourself differently, and suddenly the voice in your head is not the loudest one in the room.
Recalling his love of Townshend later, Walsh said he was taken aback by the guitarist’s praise, saying, “Pete’s a very melodic player, and so am I. He told me that he appreciated my playing. I was flattered beyond belief because I didn’t think I was that good. Pete and I really hit it off. We had the same frustrations about working with a three-piece group.”
Walsh did manage to overcome the frustrations of the three-piece group once he joined the Eagles. Whereas every power trio has to have everyone carrying a good chunk of the work, having a nice bed for Walsh to play leads on top of working out perfectly when writing songs like ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ and soloing over ‘Hotel California’.
If anything, are we sure that Townshend wasn’t ripping off pieces of Walsh’s playing by the end of The Who’s glory years? Townshend was more than welcome to be inspired by whoever he wanted, but there were just as many songs on It’s Hard, which seemed vaguely reminiscent of what The Long Run sounded like.
Still, were it not for Townshend seeing the merit in Walsh, he may not have had the confidence to make tracks like ‘Life’s Been Good’ later. He may have also adopted the unhealthy habit of becoming friends with Keith Moon, but all things considered, it still seemed to be a fair trade.
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