when roger was a young lad of 15, he had apparently crossed the line one too many times at acton county grammar school, and so he was kicked out by a mr. kibblewhite, who’s departing words were ‘you’ll never make anything of your life, mr. daltrey’. flash forward nearly sixty years, and roger writes his first memoir to show just how wrong the old schoolmaster would be.

it is a well written and a frank telling of his story. it can be quite humorous at times and moves along quickly. it is also the story of the who, the band he fronted off and on for over fifty years. it starts just like the beginning of their rock opera ‘tommy’, in the middle class neighborhoods of post world war two england. his father had fought in the war, and he returned a shell shocked man. roger’s childhood was marked by poverty, rebelliousness, and street gangs. after getting kicked out of school, he worked in a factory where he was able to make a crude guitar out of plywood. he eventually started a band with small success. after losing the bass player, he recruited a local kid named john entwhistle, and then they found a lead guitarist to add to the mix, a tall boy from the area with an ‘impressive sneezer’, pete townshend. during a show at the oldfield hotel, someone in the audience said that his mate could play better than their drummer, and so keith moon sat in for the second set. and the rest, as they say, is history.

it was really interesting to hear roger’s account of their long relationships and fights. i was familiar with much of it but he added another layer to my knowledge. other than his appreciation for keith’s drumming prowess, he doesn’t have much good to say about him. being a huge fan of keith myself, but also knowing his destructive tendencies, i can’t say i really blame him.

he does spend a fair amount of time on the tense relationship between pete and himself. not only doing their prime, but also on the various interactions during their solo careers, and their non stop ‘reunion tours’. the writer of ‘won’t get fooled again’ and the singer of the same song have different political philosophies these days. but they still get along like brothers most of the time, and are going out on tour again this summer (with orchestra!).

‘hope i die before i get old’? seems like the surviving members may have changed their minds. and i am ok with that.