Townshend originally wanted Reed for Tommy movie

Homme Fatale · Post by **Homme Fatale** » 10 Apr 2005 10:13

From http://www.rollingstone.com

The Who on Exhibit

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame mounts huge "Tommy" show

Tommy, the Who's 1969 rock opera, is the subject of the largest exhibit
ever dedicated to a single work at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Tommy:
The Amazing Journey, which opens today, fills two floors of the Cleveland
museum with guitars, handwritten lyrics, poster art and concert footage.
"You'll hear and feel this exhibit," says its designer, Matthew Smith. "It
will rock and feel like a concert."

Pete Townshend conceived Tommy -- the story of an abused "deaf, dumb and
blind kid" so good at pinball that people come to think he's a prophet --
as a cautionary tale about false idols. The album reached Number Four in
the U.S. and stayed on the charts for nearly a year on the strength of
songs like "Pinball Wizard," "I'm Free" and "We're Not Gonna Take It." The
exhibit traces Tommy through its various incarnations as a movie, a Tony
Award-winning Broadway musical, a London Orchestra production and even a
ballet. "Tommy brought rock a kind of critical respect it had never
received," says curator Howard Kramer.

Townshend lent the Hall of Fame revealing early manuscripts. A draft of
the "Sally Simpson" lyrics shows that Townshend originally named the
album's title character Danine. The exhibit also features excerpted
recordings from an hours-long interview that Rolling Stone editor and
publisher Jann S. Wenner conducted with Townshend in 1968, when Tommy was
still in the works. "Fans get to see the creative process at its earliest
moments," says curator Craig Inciardi.

The Amazing Journey promises a visceral experience. The first floor is set
up to resemble a pinball machine, with display cases in the shape of
bumpers. A mock stage on the second floor displays the band's Tommy-era
costumes and instruments, including the Gibson J-200 guitar Townshend used
to write "Pinball Wizard"; above the stage, footage from the band's
legendary 1970 Isle of Wight show will play on a twelve-foot screen.

Other highlights include correspondence from Townshend -- such as a letter
sent to Tommy film director Ken Russell, suggesting that Lou Reed, Tiny
Tim and Frank Zappa be cast -- and Keith Moon's silver Premier drum kit,
played at Woodstock. Particularly rare is the Gibson SG guitar that
Townshend played onstage in 1968. "In those days," says New York collector
David Swartz, who donated it, "Pete broke most of them."

BILL WERDE
(Posted Apr 07, 2005)

MarbleIndex01 · Post by **MarbleIndex01** » 10 Apr 2005 13:22

Who yould Lou have played, I wonder.

MJG196 · Post by **MJG196** » 10 Apr 2005 14:08

The fact that Tiny Tim was also a possibility doesn't necessarily say much for what Pete thought of Lou and Zappa.

dsulpy · Post by **dsulpy** » 11 Apr 2005 00:03

Do not downplay the magnificent Mr. Tim, who not only recorded with The Band as his backing group, but headlined at the Royal Albert Hall, with The Beatles and Rolling Stones in attendance.

MJG196 · Post by **MJG196** » 11 Apr 2005 03:19

Tim was a ridiculous novelty who got married on national TV. Funny, but ridiculous.

sars · Post by **sars** » 11 Apr 2005 03:47

I remeber reading somewhere that they wanted Lou to play the Acid Queen, I think.

eta: the article it came from
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/ ... click=true

radiofreesimulacrum · Post by **radiofreesimulacrum** » 11 Apr 2005 04:55

I think Lou would have been perfect as Cousin Kevin

dsulpy · Post by **dsulpy** » 11 Apr 2005 06:02

"Tim was a ridiculous novelty who got married on national TV. Funny, but ridiculous."

Most of the '60's icons saw more to him than you do. Indeed, a brief google search brought up this anecdote from the LA Weekly, describing an event from April, '67:

"Andy was out in Los Angeles, and somehow we got onto the topic of Tiny Tim, who I had met. Andy said, "I would love to meet him," and I said, "Well, why don't I throw a party?" So I called Tiny Tim. He said, "Yes, I will come, and I will perform, but on one condition: Tuesday Weld has to be there." So I called Tuesday and I said, "Look, it all depends on you, because Tiny Tim is mad about you." And she came. And Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Natalie Wood, Polanski, and poor Sharon, completely stoned. Anyway, Tiny Tim sang. It was quite a party. And Warhol just loved it."

dsulpy · Post by **dsulpy** » 11 Apr 2005 06:15

... Oh, and I forgot - Nico guest stars on "Then I'd Be Satisfied With Life" from the "God Bless Tiny Tim" album.

citizensmurf · Post by **citizensmurf** » 12 Apr 2005 01:07

mg196 wrote:The fact that Tiny Tim was also a possibility doesn't necessarily say much for what Pete thought of Lou and Zappa.

I don't think he was considering them all for the same role, but wanted the director to consider them for different parts. A cameo by Zappa, such as the one he did in the Monkee's 'Head', would've made Tommy a much better movie.