«I can't imagine rock guitar without Pete Townshend. For me it's as if he invented it.” With this statement Brian May wanted to pay homage to his colleague and leader of the Who. It all happened on the Queen musician's social media.
May first reposted a graphic created by a fan which reported an old statement of hers on Townshead: «We Queens were inspired by our heroes and among these I put the Who in first place. Pete Townshend is the master of mood changes, of suspended chords. I owe him a lot. Pete Townshend is a guitar god.”
Furthermore, in reposting it, May wanted to update her thoughts with further sweet words for Townshend. «I can't imagine rock guitar without Pete Townshend. For me it's as if he invented it. I was lucky enough to be there while it happened. My playing owes a lot to him. Townshend brought super-amplified but not overly saturated chords to the scene, sharp monoliths that crashed angrily into our brains, rhythmic hammer blows that would change the likes of me forever. If you want to hear what I'm talking about, put My Generation turn your home system full volume and marvel! Keith Moon playing the drums like crazy, John Entwistle making a huge bass boom with the power of an entire orchestra. And then there's Roger Daltrey, an aggressive young rebel from Shepherds Bush, a punk icon long before the invention of punk rock. Completely fantastic”
And again: «Listen to the suspended chords of I'm a Boy: How did Townshend invent them? Listen Substitute for a tour de force of fantastic rhythms and lyrics ten times deeper than anything else out there. Finally, listen to The Who's first chart hit, Can't Explainwhich, along with their version of the classic Summertime Bluestransformed rock'n'roll into rock.”
