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The Who: Maximum R&B
Through the Mod London of the 1960s, the Monterey Pop festival, Woodstock, the ill-fated 1979 US tour on which eleven fans were killed, the triumphant 1989 25th anniversary celebrations, and the smash-hit stage version of Tommy, Richard Barnes tells the full story of the Who. The band themselves have assisted in this official illustrated record, contributing over 400 photographs (many never seen outside the pages of this book), press cuttings, album sleeves and posters. The Maximum R&B also features complete UK and US discographies, including solo work by the individual members.
First published in 1982 and now in its fifth edition, The Maximum R&B is a colourful pictorial joyride widely accepted as the best book on the Who. Updated to detail the creative tensions and the chemistry that allowed the group to reform for one more time on their 2002 tour, it describes the untimely death of bassist John Entwistle on that same tour and features an Introduction by songwriter/guitarist Townshend on the loss of his friend and his own recent legal problems.
First published in 1982 and now in its fifth edition, The Maximum R&B is a colourful pictorial joyride widely accepted as the best book on the Who. Updated to detail the creative tensions and the chemistry that allowed the group to reform for one more time on their 2002 tour, it describes the untimely death of bassist John Entwistle on that same tour and features an Introduction by songwriter/guitarist Townshend on the loss of his friend and his own recent legal problems.
- GenresMusicBiographyNonfiction
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 22, 2011
This thing is an absolute classic mashing of wordsmith and picturesque which seemingly works real, real well with its supplied content.
I remember drooling over this thing in high school, up to and including knocking a good portion of a drum set over during fourth hour concert band due to my unhealthy obsession with The Who and especially Who drummer Keith Moon .
Of note: I was only brazen enough to knock a good portion of the drum set over because a substitute teacher was present. I would have been too much a coward to knock a good portion of the drum set over with my regular band teacher present. In fact, remind me to tell you about the time during the Christmas City of the North Parade where I got in a whole lot of trouble for twirling my drumsticks, MTV-like, in front of a live camera. Apparently, wearing the proud red-and-white colors of the DCHS marching band carries additional behavioral weight. But, in my defense, I was figuratively, at the very least, playing the right notes.
And, as a brief side, could you ever imagine subbing in a classroom where seventy-plus concert band students were present?
I could, actually.
Typically those concert band students are very polite and courteous; traditionally bending over backward to facilitate a trancelike, dolt-like gentle ease of willingness with collective sigh of moral obligation. Surgically speaking, that should have been me as well, but obviously at the time the demonic influence of The Who had altered all kindness of my being.
But that's rock music for you. And I gradually got better, although I'd have a hard time proving it right now.
I remember drooling over this thing in high school, up to and including knocking a good portion of a drum set over during fourth hour concert band due to my unhealthy obsession with The Who and especially Who drummer Keith Moon .
Of note: I was only brazen enough to knock a good portion of the drum set over because a substitute teacher was present. I would have been too much a coward to knock a good portion of the drum set over with my regular band teacher present. In fact, remind me to tell you about the time during the Christmas City of the North Parade where I got in a whole lot of trouble for twirling my drumsticks, MTV-like, in front of a live camera. Apparently, wearing the proud red-and-white colors of the DCHS marching band carries additional behavioral weight. But, in my defense, I was figuratively, at the very least, playing the right notes.
And, as a brief side, could you ever imagine subbing in a classroom where seventy-plus concert band students were present?
I could, actually.
Typically those concert band students are very polite and courteous; traditionally bending over backward to facilitate a trancelike, dolt-like gentle ease of willingness with collective sigh of moral obligation. Surgically speaking, that should have been me as well, but obviously at the time the demonic influence of The Who had altered all kindness of my being.
But that's rock music for you. And I gradually got better, although I'd have a hard time proving it right now.
September 14, 2020
I'm cheating a little bit when I say I've *read* this book, because for one thing the text is so tiny that after the first two pages I gave up, and also because it's really more of a visual collection of photos from the band's long and varied career. So in that sense, I "read" this book today, going through it and just admiring how beautiful the photos are. One of the more visually exciting bands of the era, with their penchant for destruction of their instruments and anything that wasn't nailed down to the stage, the Who were easily the loudest band of the British Invasion and the one that was the least likely to play nice when featured on TV (something borne out by the great "Kids Are Alright" movie, which I recently caught again on TCM and which fueled my interest in finally "reading" this book). One of my favorite bands that I ever got into, I even considered trying to start a Who cover band with a friend of mine (we were going to focus on the Mod stuff, not the rock-god songs of the Seventies, though I love those too). I got my copy of this at a library's used book sale a few years back, but the spine is falling apart so I never really got around to looking through it. But for any Who fans out there, this is a must. If I ever get a good-condition edition of this (because I'm donating mine to help sell some stuff and raise funds for my family's estate sale), I may actually go through it and *read* read it. But honestly, the photos are the main attraction here, and they're so gorgeous and fun to look through that any notion of "reading" the text falls far short of the enjoyment I got just looking at the Who evolve from Mods to rock gods.
December 29, 2017
Took me quite a while to get through this one... the page number (which is low) is rather misleading, as the book itself is enormous. The photos are quite high quality, and rather beautiful, but the bulk of the pages are full of rather tiny type... and oddly, there are a large number of typos.
Richard Barnes was, and is, a good friend of Pete Townshend's. Naturally, the book focuses more upon Townshend's doings than the other members of The Who. Richard Barnes' experiences are related, and particularly insightful as he experienced the Cincinnati disaster firsthand. It's interesting to see an outsiders view, even if one feels at times that some of the bigger issues in the band are skimmed over. Unfortunately, John Entwistle's role was rather thoroughly glossed over in the book - they didn't even mention his marriage to Alison or the birth of his son!
While the book is well put together, and certainly insightful in terms of Chris Stamp, Kit Lambert, and Shel Talmy fiascos, I feel it didn't go into enough depth when it comes to the technical aspect (and personal lives) of those involved with the band. I'd consider it more of a supplementary text than anything truly in depth.
Richard Barnes was, and is, a good friend of Pete Townshend's. Naturally, the book focuses more upon Townshend's doings than the other members of The Who. Richard Barnes' experiences are related, and particularly insightful as he experienced the Cincinnati disaster firsthand. It's interesting to see an outsiders view, even if one feels at times that some of the bigger issues in the band are skimmed over. Unfortunately, John Entwistle's role was rather thoroughly glossed over in the book - they didn't even mention his marriage to Alison or the birth of his son!
While the book is well put together, and certainly insightful in terms of Chris Stamp, Kit Lambert, and Shel Talmy fiascos, I feel it didn't go into enough depth when it comes to the technical aspect (and personal lives) of those involved with the band. I'd consider it more of a supplementary text than anything truly in depth.
February 1, 2013
More coffee table book, replete with rare, insider photographs of the band by long-time friend and collaborator Richard Barnes, The Who: Maximum R&B makes for a catchy title, but is NOT the definitive biography of the band, though the timeline and narrative do reveal some of the inner workings among the bandmates and the dysfunction among them and their managers. It's quite a surprise that lead singer Roger Daltrey contributed almost nothing to the songwriting of the band, and that it was 99% Pete Townsend and 1% John Entwistle penning their tunes. Barnes close friendship with the band and his frequent interactions reveal that this was a very lose confederation of musicians who came together not as best of boyhood friends but rather much like a magnet attracts all sorts of metal to it. More revealing is probably Townsend's memoir. This book is enjoyable light readable for early mornings or late evenings, but it leaves you wanting more, a better biography that doesn't feel completely decoupled from its times.
December 9, 2012
It's too bad the first half moves so fast because it covers The Who's most important years in far less detail than the second half, in which Townsend seems to settle into himself and comes across much as I would have imagined: kind, rather frail, almost, yet explosive, volatile. Well, he says as much if not exactly that. I was disappointed not to find more material here concerning what I believe to be The Who's best record by far, Quadrophenia. With two stars for the first half and close to five for the second, I with a sigh will settle upon three stars.
September 15, 2009
Lots of pictures and other interesting graphics.
October 3, 2007
Another pretty decent book about the greatest rock band to ever walk the planet.
April 30, 2009
The best live rock band ever.
September 10, 2009
My boys!!! Of course I loved every page of it :)
October 17, 2009
Read this in high school when I first got into the Who.
January 10, 2010
Fun, but not completely trustworthy as a bio of the group. Includes a free flexi-disc, or at least it used to, with a couple of Pete's early demos.
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June 20, 2016excellent read , Barnes was there and has a first hand view on the formation of the band and their career since , great pictures too
August 28, 2024
Must have for any Who fans!!!!
October 5, 2008
Great book about the Who. Huge influence on me as a teenager.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews