This Guitar Has Seconds To Live - A People's History of The Who

This Guitar Has Seconds To Live is an oral history of The Who.

They smashed Rickenbackers, drum kits, hotel rooms and occasionally each other. Never before had a band created such wanton destruction on stage. Never before had a band smashed their instruments into pieces, or used feedback as a weapon to manipulate their audiences. But there had never been a band like The Who before, and no other band has ever brought the same level of danger, excitement, chaos and sheer volume to live performance.

Singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend and bassist John Entwistle started out as The Detours in 1962. Joined in 1964 by Keith Moon, whose explosive drumming style fired the band along until his untimely death in 1978, this is the story of over 380 Who concerts told through almost 700 eyewitness accounts. It charts The Who's rise from their West London roots to become one of Britain's top chart acts (with 14 Top Ten hits) and a gig schedule that saw them play virtually everywhere in the UK before conquering North America and the world via mammoth concert tours and attention-grabbing appearances at the Monterey, Woodstock and Isle of Wight festivals.

The Who's albums Tommy, Who's Next and Quadrophenia all rank in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The Who's legacy is undiminished by time. And the sound of feedback runs through this book as fans and admirers of the band recount seeing them in action through a series of fascinating and heartwarming anecdotes and photographs.