10 Amazing Musicians Everyone Forgets About In Legendary Bands
2. John Entwistle - The Who
At the turn of the British Invasion, The Who were one of the first bands to really put some power back into rock and roll. Though the Kinks may have beaten them to the punch in terms of distortion on You Really Got Me, the Mod scene was in for a surprise with songs like My Generation, having a punk edge to it and making music feel like something more than just a catchy three minute single. Pete Townshend may have taken that concept further on Tommy, but John Entwistle may be the real secret weapon behind the rest of the band.
If you look at the rhythm section behind the Who, Townshend might be the real time keeper of the group, never playing anything too flashy while Keith Moon went berserk behind the drums. You need something to balance that, and Entwistle's high octane bass breaks were what gave the Who their edge, approaching the bass like a lead guitar player and turning up the high end to make it sound like a really low electric guitar. When you hear songs like The Real Me, John almost doesn't sound like a bass half the time, making high notes sound like lasers, along with providing horns to songs like My Wife off of Who's Next.
His sense of anti performance was also hilarious in the context of the band, standing absolutely still half the time as the rest of the band were trying to bring about Armageddon on the exact same stage. In that situation, you need to have some real musical strength, and there's no question why John has been christened The Ox since the day he joined.