Roger Daltrey hits the road to prep his voice for you know Who
Unwilling to let his pipes rust while hurdles for a Who tour are cleared, the band’s singer is striking out on his own.
The Use It or Lose It tour, Roger Daltrey’s first solo outing since 1985, started in Vancouver on Oct. 10 and hits 30 U.S. and Canadian cities before wrapping up at the end of November.
Daltrey says one of the goals of his upcoming “Use It or Lose It” tour is to get his voice in prime shape for the start of the Who’s next album later this year.
Daltrey tells Billboard.com that bandmate and Who composer Pete Townshend “is demoing now, and I’ll be demoing vocals in December. And hopefully if this tour has done its job, I’ll be in really good form as a vocalist and, who knows, we might make our best work.
“But,” Daltrey cautions, “that’s a piece of string. That [demoing process] could go on for six months. You just never know.”
Daltrey, who’s not planning to record or film the current tour, says he’s also considering an assortment of covers — including some Johnny Cash material.
“Being a solo singer does give me the freedom to do songs from my outside influences,” says Daltrey, who in the past has covered tunes by Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Queen. “I want to give people a good, fun night of music entertainment.”
“I’ve only ever toured solo to keep my voice in shape. Singers need to sing,” thus the tour’s name, he says. “I’m looking forward to revisiting [the solo songs]. I’m not sure which ones will stand up live, but I’m confident that enough will.”
Daltrey has no qualms about tackling Who classics without guitarist Pete Townshend on board.
“I feel connected to all Who songs,” he says. “I am going to re-approach songs I haven’t sung for a while and hope they will be distinctively my own.”
Guitarist/singer Simon Townshend, a longtime collaborator and Pete’s younger brother, will join Daltrey on tour, along with guitarist and musical director Frank Simes, keyboardist Loren Gold, bassist Jon Button and drummer Scott Devours.
Townshend has previously acknowledged working on two projects — a new musical called “Floss” and the Who’s followup to 2006’s “Endless Wire,” which he’s said will include some of the pieces from the “Floss” project. Daltrey is mum on the musical (“Without hearing it there’s not a lot to talk about, is there?” he notes) but has high expectations for Townshend’s latest spate of songwriting.
“The last sort of 20 years or so one of the problem’s rock ’n’ roll’s having is it’s inability to grow up,” Daltrey explains. “So maybe that’s what [Townshend’s] working on now. I’ve always felt he’s one of the few rock writers whose music has grown up and has always been articulate for its age.”
Daltrey says he and Townshend also plan to take the Who back on the road in 2010 and are “toying with the idea” of a “Quadrophenia” production similar to the large-scale version of the rock opera the group performed in 1996, and possibly performances of its predecessor, “Tommy.”
