Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane - Disc of the day

Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane
Rough Mix

(MCA, 1977)

A Small Face, a Rolling Stone, Eric Clapton and two members of The Who walk into a studio…

Having spent over a decade at the top of the British rock tree, Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane entered Olympic Studios at the tail end of 1976 in a funny old place. The Who had just completed what would prove their final tour with Keith Moon, while Ronnie Lane’s agrarian ensemble Slim Chance had disbanded and a botched reunion with the Small Faces had left him in significant financial trouble. Still, there’s nothing quite like 15 years of friendship and a series of great songs to plant one’s feet firmly back on the ground – even if you have had a few. Despite tales of the pair’s drunken bickering and the inclusion of only one co-written track, Rough Mix exudes a good-time feel. With Eric Clapton, Charlie Watts and John Entwistle in attendance, Townshend’s straight down-the-line rock efforts – My Baby Gives It Away; Keep Me Turning – are marked by an unabashed pleasure in the playing. Lane, meanwhile, is on characteristically ramshackle form, with the resonator guitars and accordions pushed out front for Annie and April Fool – two of his best bucolic ballads. Tragically, he would be diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis as the sessions came to a close, but open the sleeve inlay and take look at the two people sitting on the tree stump and you’ll see only good cheer and grinning friends.

Ross Bennett

Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 6:00 AM GMT 20/04/2008