The Who Delay Covers Album, Townshend Working On New Songs

The Who's covers album has been delayed, thanks in part to producer T Bone Burnett's obligations to the Robert Plant & Alison Krauss tour. "It still probably will happen, but I think the smaller the idea is kept, the better," Roger Daltrey told Billboard.com. "Small and fluid, maybe just something for our Website." The band initially planned to include Motown classics and James Brown songs on the proposed covers album. In the current lull, Daltrey said, Pete Townshend is working on new songs. "[Townshend] doesn't like to talk about it," Daltrey said. "He doesn't know if he likes it until he knows what it's going to sound like. You just have to be there for him if he needs you." Daltrey also think he has one more solo album left in him, adding, "I feel there must be an enormous amount of really talented songwritgers out there who can't sing, so, please, send me your songs."

Related Stories:
• The Who Prep Covers Album
• What's Next for the Who? "We've Done Enough Already," Says Daltrey
• The Who Deliver Big at Rock Honors Tribute Featuring Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter