Pete Townshend - The Minstrel's Dilemma

Smith explores Pete Townshend's artistic struggle between his own creative impulses and those of the commercial public. Faced with a modern version of the minstrel's dilemma, Townshend, early in his career, ignored his creative instincts to satisfy commercial agendas. After his success, he slowly withdrew to resolve his conflict between creativity and commercialism. Townshend's creative vision unfolds against the conflicts and compromises battled with the entertainment industry. A common theme, that of the seeker, weaves throughout the various phases of Townshend's career and highlights his own quest for complete artistic expression free from compromise.

In The Minstrel's Dilemma, Townshend is shown as a musician confronting the same battles begun by early minstrels and later fought by composers such as Beethoven and Mozart. He is referred to as a rock auteur, creating music that reflects his personal experiences and creative views. He is called a seeker, in search of artistic freedom toward personal expression. And at the end of his thirty-year struggle he is a true artist, able to live up to audience expectation while attending to his own artistic impulses.

List of contents

The Minstrel's Dilemma
Preface
Introduction
The Auteur, the Impulse, the Oeuvre
The Minstrel's Struggle
The Singles Period
The Opera Period
The End of the Who
The Minstrel's Resolution
The Solo Career: The Impulse's Opportunity
The Solo Career: The Impulse's Victory
The Minstrel's Dilemma: The Case of Pete Townshend
References
Index

About the author

Larry David Smith, PhD, is an independent writer and lecturer. He received his doctorate from Ohio State University.

Product details

• Authors: Larry Smith, Smith Larry David
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: ages 7 to 17
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.03.1999
• EAN: 9780275964726
• ISBN: 978-0-275-96472-6
• No. of pages: 320
• Weight: 595 g
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Rock, Rock & Pop music, Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups, MUSIC / Genres & Styles / General, MUSIC / Individual Composer & Musician, MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Rock, MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Pop Vocal, Biography: arts & entertainment, Pop Music, Popular Music, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Music, Musicians, singers, bands and groups, Composers and songwriters, Biography: arts and entertainment, Popular Culture: Music and Performing Arts