Legendary musician and guitarist of The Who, Pete Townshend, still remembers when and why he smashed his first guitar.
The Let My Love Open the Door songwriter would gain a reputation for destroying his equipment on stage. While he says the practice would “embarrass” him, especially when he was asked to perform the stage ritual, he does still remember when and where he first broke a guitar. Townshend was just thirteen years of age and rehearsing with future Who band member John Entwistle when the guitarist found the energy to destroy his guitar. Townshend says it was the “hidden rage” the action brought on which he liked most of all, though he did suggest some minor regret over destroying his first guitar, as it warranted another paper round to save up for another instrument.
In an interview with Playboy Magazine, Townshend said: “I was thirteen. John Entwistle and I were rehearsing together in the front room of my house. My grandmother came in shouting, ‘Turn that bloody racket down!’ I said, ‘I’ll do better than that,’ and I got my guitar – this was a good guitar that I had paid for myself with money I earned from a paper route – and smashed it to smithereens.
“I said, ‘Now will you fucking get out of my life?’ and she stomped out. I looked at John and said, ‘What now?’ And he said, ‘Another paper route, I think.’ Once I had done it, it was always there as a possibility. If ever I wanted to deal with any kind of hidden rage, I could always take it out on the guitar. I could always trigger the same little bit of psychotherapy.”
Townshend’s guitar-smashing ways would come back to haunt him somewhat, as he admitted regret over doing it so often in the early days of The Who. He told interviewer David Sheff: “Well you have to remember I’m not angry all the time.
“Even now I occasionally get frustrated on the stage with guitars and want to smash them. I tend not to do it, but the opportunity’s always there. I smashed a guitar on the Psycho Derelict tour and it was great fun.”
“It’s also embarrassing, is what it is. It’s like comedians’ being forced to use their catchphrase after they’ve become serious actors.” Townshend would also confirm he is sometimes asked to smash the guitars, rather than letting it be a natural part of the performance. An appearance on the David Letterman talk show would be one such moment.
Townshend explained: “Yeah. I smashed the one on the Letterman show even though I didn’t really want to. They asked me to do it, and I told them I would if they sold the guitar for charity. They gave me a fabulous guitar–a Gibson J-200 blond, an Elvis Presley-type guitar.”
