Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite

I've read enough autobiographies of notables to understand why they are not likewise famous for their ability to write.  This skill has eluded many who've decided to recount their colorful lives for the Great Unwashed, those of us who merely stared back at them through television screens or auditorium seats.  The Who frontman Roger Daltrey gave it a whack and in 2018 Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite was published.  He covers his life from the post WW2 days in Shepherd's Bush to the certainty of the ravages of old age and a life of stage calisthenics.  His writing style isn't Pulitzer worthy, but not too shabby.  Quite conversational, occasionally vulgar.  He does use a few unfortunate contemporary phrases like "Fake News!".

The early days in England are recounted fondly and honestly.  I have to give Daltrey credit for the latter; he seems quite transparent with his self assessments.  He does not mince words, describing how he left his young wife and child to become a rock star.  He expresses regret for this, but is happy to tell us he made ammends by including them in later outings with his new family.  Daltrey recalls his mum and dad and siblings  with great respect and warmth.  Likewise even with some neighborhood bullies.  I guess many of us do that when we reach a certain age.  Even the biggest childhood assholes seem so quaint now.

Then Roger describes his initial meetings with John Entwistle, Keith Moon, and Pete Townshend.  All are depicted as colorful, mercurial individuals. Quite headstrong.  Much has been written about Moon, who died in the late '70s after a wild life of drugs and debauchery.  There's one particularly vivid account of how the volatile drummer and Pete tried to join a marble table with a wall in a hotel.  Daltrey smirks that hotels secretly loved the band, as the inevitable room trashings would be covered by insurance, thus allowing them to remodel!

As with the other band members, Daltrey describes Moon as a brother, a gentle soul.  Entwistle he paints a bit darker, more devious.  Townshend is described as a difficult to pin down genius, one with whom he had many battles, sometimes physical.  Again, the singer does not hold back his feelings.  Also about Moon's replacement at the kit, Kenney Jones, whom he describes as a nice bloke but one who "watered down the energy of the band."

Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite, named for a headmaster who expelled Roger Daltrey when he was fifteen, will of course be a brisk read for Who fans.  I wanted more stories about Daltrey's work as an actor, especially with director Ken Russell, but what we get is fairly satisfying.  I was disappointed that he did not comment on Townshend's solo album Empty Glass, which I had heard Daltrey felt should have been given to The Who, as it had better material than the band's early '80s albums.