John Alec Entwistle (9 October 1944 – 27 June 2002) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, composer and record producer, best known as the bass guitarist for the rock band the Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member with formal musical training and also provided backing and occasional lead vocals. Entwistle was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Who in 1990.
Entwistle was the first member of the Who to begin a solo career, which he did in 1971. He released seven solo studio albums, four compilation albums and two live albums. His best-selling studio album is Too Late the Hero (1981), and its title track is his best-selling single. Musicians who played on his albums include the Who's Keith Moon, Peter Frampton of Humble Pie, Joe Walsh of the Eagles, Leslie West of Mountain, Vivian Stanshall, Neil Innes, Zak Starkey, Howie Casey, Dick Parry, Jimmy McCulloch of Paul McCartney and Wings, Joe Vitale, and Tony Ashton.
Renowned for his musical abilities, Entwistle is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rock bassists of all time. His instrumental approach featured pentatonic lead lines and a then-unusual treble-rich sound ("full treble, full volume"). He was voted as the greatest bass guitar player ever in a 2011 Rolling Stone readers' poll and, in 2020, the same magazine ranked him number three in its list of the "50 Greatest Bassists of All Time".
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Early life
John Alec Entwistle was born on 9 October 1944 at Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital in Hammersmith, West London, and brought up in Chiswick, Middlesex, which is now part of London. He was an only child. His father, Herbert (1915–2003), played the trumpet and his mother, Maud (née Lee) (29 November 1922 – 4 March 2011), played the piano. His parents' marriage failed soon after he was born, and he was mostly raised by his mother at his grandparents' house in South Acton. Divorce was uncommon in the 1940s, and this contributed to Entwistle becoming reserved and socialising little.
His musical career began at age 7, when he started taking piano lessons. He did not enjoy the experience and after joining Acton County Grammar School aged 11, switched to the trumpet, moving to the French horn when he joined the Middlesex Schools Orchestra. He met Pete Townshend in the second year of school, and the two formed a trad jazz band, the Confederates. The group only played one gig together, before they decided that rock and roll was a more attractive prospect. Entwistle, in particular, was having difficulty hearing his trumpet with rock bands, and decided to switch to playing guitar, but due to his large fingers, and also his fondness for the low guitar tones of Duane Eddy, he decided to take up the bass guitar instead. He made his own instrument at home, and soon attracted the attention of Roger Daltrey, who had been in the year above Entwistle at Acton County, but had been expelled and was working as an electrician's mate. Daltrey was aware of Entwistle from school, and asked him to join as a bassist for his band, the Detours.
Career
The Who
After joining the Detours, Entwistle played a major role in encouraging Pete Townshend's budding talent on the guitar, and insisting that Townshend be admitted into the band as well. At this point the band consisted of Entwistle, Townshend and drummer Doug Sandom, a semi-professional player who was several years older than the others. Daltrey relinquished the role of guitarist to Townshend in 1963, instead becoming the frontman and lead vocalist.
The band considered several changes of name, finally settling on the name the Who while Entwistle was still working as a tax clerk (temporarily performing as the High Numbers for four months in 1964). When the band decided that the blond Daltrey needed to stand out more from the others, Entwistle dyed his naturally light brown hair black, and it remained so until the early 1980s. Around 1963, Entwistle played in a London band called the Initials for a short while; the band broke-up when a planned resident engagement in Spain fell through.
Entwistle picked up two nicknames during his career as a musician. He was nicknamed "the Ox" because of his strong constitution and seeming ability to "eat, drink or do more than the rest of them". He was also later nicknamed "Thunderfingers". Bill Wyman, bassist for the Rolling Stones, described him as "the quietest man in private but the loudest man on stage". Entwistle was one of the first to make use of Marshall Stacks in an attempt to hear himself over the noise of his band members, who famously leapt and moved about on the stage, with Townshend and Keith Moon smashing their instruments on numerous occasions (Moon even used explosives in his drum kit during one television performance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour). Townshend later remarked that Entwistle started using Marshall amplification to hear himself over Moon's rapid-fire drumming style, and Townshend himself also had to use them just to be heard over Entwistle. They both continued expanding and experimenting with their rigs, until they were both using twin stacks with new experimental prototype 200 watt amps, at a time when most bands used 50–100 watt amplifiers with single cabinets. All of this quickly gained the Who a reputation for being "the loudest band on the planet"; they reached 126 decibels at a 1976 concert in London, listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the loudest rock concert in history.
The band had a strong influence at the time on their contemporaries' choice of equipment, with Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience both following suit. Although they pioneered and directly contributed to the development of the "classic" Marshall sound (at this point their equipment was being built or tweaked to their personal specifications), they only used Marshall equipment for a few years. Entwistle eventually switched to using a Sound City rig, with Townshend later following suit. Townshend said that Jimi Hendrix, their new label mate, was influenced beyond just the band's volume. Both Entwistle and Townshend had begun experimenting with feedback from the amplifiers in the mid-1960s, and Hendrix did not begin destroying his instruments until after he had witnessed the Who's "auto-destructive art".
Other work
In May 1971, Entwistle became the first member of the band to release a solo studio album, Smash Your Head Against the Wall, which was born out of Entwistle's frustrations within the band, namely not having as many of his songs featured on their albums as he would've liked, and it features a guest appearance by the Who's drummer Keith Moon on one track ("No. 29 (External Youth)"), as well as strong musical influences from the band's work.
Entwistle self-produced the album and it was recorded at Trident Studios in Soho, London over 2 weeks, with a young Roy Thomas Baker engineering the album (his first work). Baker would later become known for his work as a producer for the rock band Queen, and the same studio piano that was used by Entwistle during the sessions for this album was later used by Freddie Mercury on "Bohemian Rhapsody". The album peaked at No. 126 on the US Billboard 200 but it failed to chart in his home country.
In November 1972, Entwistle released his second solo studio album Whistle Rymes. Entwistle co-produced the album with John Alcock, his first work with a producer after self-producing his debut studio album, Smash Your Head Against the Wall, and it was recorded at Island Studios in West London's Notting Hill district. The album features guitar contributions from both Peter Frampton of Humble Pie and Jimmy McCulloch (who would later join Paul McCartney and Wings).
The album sold around 175,000 copies, and peaked at No. 138 on the US Billboard 200 but as with his debut studio album it failed to chart in his home country.
In May 1973, released his third solo studio album Rigor Mortis Sets In, the second studio album to be co-produced by Entwistle and John Alcock, it consists of two 1950s rock and roll cover versions, one 1960s cover, a new version of the Entwistle song "My Wife" from the Who's fifth studio album Who's Next (1971), and new tracks (only six of the ten songs were original material). Rigor Mortis Sets In set in motion Entwistle assembling his own touring band during the increasing periods of the Who's inactivity.
Bearing the dedication "In Loving Memory of Rock 'n' Roll 1950–∞: Never Really Passed Away Just Ran Out of Time", Entwistle's affection for 1950s rock and roll was evident by cover versions of Elvis Presley's 1953 song "Hound Dog", and Little Richard's 1957 song "Lucille". As George Lucas had released American Graffiti (1973) at the same time as Rigor Mortis Sets In was released, creating a huge market for 1950s nostalgia, Entwistle's timing was uncannily prescient. In Entwistle's original material for the album, light whimsy prevailed over the darker (and more creative) vein of Smash Your Head Against the Wall and Whistle Rymes. The album was completed in less than three weeks, ultimately costing $10,000 in studio time and $4,000 on liquor bills.
Personal life
Entwistle was married twice. In 1967, he married his childhood sweetheart, Alison Wise. He and Alison had a son, Christopher. Entwistle bought a large semi-detached home in Stanmore, northwest London, filling it with all sorts of extraordinary artefacts, ranging from suits of armour to a tarantula. His eccentricity and taste for the bizarre was to remain with him throughout his life, and when he finally moved out of the city in 1978, to Stow-on-the-Wold in Gloucestershire, his 17-bedroom Victorian manor, Quarwood, resembled a museum. It also housed one of the largest guitar collections belonging to any rock musician.
Death and legacy
Entwistle died in Room 658 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada, on 27 June 2002, one day before the scheduled first show of the Who's 2002 United States tour. He was 57 years old. Entwistle had gone to bed that night with Alycen Rowse, a local stripper and groupie, who awoke the next morning to find Entwistle cold and unresponsive. The Clark County medical examiner determined that his death was due to a heart attack induced by an undetermined amount of cocaine. Entwistle already had severe cardiovascular disease and usually smoked 20 cigarettes a day.
Entwistle had undergone a medical examination for insurance purposes before the Who's 2002 tour started. The exam revealed high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Entwistle's authorised biographer Paul Rees has suggested that a more detailed physical examination would have revealed that three of his arteries were blocked and necessitated surgery.
His funeral was held at St Edward's Church in Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, England, on 10 July 2002. His body was cremated and his ashes were buried privately in the grounds of his mansion, Quarwood. A memorial service was held on 24 October at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Long time friend and band mate Steve Luongo was invited by the Who and Entwistle's family to deliver the eulogy.
Entwistle's collection of guitars and basses was auctioned at Sotheby's in London by his son, Christopher, to meet anticipated taxes on his father's estate. Entwistle's mansion, Quarwood, and some of his personal effects were later sold off to help pay inheritance tax.
On Pete Townshend's website, Townshend and Roger Daltrey published a tribute, saying, "The Ox has left the building—we've lost another great friend. Thanks for your support and love. Pete and Roger."
One aspect of Entwistle's life that emerged after his death came as a surprise even to those closest to him, including the members of the Who. "It wasn't until the day of his funeral that I discovered that he'd spent most of his life as a Freemason", said Townshend.
Technique
Entwistle's playing technique incorporated fingerstyle, plectrum, tapping, and the use of harmonics. He changed his style between songs and even during songs to alter the sound he produced. His fingering technique involved plucking strings very forcefully to produce a trebly, twangy sound. He changed his thumb position from pick-up to the E string and occasionally even positioned his thumb near the pick-up. His plectrum technique involved holding the plectrum between his thumb and forefinger, with the rest of his fingers outstretched for balance.
The Who's studio recordings seldom did justice to Entwistle's playing, in part because he was better heard in concert, where he and Pete Townshend frequently exchanged roles compared to a traditional rock group: Entwistle provided rapid melodic lines more typical of a lead guitarist, while Townshend anchored the songs with rhythmic guitar lines more typical of the steady pulse from a bassist. At the same time, Townshend noted how Entwistle provided the true rhythmic timekeeping in the band, while Keith Moon, with his flourishes around the kit, was more like a keyboardist. In 1989, Entwistle pointed out that, by modern standards, "the Who haven't got a proper bass player."
Entwistle also developed what he called a "typewriter" approach to playing the bass guitar. It involved positioning his right hand over the strings so all four fingers could be used to tap percussively on the strings, causing them to strike the fretboard with a distinctive twangy sound. This gave him the ability to play three or four strings at once, or to use several fingers on a single string. It allowed him to create passages that were both percussive and melodic. This method should not be confused with tapping or slapping, and in fact predates these techniques. Modern players such as Ryan Martinie of the heavy metal band Mudvayne have used similar techniques. Entwistle can be seen using this technique in Mike Gordon's documentary film, Rising Low (2002). Notable in his left-hand technique was his use of slides, positioning his left hand for octaves, and his use of the pentatonic when playing with the Who.
Entwistle was notorious for the extremely high volume at which he played bass guitar, going so far as to rig pick-ups to each string on his instruments. This led to him developing hearing loss, similar to Townshend. Although not as public about his problems as Townshend, he reputedly had to rely on lip reading to understand speech in his later years. Randy Bachman of Bachman–Turner Overdrive claimed how towards the end of Entwistle’s life, the bassist mostly played by feeling the rush of air from his giant amp stacks. Entwistle blamed his hearing loss on using headphones.
Influence
Entwistle identified his influences as a combination of his school training on French horn, trumpet, and piano (giving his fingers strength and dexterity). Musicians who influenced him included rock and roll guitarist Duane Eddy, and American soul and R&B bassists such as James Jamerson. In turn, Entwistle has been a considerable influence on the playing styles and sounds used by generations of bassists that have followed him, including Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith, Brian Gibson of Lightning Bolt, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath, Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, Geddy Lee of Rush, Billy Sheehan, Victor Wooten, Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick, John Myung of Dream Theater and Chris Squire of Yes.
Entwistle continues to top 'best ever bass player' polls in musicians' magazines. In 2000, Guitar magazine named him "Bassist of the Millennium" in a readers' poll. J. D. Considine ranked Entwistle No. 9 on his list of "Top 50 Bass Players". He was named the second best rock bassist on Creem's 1974 Reader Poll Results. In 2011, a Rolling Stone reader poll selected him as the No. 1 rock bassist of all time.
Equipment
Entwistle collaborated with bass guitar manufacturers such as Alembic, Warwick, and Status Graphite. His bass solo on the "My Generation" single was a Fender Jazz Bass with stock tapewound strings.
Entwistle's collection of guitars and basses was auctioned at Sotheby's in May 2003.
Discography
Solo studio albums
Smash Your Head Against the Wall (1971)
Whistle Rymes (1972)
Rigor Mortis Sets In (1973)
Mad Dog (1975)
Too Late the Hero (1981)
with the Rock
The Rock (1996)
with the John Entwistle Band
Music from Van-Pires (2000)
