The Lifehouse Chronicles
Encyclopedia
Lifehouse Chronicles is a box set released in 2000 by Pete Townshend
with the focus on the box being the formerly "abandoned" Lifehouse rock opera. The set contains song demos by Pete Townshend; including solo versions of "Baba O'Riley
", "Won't Get Fooled Again
", and "Who Are You
", and the Lifehouse Radio Program. The box set release was followed by two Sadler's Wells Lifehouse concerts and the release of a live CD and video/DVD called respectively Pete Townshend Live: Sadler's Wells 2000 and Pete Townshend - Music from Lifehouse.
highly successful rock opera
, Tommy
. Rooted heavily in the teachings of Townshend's spiritual mentor Meher Baba
as well as in science fiction
literature, Lifehouse was meant to explore the idea that music is the fundamental basis of all life - that every human being on Earth has a unique musical melody that "describes" them, and only them, perfectly. When the unique songs of enough people are played in unison, the result would be a single harmonic note - the One Note - akin to the quintessence
sought by ancient alchemists.
Lifehouse was to be a true multimedia
project: a double LP rock opera, a motion picture, and an interactive concert experience.
The story was to take place in 21st century Britain, in an age where pollution
has become such a drastic problem that most people never set foot outdoors in their life. This populace spends most of their time in "experience suits". These suits provide the people with artificial lives superior to any they could eke out in the real world, yet devoid somehow of spiritual fulfillment. One discontented soul, known only as "The Hacker
", rediscovers 20th century rock and roll
music, and breaks into the computer network controlling the suits to invite people to leave their suits and come together for a concert. Despite the best efforts of the fascist government, thousands of people gather at the Hacker's concert, with millions more watching through their suits, as the musicians and audience perform experimental songs like those described above. Just as the police storm in and shoot the Hacker, the audience and band manage simultaneously to produce the perfect universal tone, The One Note, and everyone participating in and watching the concert simply vanishes, presumably having departed for a higher plane of existence. The story is seen through the eyes of a middle-aged farmer named Ray, an "air-conditioned gypsy" from a remote unpolluted corner of Scotland
, who travels south looking for his daughter who has run away to the concert.
ist Leslie West
of the band Mountain
and an impromptu live concert at the Young Vic Theatre in London
in April 1971.
While Townshend had high hopes for the project, others were skeptical. Universal Studios
, which had recently inked a two-film deal with the Who for the rights to a film version of Tommy, was not impressed by the screenplay
Townshend offered them. A series of spontaneous concerts the Who had held in London failed to produce usable material, and it soon became apparent that the project was doomed to failure. Though many of the songs written for Lifehouse came to be released on the Who album Who's Next
, Lifehouse was to remain unfinished for nearly thirty years.
to produce a new screenplay with a new story; this one oddly reminiscent of the film "Soylent Green
". Negotiations to produce this film, however, fell apart when Townshend found himself infatuated with the wife of the film's director (a story recounted in the song "Athena
", to be found on the Who album It's Hard
).
It was not until 1992 that Townshend again began work on the project. In that year, Townshend recorded the solo album "Psychoderelict
", a semi-biographical story told in the style of a radio play. The hero of this piece, like Townshend, is an aging rock star laboring tirelessly on a 20-year-old rock opera, called "Gridlife Chronicles" in the story, who finds himself embroiled in a sex scandal that jeopardizes the future of the project -- ironically, like Townshend a few years later. Several of the synthesizer pieces Townshend recorded in 1970 make their first official appearance on this album.
In 1998, Townshend's dream of bringing Lifehouse to a wide audience finally came true, when BBC Radio approached him with the idea of developing a radio play based on Lifehouse and incorporating the original music written for the project. The play, just under two hours in length, was transmitted on BBC Radio 3
on December 5, 1999.
which was used in the radio play, featuring compositions by Townshend as well as selections by Baroque
composers Purcell
, Domenico Scarlatti
, and Michel Corrette
. The fifth and sixth discs contain the radio play itself. Included with the set is a booklet featuring an introduction by Townshend, a history of the project written by Townshend webmaster/publicist Matt Kenthttp://www.mattkent.co.uk, lyrics for most of the Lifehouse songs, and a script of the play. Townshend stated in his introduction that he eventually hoped to release an expanded version of the set, to be titled "The Lifehouse Method", which would include software for producing a synthesizer track based on the user's vital statistics. Instead, The Lifehouse Method debuted in early 2007 as a website. After generating some 10,000 new pieces of music for users, the project closed. Graphic design was by Laurence Sutherland.
Pete Townshend's 1972 solo album Who Came First
contains Pure and Easy, Let's See Action, and Time Is Passing.
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
with the focus on the box being the formerly "abandoned" Lifehouse rock opera. The set contains song demos by Pete Townshend; including solo versions of "Baba O'Riley
Baba O'Riley
"Baba O'Riley" is a song written by Pete Townshend for the English rock band The Who. Roger Daltrey sings most of the song, with Pete Townshend singing the middle eight: "Don't cry/don't raise your eye/it's only teenaged wasteland"...
", "Won't Get Fooled Again
Won't Get Fooled Again
"Won't Get Fooled Again" is a song by the rock band The Who which was written by Pete Townshend The original version of the song appears as the final track on the album Who's Next...
", and "Who Are You
Who Are You (song)
"Who Are You", composed by Pete Townshend, is the title track on The Who's 1978 release, Who Are You, the last album released before drummer Keith Moon's death in September 1978. It was released as a double-A sided single with the John Entwistle composition "Had Enough", also featured on the album...
", and the Lifehouse Radio Program. The box set release was followed by two Sadler's Wells Lifehouse concerts and the release of a live CD and video/DVD called respectively Pete Townshend Live: Sadler's Wells 2000 and Pete Townshend - Music from Lifehouse.
Lifehouse: the concept
The set collects songs and other compositions relating to Lifehouse, a musical concept developed by Townshend in 1970 as a followup to The Who'sThe Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
highly successful rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
, Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
. Rooted heavily in the teachings of Townshend's spiritual mentor Meher Baba
Meher Baba
Meher Baba , , born Merwan Sheriar Irani, was an Indian mystic and spiritual master who declared publicly in 1954 that he was the Avatar of the age....
as well as in science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
literature, Lifehouse was meant to explore the idea that music is the fundamental basis of all life - that every human being on Earth has a unique musical melody that "describes" them, and only them, perfectly. When the unique songs of enough people are played in unison, the result would be a single harmonic note - the One Note - akin to the quintessence
Quintessence
Quintessence, literally fifth essence , can refer to:-Science:* Aether , the fifth classical element after earth, fire, water, and air...
sought by ancient alchemists.
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
Lifehouse was to be a true multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
project: a double LP rock opera, a motion picture, and an interactive concert experience.
The story was to take place in 21st century Britain, in an age where pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
has become such a drastic problem that most people never set foot outdoors in their life. This populace spends most of their time in "experience suits". These suits provide the people with artificial lives superior to any they could eke out in the real world, yet devoid somehow of spiritual fulfillment. One discontented soul, known only as "The Hacker
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
", rediscovers 20th century rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
music, and breaks into the computer network controlling the suits to invite people to leave their suits and come together for a concert. Despite the best efforts of the fascist government, thousands of people gather at the Hacker's concert, with millions more watching through their suits, as the musicians and audience perform experimental songs like those described above. Just as the police storm in and shoot the Hacker, the audience and band manage simultaneously to produce the perfect universal tone, The One Note, and everyone participating in and watching the concert simply vanishes, presumably having departed for a higher plane of existence. The story is seen through the eyes of a middle-aged farmer named Ray, an "air-conditioned gypsy" from a remote unpolluted corner of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, who travels south looking for his daughter who has run away to the concert.
Lifehouse: 1970–1971
In September 1970, Townshend penned a song called "Pure and Easy", about the One Note, the first song written specifically for Lifehouse. In the following two months he wrote approximately 20 additional songs, recording intricate home demos of each. Rather than attempting to tell the story through the lyrics, as he had done with Tommy, the songs were stand-alone pieces, meant to be elucidated by the movie and detailed sleeve notes to be included with the album. Most of those songs were recorded by the Who in two sessions in the winter of 1970/1971, as well as several "rehearsals" accompanied by guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Leslie West
Leslie West
Leslie West is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.-Biography:Originally named Leslie Weinstein, West was born in New York City, grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and in East Meadow, Forest Hills and Lawrence. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West...
of the band Mountain
Mountain (band)
Mountain is an American hard rock band that formed in Long Island, New York in 1969. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Leslie West, bassist Felix Pappalardi and drummer N. D. Smart, the band broke up in 1972 before reuniting in 1974 and remaining active until today...
and an impromptu live concert at the Young Vic Theatre in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in April 1971.
While Townshend had high hopes for the project, others were skeptical. Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, which had recently inked a two-film deal with the Who for the rights to a film version of Tommy, was not impressed by the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
Townshend offered them. A series of spontaneous concerts the Who had held in London failed to produce usable material, and it soon became apparent that the project was doomed to failure. Though many of the songs written for Lifehouse came to be released on the Who album Who's Next
Who's Next
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band The Who, released in August 1971. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project...
, Lifehouse was to remain unfinished for nearly thirty years.
Lifehouse: 1971–1998
Townshend never abandoned hope that Lifehouse might someday become a reality. He continued to write songs for the project throughout the '70s, and in 1980 worked together with bandmate John EntwistleJohn Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, horn player, and film and record producer who was best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players...
to produce a new screenplay with a new story; this one oddly reminiscent of the film "Soylent Green
Soylent Green
Soylent Green is a 1973 American science fiction film directed by Richard Fleischer. Starring Charlton Heston, the film overlays the police procedural and science fiction genres as it depicts the investigation into the murder of a wealthy businessman in a dystopian future suffering from pollution,...
". Negotiations to produce this film, however, fell apart when Townshend found himself infatuated with the wife of the film's director (a story recounted in the song "Athena
Athena (song)
"Athena" is a song written by Pete Townshend and recorded by The Who. It appears as the first track on the group's tenth studio album It's Hard, released in 1982. It was released as the first single from that album, achieving moderate chart success at #28 on the US Billboard Hot 100, but received...
", to be found on the Who album It's Hard
It's Hard
It's Hard is the tenth studio album by English rock band The Who. It is the last Who album to feature bassist John Entwistle and drummer Kenney Jones, as well as the last to be released on Warner Bros. Records in the US. It was their last album until 2006's Endless Wire. It was released in 1982 on...
).
It was not until 1992 that Townshend again began work on the project. In that year, Townshend recorded the solo album "Psychoderelict
Psychoderelict
Psychoderelict is a concept album written, produced and engineered by Pete Townshend. Some characters and issues presented in this work were continued in Townshend's later opus The Boy Who Heard Music, first presented on The Who's album Endless Wire and then adapted as a rock musical.This is...
", a semi-biographical story told in the style of a radio play. The hero of this piece, like Townshend, is an aging rock star laboring tirelessly on a 20-year-old rock opera, called "Gridlife Chronicles" in the story, who finds himself embroiled in a sex scandal that jeopardizes the future of the project -- ironically, like Townshend a few years later. Several of the synthesizer pieces Townshend recorded in 1970 make their first official appearance on this album.
In 1998, Townshend's dream of bringing Lifehouse to a wide audience finally came true, when BBC Radio approached him with the idea of developing a radio play based on Lifehouse and incorporating the original music written for the project. The play, just under two hours in length, was transmitted on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
on December 5, 1999.
The box set
Following the broadcast of the play, Townshend assembled and released the Lifehouse Chronicles box set in 2000 as a formal culmination of his work on the project. The set, made available exclusively through his website and at concerts, consists of six CDs. The first two CDs collect the original demos he recorded of the Lifehouse songs, several of which were never recorded by the Who. The third disc consists of several of Townshend's experimental synthesizer pieces, live recordings of Lifehouse songs, and new studio recordings of those songs produced especially for the set. The fourth disc features classical music by the London Chamber OrchestraLondon Chamber Orchestra
The London Chamber Orchestra ' is the longest established professional chamber orchestra in the UK. Based in London, LCO has a residency at St John's Smith Square in Westminster.-History:...
which was used in the radio play, featuring compositions by Townshend as well as selections by Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
composers Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
, Domenico Scarlatti
Domenico Scarlatti
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. He is classified as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style...
, and Michel Corrette
Michel Corrette
Michel Corrette was a French organist, composer and author of musical method books.-Life:Corrette was born in Rouen, Normandy. His father, Gaspard Corrette, was an organist and composer. Corrette served as organist at the Jesuit College in Paris from about 1737 to 1780. It is also known that he...
. The fifth and sixth discs contain the radio play itself. Included with the set is a booklet featuring an introduction by Townshend, a history of the project written by Townshend webmaster/publicist Matt Kenthttp://www.mattkent.co.uk, lyrics for most of the Lifehouse songs, and a script of the play. Townshend stated in his introduction that he eventually hoped to release an expanded version of the set, to be titled "The Lifehouse Method", which would include software for producing a synthesizer track based on the user's vital statistics. Instead, The Lifehouse Method debuted in early 2007 as a website. After generating some 10,000 new pieces of music for users, the project closed. Graphic design was by Laurence Sutherland.
Disc one
- Teenage Wasteland
- Going Mobile
- Baba O'RileyBaba O'Riley"Baba O'Riley" is a song written by Pete Townshend for the English rock band The Who. Roger Daltrey sings most of the song, with Pete Townshend singing the middle eight: "Don't cry/don't raise your eye/it's only teenaged wasteland"...
- Time is Passing
- Love Ain't for KeepingLove Ain't for Keeping"Love Ain't for Keeping" is a song written by Pete Townshend and originally released by The Who on their 1971 album Who's Next.-Music and lyrics:...
- BargainBargain (The Who song)"Bargain" is a song written by Pete Townshend that was first released by The Who on their 1971 album Who's Next. It is a love song, although the intended subject of the song is God rather than a woman. The song has been included on several compilation and live albums. It was also included on...
- Too Much of Anything
- Music Must Change
- Greyhound Girl
- Mary
- Behind Blue EyesBehind Blue Eyes"Behind Blue Eyes" is the title of a song by English rock band The Who. It was released in November 1971 as the second single from their fifth album Who's Next and was written by Pete Townshend originally for his Lifehouse project...
- Baba O'Riley (Instrumental)
- Sister Disco
Disc two
- I Don't Even Know Myself
- Put the Money Down
- Pure And Easy
- Getting in TuneGetting in Tune"Getting in Tune" is a song written by Pete Townshend and originally released by The Who on their 1971 album Who's Next. "Getting in Tune" was originally conceived as part of Townshend's Lifehouse project...
- Let's See Action
- Slip KidSlip Kid"Slip Kid" is a song from The Who's seventh album, The Who by Numbers. It was released as a single in the USA. "Slip Kid" was to be in Pete's Lifehouse rock opera. A demo of this song was included on Lifehouse Chronicles...
- Relay
- Who Are YouWho Are You (song)"Who Are You", composed by Pete Townshend, is the title track on The Who's 1978 release, Who Are You, the last album released before drummer Keith Moon's death in September 1978. It was released as a double-A sided single with the John Entwistle composition "Had Enough", also featured on the album...
- Join TogetherJoin Together (song)"Join Together" is a song by British rock band The Who. It was released as a single in 1972, and was one of three non-album singles relating to the aborted Lifehouse project, along with "Let's See Action" and "Relay". It reached number 9 on the British singles chart and number 17 on the U.S....
- Won't Get Fooled AgainWon't Get Fooled Again"Won't Get Fooled Again" is a song by the rock band The Who which was written by Pete Townshend The original version of the song appears as the final track on the album Who's Next...
- The Song Is OverThe Song Is Over"The Song Is Over" is a song by English rock band The Who, appearing on Who's Next.-Meaning:"The Song Is Over" was originally to be the ending song on the Lifehouse after the police invade the Lifehouse Theatre and the concert goers disappear.-Song Structure:"The Song Is Over" is one of the tracks...
Disc three
- Baba M1 (O'Riley 2nd Movement 1971)
- Who Are You (Gateway Remix - From Shepherds Bush EmpireShepherds Bush EmpireThe O2 Shepherds Bush Empire is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, London, England, run by the Academy Music Group. It was built in 1903, as a music hall, and in 1953 became the BBC Television Theatre...
1998) - Behind Blue Eyes (New version 1999)
- Baba M2 (2nd Movement Part 1 1971)
- Pure and Easy (Original Demo Reworked 1999)
- Vivaldi (Baba M5 on Psychoderelict) with Hame 1999)
- Who Are You (Live and Uncut at the Shepherds Bush Empire 1998)
- Hinterland Rag (Piano Rag for Three Hands - Yamaha Disklavier 1999)
- Pure and Easy (New Version 1999)
- Can You Help the One You Really Love? (Demo 1999)
- Won't Get Fooled Again (Live and Uncut at the Shepherd's Bush Empire 1998)
Disc four
- Townshend: One Note - Prologue
- Purcell: Fantasia Upon One Note (Quick Movement)
- Townshend: Baba O'Riley
- Scarlatti: Sonata K:212
- Townshend: Tragedy
- Corrette: No. 4 Aria
- Corrette: No. 2 Giga
- Corrette: No. 6 in D Minor
- Corrette: No. 3 Adagio and Allegro
- Townshend: Hinterland Rag
- Scarlatti: Sonata K:213
- Purcell: The Gordian Knot Untied
- Overture
- Allegro
- Air
- Rondean Minuet
- Air
- Jig
- Chaconne
- Air
- Minuet
- Overture (Reprise)
- Townshend: Tragedy Explained
- Townshend: One Note - Epilogue
- Purcell: Fantasia Upon One Note
Related recordings
The Who's versions of most of the above-listed songs can be found on the following albums:- Who's NextWho's NextWho's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band The Who, released in August 1971. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project...
- Odds & Sods
- The Who By NumbersThe Who by NumbersThe Who by Numbers is the seventh album by English rock band The Who, released on 3 October 1975 in the United Kingdom through Polydor Records, and on 25 October 1975 in the United States by MCA Records...
- Who Are YouWho Are YouWho Are You is the eighth studio album by English rock band The Who. It was released on 18 August 1978, through Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and MCA Records in the United States. It peaked at #2 on the US charts and #6 on the UK charts...
- HooligansHooligans (The Who album)Hooligans is a two LP compilation album of The Who. Released by MCA Records in 1981, it focuses on Who songs from the 1970s with only the titles "I Can't Explain", "I Can See for Miles" and "Pinball Wizard" from the 1960s. The album reached #52 on the US charts.This album is most notable as the...
Pete Townshend's 1972 solo album Who Came First
Who Came First
Who Came First is the first major-label solo album by Pete Townshend, released in 1972 on Track Records in the UK and Track/Decca in the US. It includes demos from the aborted concept album Lifehouse, part of which became Who's Next...
contains Pure and Easy, Let's See Action, and Time Is Passing.
Pete Townshend - Music from Lifehouse DVD
The 100 minute video was directed by Hugo Currie and Toby Leslie, and was issued in color as a Region 1 NTSC DVD, ASIN: B00005UQ86. The performances included are:- "Fantasia Upon One Note"
- "Teenage Wasteland"
- "Love Ain't For Keeping"
- "Greyhound Girl"
- "Mary," "I Don't Know Myself"
- "Bargain"
- "Pure and Easy"
- Baba O'Riley"
- "Behind Blue Eyes"
- "Let's See Action"
- "Getting in Tune"
- "Relay"
- "Join Together"
- "Won't Get Fooled Again"
- "Can You Help the One You Really Love?"