Pete Townshend is the central figure of The Who, not only as the guitarist but also as the band’s main songwriter. He was crucial to their success but the magic truly happened thanks to the chemistry between him Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon. Over the decades, Townshend had the chance to see many incredible guitarists perform live and he often shared his opinions about them. One of those artists was the legendary Joe Walsh, known for his solo career as well as for being a member of James Gang and the Eagles. What is Pete Townshend's opinion on Joe Walsh Pete Townshend is a fan of Joe Walsh's guitar playing and already in 1975 he told Rolling Stone that he was one of the few how could play like that “Joe Walsh is a fluid and intelligent player. There’re not many like that around.” Curiously, Jimmy Page was not the only one who Joe Walsh helped to find a good guitar which was later used on many classic albums. The Eagles guitarist also gave a guitar to Pete Townshend, which was fundamental to get the sound he wanted for the classic record "Who's Next" (1971). They met each other when James Gang was The Who's opening act, shortly before their album "Rides Again" (1970) was released. "Joe Walsh, whom I’d met, sent me an orange Gretsch like Neil Young uses and a Fender Bassman amp and with an Entwoods volume pedal in between. I started getting into that kind of sound. Leslie West sent me a really great Les Paul Junior with one pickup on it and Eric gave me an old Strat." He continued: "I think in a way what these guys were trying to tell me was if I wasn’t ready to go out and find me a good guitar, they did it for me. They gave me good instruments and I still have those three instruments today. And those were really the guitars I used on that album. Mainly the solo work on 'Who’s Next' was done on the Gretsch Chet Atkins." "(...) I feel Joe (Walsh) is a very expressive guitar player. He has brought out a lot of expressiveness in the other guitar player in the band (The Eagles), Don Felder." Pete Townshend to Sound International magazine in 1980. That guitar was used on every track of "Who's Next" album and Pete Townshend once said it was the finest guitar he ever had. Joe Walsh said Pete Townshend taught him how to play in a trio https://youtu.be/Cw8K5a2_quQ According to the American guitarist, Townshend was also important for his career. Besides taking them on the road, he also taught him how to play in a three-piece band. Joe Walsh recallaed that in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel in 2024. (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) "I was about 21 (When I was in James Gang). We complete out of luck got to open for The Who in Europe when they premiered 'Tommy'. (They found me in) Pittsburgh. They played 'Tommy' in Pittsburgh and we opened for them because the promoter was our manager. Pete Townshend just happened to come early that night and heard 20 minutes of it. We became really good friends, I became really good friends with the whole band." "They took us to Europe and that's really what broke the James Gang. He taught me how to play guitar in a three piece band: guitar, drums and bass. The thing he taught me was to play with an attitude, just the attitude is the whole thing. You can hear that attitude on a lot of my records. But Keith Moon, The Who's drummer, he taught me how to trash hotel rooms. Have you noticed that in hotel rooms you can't open the windows anymore? That's because of Moon and me (laughs)," Joe Walsh told Jimmy Kimmel. Joe Walsh says Pete Townshend was a mentor to him According to Walsh, during that tour Townshend took him under his wing and became a kind of mentor. The American musician decided to give him that guitar because he felt Pete was stuck in the same kind of amp and guitar setup.  “He really identified with what we were doing. Pete’s a very melodic player and so am I. He told me that he appreciated my playing. I was flattered beyond belief because I didn’t think I was that good. Pete and I really hit it off. We had the same frustrations about working with a three-piece group." “The next thing I knew, he was saying in interviews that he had heard ‘this great guitar player from the James Gang’. That he was America’s answer to all the English flash guitarists. Then, right on the heels of all this, we put out our best album, 'Rides Again'. The word got out and we started to get gigs from everywhere. That was the high point of my stay with the James Gang.” He continued: “The songs I was writing needed more texture than a trio could offer. I was writing with harmony and nobody could sing them. (Also) writing for piano and we couldn’t play one onstage. I was frustrated. (So) I had just written and recorded “The Bomber” and “Tend My Garden” and couldn’t really re-create them onstage. Townshend had finished Tommy and was going through the same changes. We got along so well that I gave him the fat orange Gretsch guitar that he used on Who’s Next and Clapton’s Rainbow Concert,” Joe Walsh told Rolling Stone. James Gang was first active from 1966 to 1977 but Joe Walsh was a member from 1968 to 1971. After leaving the band he released the debut album of Barnstorm, new band he created. But in the next years he was focused on his solo career. In 1975 he finally joined the Eagles and recorded his first album with them, "Hotel California" (1976), one of the best-selling records of all time. Over the decades he had the chance to play with The Who members multiple times.The post Pete Townshend’s opinion on Joe Walsh appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.