Maximum RnB - Richard Barnes

The Who - Maximum R and B - Richard Barnes

1982, Eel Pie Publishing
ISBN 0-906008-57-3
(also revised 1996, 1999 and 2002)

This is probably the first in depth biography of The Who. Barnes had access to the band and it shows through in the content. Original versions came with a flexidisc of the demos for Pinball Wizard and My Generation.

A few reviews of the first book to really raise the bar in respect of Who biographies. This has been reissued several times over the years.




JH 4 star review, don't know the magazine. (1996?)


Though Dave Marsh's Before I Get Old rather cornered the market in Who biographies, this scrapbook plus words job (updated to include recent developments) stands as a superlative companion volume, stuffed with ticket stubs, handbills and a wealth of photographs, glued together with a credible account of The Who's progress and made yet more alluring by the fact that Barnes has long since been a member of the band's politburo. Consequently I was there anecdotes litter the text, witness the episode in which the author presents Keith Moon with a weeks supply of amphetamines, only to see him gobble the lot. Ta Barn says the Moonster.



Chris Ingham, Mojo (1996?)


Nice to have this one back. Published originally in 1982 it's entirely unchanged except for an additional seven pages to cover the intervening 14 comparitively Who light years, now telling the story from the Detours in 61 up to Tommy in the West End in 96. Richard barnes was Pete Townshend's friend at art school and whilst not the most elegant and insightful of commentators, his I was there energy is highly readable. Barnes is also well placed to deliver terrific Who spotter details; an early manager wanting to shave their heads and put them in kilts, Moon's school reporting him "retarded artistically, idiotic in other respects", Daltrey refusing to record My Generation for two months. This books design, also by Barnes, is a bit shambolic. Theres no attempt to intergrate the illustrations with the bunched up prose and the LP sized paperback format is unwieldy. And yet Barnes' artless scissors and paste graphic style rockets the band visual energy off page, into your face. This is neither the definitive biographical word or even the glossy coffee table classic, but its still good and in its own way seems fitting for the brilliant, flawed, forgivable Who.




Simon Ward, Record Collector, (1999?)


One of the best Who biographies by virtue of the fact that the author has been there since virtually day one, and indeed coined the name The Who. His lively anecdotes pepper the story and takes the reader personally through the highs and lows - his attempts to straighten out Townshend's early 80's cocaine addiction are particularly revealing. However this book is more a visual feast than a mere recital of one of the classic rock n roll stories. Posters, music press adverts, and unseen photographs all make the volume indispensable for the die hard.

But and this is a big but, the book has obviously been reissued to cash in on The Whos current touring. Despite its cover flash proclaiming it to be fully revised all that's been added is an introduction by Pete Townshend. From 1982 - The 1996/7 Quadrophenia tour, Townshend's solo shows of 1998, not even last years shows which led to The Blues To The Bush album are mentioned. Instead the book ends as it has done since 1996 in 1995. Buy it if you havent already, but if you do own a copy, sit tight and wait for the next instalment proper.



Mark Blake, Q, 5 stars (2002)
(Reviewed with Anyway Anyhow Anywhere and Maximum Who)


.. However stiff competition comes from Maximum RnB. First published in 1982 and reissued in 96 and 99, Richard Barnes' book may lack the gloss and sheer physical gloss of the other two here, but it has the benefit of being written by someone who was actually there. Barnes went to art school with Pete Townshend, toured regularly with the band and places the reader in the thick of The Whos chalk and cheese conflicts; be it Townshend throwing an artistic wobbler or Daltrey chinning a producer before speeding off in his new Ferrari. Barnes is also unflinching on The Who's demise. Muddling along after Moon's death with put upon replacement Kenney Jones (rarely pictured without a drink in his hand and on one occcasion a lampshade on his head) you can almost feel the slow painful deflation of The Who's bubble.