Straight-up rock'n'roll legend Roger Daltrey is breaking away from the Who to release a new solo album. Called As Long as I Have You, the record is due out on June 1 via Polydor/Republic. And while this is definitely great news for Who fans, it also comes as 74-year-old Daltrey has confessed he's going "very, very deaf."
The album was produced by Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers), and it also features Who bandmate Pete Townshend, who plays guitars on seven of the LP's tracks. There's also guest spots by Mick Talbot and Sean Genockey.
Along with a series of new original songs, As Long as I Have You features a few covers, including Nick Cave's "Into My Arms," Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothing" and Stephen Stills's "How Far."
The album's title track was also originally recorded by Garnet Mimms in 1964 — the same year the Who was officially born. You can check out Daltrey's version for yourself below.
In a statement, Daltrey had this to say about the new album:
This is a return to the very beginning, to the time before Pete [Townshend] started writing our songs, to a time when we were a teenage band playing soul music to small crowds in church halls. That's what we were, a soul band. And now, I can sing soul with all the experience you need to sing it. Life puts the soul in. I've always sung from the heart but when you're 19, you haven't had the life experience with all its emotional trials and traumas that you have by the time you get to my age. You carry all the emotional bruises of life and when you sing these songs, those emotions are in your voice. You feel the pain of a lost love. You feel it and you sing it and that's soul. For a long time, I've wanted to return to the simplicity of these songs, to show people my voice, a voice they won't have heard before. It felt like the right time. It's where I am, looking back to that time, looking across all those years but also being here, now, in the soulful moment.
As for Daltrey's hearing issues, he recently confessed to his audience that he's going "very, very deaf." According to the UK's Mirror newspaper, the singer told the crowd he now has to rely on lip-reading.
"The trouble with these ear things that I wear is that I am very, very deaf," Daltrey said. "And I advise you all — all you rock'n'roll fans — take your fucking ear plugs to the gigs."
As Long As I Have You is available for pre-order on CD and vinyl via MusicVaultz.
As Long As I Have You:
1. As Long As I Have You
2. How Far
3. Where Is A Man To Go?
4. Get On Out Of The Rain
5. I've Got Your Love
6. Into My Arms
7. You Haven't Done Nothing
8. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
9. Certified Rose
10. The Love You Save
11. Always Heading Home
The album was produced by Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers), and it also features Who bandmate Pete Townshend, who plays guitars on seven of the LP's tracks. There's also guest spots by Mick Talbot and Sean Genockey.
Along with a series of new original songs, As Long as I Have You features a few covers, including Nick Cave's "Into My Arms," Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothing" and Stephen Stills's "How Far."
The album's title track was also originally recorded by Garnet Mimms in 1964 — the same year the Who was officially born. You can check out Daltrey's version for yourself below.
In a statement, Daltrey had this to say about the new album:
This is a return to the very beginning, to the time before Pete [Townshend] started writing our songs, to a time when we were a teenage band playing soul music to small crowds in church halls. That's what we were, a soul band. And now, I can sing soul with all the experience you need to sing it. Life puts the soul in. I've always sung from the heart but when you're 19, you haven't had the life experience with all its emotional trials and traumas that you have by the time you get to my age. You carry all the emotional bruises of life and when you sing these songs, those emotions are in your voice. You feel the pain of a lost love. You feel it and you sing it and that's soul. For a long time, I've wanted to return to the simplicity of these songs, to show people my voice, a voice they won't have heard before. It felt like the right time. It's where I am, looking back to that time, looking across all those years but also being here, now, in the soulful moment.
As for Daltrey's hearing issues, he recently confessed to his audience that he's going "very, very deaf." According to the UK's Mirror newspaper, the singer told the crowd he now has to rely on lip-reading.
"The trouble with these ear things that I wear is that I am very, very deaf," Daltrey said. "And I advise you all — all you rock'n'roll fans — take your fucking ear plugs to the gigs."
As Long As I Have You is available for pre-order on CD and vinyl via MusicVaultz.
As Long As I Have You:
1. As Long As I Have You
2. How Far
3. Where Is A Man To Go?
4. Get On Out Of The Rain
5. I've Got Your Love
6. Into My Arms
7. You Haven't Done Nothing
8. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
9. Certified Rose
10. The Love You Save
11. Always Heading Home
