Talk:John Entwistle

Piano
I think a change should be made to the instruments section to include piano since in the "Who's Next" liner notes he is credited with playing piano on "My Wife" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.131.229.104 (talk) 23:27, 29 June 2018 (UTC)

Most expensive bass ever sold
I don't have enough experience to do this edit yet, but would love to put the point across that Entwistles "Frankenstein" bass is the most expensive ever sold (for $100,000), at the auction referenced in the article. I can find a reference to the sale on the Fender "most wanted basses" page, but it's copyrighted and I know not enough legalese! google for "frankenstein bass sothebys" and it's the first link.

Death
A recent article in british tabloid newspaper the mirror says that Entwistle died in the arms of a STRIPPER. is there any truth behind this rock and roll story and should it be added to the article?

Roger Daltrey has stated in interviews that Entwhistle died a "rock 'n' roller's death... two lines of cocaine and one STRIPPER"... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmbih2eRENQ Thedukeofno 16:48, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Another cite for the STRIPPER reference
Via the Los Angeles Times online blogs: "John Entwistle died with cocaine in his system and a local stripper in his bed". --Bobak 14:40, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

Were the Cops called?
If so, there would be a record and statement by said STRIPPER to the Cops. Sounds like a job for The Smoking Gun. This report would also state the hotel room number. Just a thought... --76.178.143.62 (talk) 01:14, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Work with Glenn Tipton
I think it should be mentioned he played bass on Glenn Tipton's solo album "Edge of the World" (2006) shortly before his death. I don't really know enough about it to fill it in myself.

He played on many other people's projects (Flash Fearless Vs The Zorg Women, a George Harrison tribute album, etc.) It would possibly require a new section to the article.

10 Thousand Watts Onstage
During an MTV interview he was asked about his preference for NOT running through the board (or p.a. system). He stated that it was to keep from muddying up the sound and to keep it totally under his control - not the venues or managers or band mates. He gave a detailed breakdown of the number of amps and stacks and effects he used and their sequence of connection, which totaled 10,000 watts! Truly - a THUNDER GOD!!!

An Ox's Tale
I think that somebody should add a section, or at least mention, the recently released documetary about John Entwistle's life, An Ox's Tale. I would do it, but I have yet to see it. Somebody who has seen may want to consider adding it.--Bappzannigan 23:00, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Yeah i May be able to handle that one. It doesn't really say much that the article doesnt, but i will later :) Odin 14:16, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Pentatonic Scale?
The article claims that Entwhistle is unique in his use of the pentatonic scale, among other things. The pentatonic scale (Particularly E) is one of the cornerstones of rock music, unless there is something about his use of it that is special, I need some clarification.GolumTR 13:12, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Please define cornerstone. Odin 14:17, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Because Pentatonic scales sound good even after distortion and have no major dissonances, it is how nearly every rock guitarist (it is also extensively used by jazz musicians) to form their solos. By cornerstone specifically I mean that is a fundamental unit, something that it is necessary to understand in order to be proficient, more like a foundation than a literal cornerstone.

Ok do what you want - you have more musical knowledge than me. What the hell is dissonance? 81.152.237.254 18:28, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Since I first wrote this I realized that Entwhistle is a bassist. I don't know why this obvious fact slipped by. Most bassists play root notes, and thus a bassist using pentatonic scale would be unusual, though hardly unique. I don't mean this as a slam, he is an amazing fluid bassist! I just thought there might be some crazy compositional stuff that my ears couldn't hear. It's not the most important thing in music, but it's interesting to read about! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.155.218.107 (talk) 00:29, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Equipment list
Seems like too much trivia for Wikipedia. Anyone mind shortening it to just the highlights (Frankenstein, Fenderbird, Alembic Explorer, Buzzard, etc). Sbamkmfdmdfmk (talk) 16:25, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

Strings
Whereas Entwistle did of course use Rotosound round wounds, and supposedly helped in their design, he got that bright treble tone before using them. On My Generation he used nylon tape wound strings. DavidRavenMoon (talk) 23:22, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

What about Sunn
It seem to me that just bout every piece of equipment that John used was listed with the exception of his Sunn amplifier stacks. He used Sunn Coliseum Amp heads with Sunn 15" and 18" speaker bottoms. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.131.94.250 (talk) 01:26, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Parts of this article appear to be directly copied from another source
Parts of the Death section appear to be lifted from an article in the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/dec/12/arts.artsnews; e.g.,

Although Entwistle's female companion was not identified at the inquest she is known to be Alison Rowse, 32, who dances under the stage name Sianna at the city's Deja Vu club. A self-confessed Who groupie, she would meet up with the rock star whenever he was in town.

Sorry I don't have time to fix the article itself right now. I'll try to get back to it, or anyone else who wants should feel free to add quote marks, footnote, etc.

--bjkeefe (talk) 01:24, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

What caught my attention was "Alison Rowse, 32, who dances...". Surely she was 32 and dancing at the time of Entwistle's death, rather than now in 2010. I was going to change "32" to "32 at the time of Entwistle's death" and "dances" to "danced", but now I see that the statement should be presented as a quotation. John Link (talk) 02:55, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Daltrey Singing Entwistle's Songs?
The article states that one key factor in Entwistle being among the first of the Who to release a solo album was that Daltrey was singing his songs on the band's albums. This is grossly inaccurate. Entwistle sang the lead vocals on every song he wrote released by the Who prior to releasing Smash Your Head Against the Wall himself. To my knowledge the sole exceptions are; Someone's Coming, which features lead vocals by Entwistle and Daltrey in unison, and In the City, which was co-sung by Keith Moon, the co-writer of the song.

Also, only Happy Birthday, a collaboration between Pete Townshend, Ronnie Lane and others, predates SYHAtW, so it's accurate to state that Entwistle was the first member of the Who to put out a solo album. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.93.126.95 (talk) 05:38, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Led Zeppelin?
The "associated acts" section lists Led Zeppelin, but the article makes no mention of Led Zeppelin or any of its members. There's some loose mention of Jimmy Page considering forming a band with Entwistle on the Led Zeppelin page, but if there's any more relevant association I think it needs to be added to this article. If not, then Zeppelin should be removed from the associated acts. 184.152.55.148 (talk) 18:14, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

A mess
John Entwistle is considered one of the best bassists ever. Therefore he deserves a better article than this, tagged for refimprove for six years with very few references, including citations to YouTube. I would invite everyone to look at Parrot of Doom's comments here four and a half years ago on Talk:The Dark Side of the Moon/Archive 2, and hereby give notice that when I get a few free evenings, I intend to do exactly what he did there on this article, using largely the same sources that means that Keith Moon is sitting at Good Article Status right now while this article sits in Start Class. If you find large paragraphs from the article are suddenly moved to this talk page, it's because I can't find sufficient sourcing from them. In the meantime, why not help? Neill & Kent's book is partially online, as is Townshend's autobiography, if you don't know how to use cite book and sfn, drop me a line on my talk page and I'll explain how. But we really need to get things moving on this. Ritchie333 (talk)  (cont)   16:08, 18 September 2013 (UTC)

My Wife???
You mention that Entwhistle married Alison Wise and they resided in part of a duplex in Acton. You said he moved out in 1978. Were he and Alison divorced, did he just leave her there, did he box her up??? What???User:JCHeverly 21:15, 8 January 2014 (UTC)
 * I'll get round to sourcing this all properly at some point (see the above section titled "A mess") but from what I recall reading in my Who books, Entwistle liked touring and playing live more than the rest of the group (Moon liked touring, but less for playing and more for acting like a ruthless sadistic maniac!) and consequently home life and domesticity got the better of him. The 75-76 tour was I think the nail in the coffin for the relationship. Ironically, the Who toured less because Townshend wanted his marriage and family life to be held together, knowing full well that a year's touring was a great way to ruin it. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont)  16:21, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

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I'm as big a fan as anybody, but ...
There was some quote by a mostly fancruft/non-journalistic 'Biography' channel about John doing for the bass as Jimi had for the guitar. While he was an excellent, flashy bassist - can anyone dispute that people like Stanley Clarke (Return to Forever), Chris Squire (Yes), John Wetton (King Crimson), or Jack Bruce (Cream) were a level higher? Entwistle is there with people like Geezer Butler, Paul McCartney, etc. Very strong bass players with great technique. But his name just doesn't pop up in musicology circles the way some others do. So, I moved that statement down a bit in the article. It's troublesome, but it's sourced ... meh. 50.111.3.17 (talk) 17:02, 18 March 2018 (UTC)


 * I don't see a good reason to remove it beyond the fact that it conflicts with your own personal opinion. This is especially true, given that the sentence itself specifies the source (i.e. "According to the Biography Channel..."). Sourced material should remain unless it can be otherwise disputed. --Tkbrett (talk) 17:36, 18 March 2018 (UTC)
 * It's not my "personal opinion" - it's the opinion of the general consensus of musicologists - who name Stanley Clarke, Chris Squire, etc., as the leading electric bassists in rock territory. I didn't "remove" it, I moved it out of the lead, where it is inappropriate. 50.111.3.17 (talk) 00:40, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
 * You haven't provided any references or done anything justify the moving of the section besides continuing to repeat your own personal opinion. Please review Identifying reliable sources before attempting to move the section again. --Tkbrett (talk) 05:05, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Entwistle clearly wasn't the greatest guitar player, the sentence is just POV and OTT. (Defence1 (talk) 19:06, 20 March 2019 (UTC))

Smoking
Entwistle smoked about 50 cigarettes a day. This probably contributed more to his early death than the cocaine. (Defence1 (talk) 19:05, 20 March 2019 (UTC))

Cool story, bro. 82.82.219.86 (talk) 03:55, 7 July 2019 (UTC)

Death (again)
Again, in case it was missed that citations for this was discussed on this talkpage, above. Maybe someone could have taken 2 minutes to check the article (or the talk page) before jumping on the new account? The cite originally attached to the info was 2 sentences away, and an intervening edit had separated the info from the cite. On top of that, all it took was a quick google, it's not like something like this would not have an easily located verifiable RS, and another source was also found. This could have been handled so much better, instead of sending the editor into fits, taking them to ANI, bagging and tagging them, and then going on your merry way.  He  iro 14:47, 6 December 2019 (UTC)

Penis enlargement?
Just read this: "There’s a pronounced bulge over his groin area evidence of his well known generous endowment south of the border" in this review: https://www.thewho.com/irish-jack-reviews-teenage-wasteland-the-who-at-winterland-1968-and-1976/ - by a fellow who apparently is an authority on the subject, The Who that is. However I'm unable to find any corroboration via the use of various search terms plus his name. GXIndiana (talk) 19:57, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Superlatives
The "best artist" isn't an informative concept, though fans here doubtless find it satisfying. So a self-selecting "readers poll" found X. But who, actually selected themselves and why would their opinion be notable? One suspects that information on non-rock bassists among readers of a magazine that is mostly identified with covering 1960s pop stars would be quite limited. 79.59.167.122 (talk) 08:01, 19 June 2024 (UTC)