The O'Riley Sisters (Baba O'Riley Videos)

There is no way to overstate The Who's influence on Robert Pollard and Guided By Voices. From stage moves to power chords, The Who just might be their greatest influence. But don't take it from me. Here is Bob on 1971's Who's Next...

"My favorite album of all time. The Who was totally my model. We’re the drunken Who. I was at the show in Cincinnati where every one got trampled. I had a broken arm and I went by myself. It was pretty hectic, but it didn’t seem any different from the shows at that time. Back then the concerts were, like you saw Heavy Metal Parking Lot? The whole arena would be a cloud of pot smoke with people passed out and puking and cherry bombs being thrown. It was a magical time."

So, it's only fitting to showcase a pretty awesome live version of Baba O'Riley by The Who, a classic track covered many times by GBV. The clip is from 1978 and the performance isn't as spirited as earlier shows- I'm guessing they had played the tune a million times by the point this was filmed. But still, The Who rock mightily, with amusing pseudo air synth-drumming by Keith Moon, lots of mic twirling and windmills, and thundering bass...



And speaking of Cincinnati, here is Robert Pollard on stage with Pearl Jam in Cincinnati this past summer. They commemorated that famous 1979 riot at the Riverfront Coliseum with an emotional and blistering cover of Baba O'Riley. And this clip uses the audio from the show, so its even better than the one I posted previously. Rock on!