Roger Daltrey Gives Thumbs-Up to New Who Film He'll Never Watch

'Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who,' a just-released two-DVD authorized documentary of the legendary British foursome, picks up and expands where 1979's acclaimed 'The Kids Are Alright' left off. The new anthology uses interviews as well as exclusive and rare live footage spanning the entirety of the Who's more-than-40-year career, beginning with the mid-'60s up to today, to widen the scope of the band's story. Roger Daltrey himself gives the film his highest endorsement -- and that's considering he has never seen it and has absolutely no intention of ever doing so. "Because I'll only watch myself and I won't see the film in its entirety; I'll be just watching me," Daltrey tells Spinner. "Like when people first see their home movies, they don't ever see the big picture. But I find it too uncomfortable. And I lived it, I remember it all, I don't need to see it."

The longtime Who frontman says that when the creative team behind 'Amazing Journey' proposed the project to Pete Townshend and himself, the duo knew they could trust the documentarians to give the band's story a fair telling. "They had an incredible track record of filmmaking behind them," Daltrey says. "We looked at the quality of the work they were doing -- at the time they were doing a Bob Dylan documentary with Martin Scorsese, and, you know, they've got pretty good credentials."

In addition to the live footage of the band in action, 'Amazing Journey' also contains newly recorded interviews with Townshend and Daltrey, along with fellow rockers such as Sting, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and U2's the Edge. According to the filmmakers, their telling of the story behind the Who's rich and sometimes tempestuous career differs from previous versions mainly in that it illustrates a belief that the band's more recent history, especially the complex relationship between Daltrey and Townshend, deepens their legend.




"The initial, obvious story," says co-director Paul Crowder, "is, well, we're going to tell the history of this band and how they went from A to B, from starting the band back in the early '60s to where they are now still on the road. What I didn't realize was going to happen was that I was going to unearth this fantastic story of brotherhood that came out. I think that the most surprising thing was how fantastic the relationship between Roger and Pete is. You know, I knew all the old stories of fighting, fighting, fighting -- I didn't realize there was a lot of love. It may not have seemed there was a lot of love, but there was."

Adds co-director Murray Lerner, "After Keith [Moon] died, I think that the Who managed to go on, which is amazing, and really be successful even though there were periods of tremendous tension, which is an exciting story in and of itself. And then [John] Entwistle died and they still went on. And I think what's exciting is there's some fundamental musical character of the Who that remains, and it's really an amazing thing."

And as for exactly how long the Who will remain the Who, Daltrey tells Spinner he still enjoys singing onstage and isn't quite ready to retire to the pastoral life of an English country gentleman. "Well, you know Johnny Cash made his best album just before he died," he points out.