John Entwistle -

John Entwistle (1944–2002) was an English rock bassist and songwriter, known as “the quiet one” in The Who, his band of four decades. Renown for his deep, fluid tones, he wrote the Who staples “Boris the Spider,” “My Wife,” and “Trick of the Light.”

As a solo artist, Entwistle released the 1971–73 albums Smash Your Head Against the Wall, Whistle Rymes, and Rigor Mortis Sets In on Track Records, followed by the 1975 Decca release Mad Dog with his side-act Ox.

After rounds of Who commitments and production work for the Fabulous Poodles, Entwistle released his final solo album: the 1981 Atco release Too Late the Hero.

Early Life

He was born John Alec Entwistle on October, 9, 1944, in Chiswick, West London, to trumpeter Herbert Entwistle (1915–2003) and pianist Maud (née Lee, 1922–2011). Maud divorced Herbert soon after John’s birth and raised the boy with her parents in South Acton.

At age seven, John began piano lessons. He took up trumpet at Acton County Grammar School and played French horn in the Middlesex Schools Symphony Orchestra. In his second year, he befriended fellow pupil Pete Townshend. They formed The Confederates, a trad jazz band that altered course with the UK advent of rock ‘n’ roll.

Due to the overpowering volume of electric instruments, John abandoned brass for the guitar but soon settled on bass: a natural fit for his large fingers. His talents impressed expelled Acton County senior Roger Daltrey, whose band The Detours hired John as their bassist.

In 1962, Daltrey switched from guitar to vocals and Entwistle roped in Townshend. They gigged the burgeoning R&B circuit with drummer Doug Samden, who cleared in 1964 for wunderkind sticksman Keith Moon. The lineup of Daltrey, Townshend, Entwistle, and Moon cut one single as The High Numbers and settled as The Who.

Smash Your Head Against the Wall

John Entwistle released his debut solo album, Smash Your Head Against the Wall, in May 1971 on Track Records.

Entwistle drives a dense, low-centered sound marked by layered brass figures, clipped guitar accents, and percussive bass lines that advance at a steady, weighty pace. He fronts a tight trio with guitarist Dave “Cyrano” Langston and drummer Jerry Shirley, augmented on one track by Latin-percussion contributions from Vivian Stanshall, Keith Moon, and Neil Innes.

Entwistle wrote the album’s nine songs. He recuts his Who piece “Heaven and Hell” and closes with “I Believe in Everything.” The 1997 CD adds a cover of Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl.”

Smash Your Head Against the Wall opens with “My Size,” a tense, hard-driving rocker with jagged riffs and a sardonic edge, immediately asserting a restless energy. “Pick Me Up (Big Chicken)” contrasts with a slow, pounding rhythm and layered horn sections that heighten its anguished narrative of alcohol dependence. “What Are We Doing Here?” drifts with plaintive piano lines and pensive pacing, while “What Kind of People Are They?” adds urgent, syncopated bass patterns that propel its scrutiny of outsiders. Side A closes with “Heaven and Hell,” which unfolds with shimmering guitars and ethereal brass, softening the moralistic lyric into a dreamlike tableau.

Side B balances starkly against the opener: “Ted End” moves in slow, folk-inflected contours, evoking a quiet, solitary funeral, whereas “You’re Mine” juxtaposes jaunty piano, theatrical vocal interplay, and horns to dramatize a comic, infernal dialogue. “No. 29 (Eternal Youth)” blends extended instrumental passages with chromatic leaps, lending the track a surreal, almost cinematic breadth. The album closes with “I Believe in Everything,” a whimsical, buoyant track whose playful tonal shifts underscore Entwistle’s idiosyncratic approach to songwriting. Throughout, his bass remains central but restrained, letting piano, horns, and guitar color the arrangements and lend the record a murky, unpredictable texture.

A1. “My Size” (3:43)
A2. “Pick Me Up (Big Chicken)” (3:43)
A3. “What Are We Doing Here?” (3:49)
A4. “What Kind of People Are They?” (2:44)
A5. “Heaven and Hell” (4:50)

B1. “Ted End” (2:33)
B2. “You’re Mine” (4:39)
B3. “No. 29 (Eternal Youth)” (5:25)
B4. “I Believe in Everything” (3:07)

1997 CD reissue:
B5. “Cinnamon Girl” (Neil Young)

Sessions occurred in November 1970 and January 1971 at Trident Studios in Soho, London, with Entwistle producing and Roy Thomas Baker engineering.

Smash Your Head Against the Wall features artwork by Graham Hughes.

Track issued “I Believe in Everything” (b/w “My Size”) as the album’s single.

Whistle Rymes

John Entwistle released his second solo album, Whistle Rymes, on November 3, 1972, on Track Records.

Entwistle builds on the dense, hard-edged sound of his debut with tighter pacing and a sharper contrast between sardonic lyrics and bright instrumental colors. He fronts a compact supporting cast that includes guitarists Peter Frampton and Jimmy McCulloch, drummers Rod Coombes (Stealers Wheel) and Gordon Barton, keyboardist Neil Sheppard (electric piano, organ), keyboardist Bryan Williams (trombone, keyboards), Family violinist John Weider, and acoustic guitarist Alan Ross.

Whistle Rymes continues the bold, idiosyncratic approach of his debut, opening with “Ten Little Friends,” a driving rocker highlighted by Peter Frampton’s distorted lead guitar and a dense wall of drums, keyboards, and brass. “Apron Strings” moves slower, with haunting piano lines and carefully placed guitar flourishes, creating a reflective tone. The album alternates sharply between aggressive and contemplative tracks: “I Feel Better” bursts with biting riffs and bitter lyric delivery, while “Thinkin’ It Over” slows into a black waltz rhythm, underpinned by early synth bass.

Side B opens with “I Wonder,” a brief track built around a tight brass riff and abrupt, surprising ending, before “I Was Just Being Friendly” and “The Window Shopper” explore awkward, darkly comic character studies with sparse arrangements that let minor keys and subtle instrumentation accentuate tension. “I Found Out” strips down to piano, bass, and acoustic guitar, emphasizing resignation and despair, and the album closes with “Nightmare (Please Wake Me Up),” a sprawling, hallucinatory piece combining heavy bass, chaotic percussion, and violin swirls that escalate into nightmarish intensity.

A1. “Ten Little Friends” (4:03)
A2. “Apron Strings” (3:47)
A3. “I Feel Better” (4:46)
A4. “Thinkin’ It Over” (3:12)
A5. “Who Cares?” (4:28)

B1. “I Wonder” (2:58)
B2. “I Was Just Being Friendly” (3:33)
B3. “The Window Shopper” (3:28)
B4. “I Found Out” (3:51)
B5. “Nightmare (Please Wake Me Up)” (6:16)

Across the album, Entwistle layers instruments generously around his bass, blending piano, guitar, and brass into dramatic, tightly orchestrated tracks that shift sharply in pace and texture, balancing sardonic humor with darker, more unsettling moods.

Sessions occurred in May 1972 at Island Studios in London with Entwistle and John Alcock producing and Brian Humphries and Mike Weighell engineering.

Whistle Rymes features gatefold artwork by Graham Lethbridge, whose watercolor depicts day–night scenes drawn from the album’s domestic themes.

Track promoted the album with “I Wonder” in 1972.

Rigor Mortis Sets In

John Entwistle released his third solo album, Rigor Mortis Sets In, in May 1973 on Track Records.

The album blends original compositions with 1950s rock and roll covers, revisiting early rock styles through brisk tempos, punchy horns, and rhythm-driven arrangements, while also featuring a reworked version of his Who track “My Wife.” Entwistle assembles a touring-ready ensemble for the recordings, emphasizing guitar, piano, and horn textures.

Entwistle wrote six of the ten songs, with “Mr. Bass Man” written by Johnny Cymbal, “Hound Dog” by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and “Lucille” by Albert Collins and Little Richard (Richard Penniman). His arrangements position trombone, trumpet, and saxophone alongside electric and acoustic guitars, piano, Hammond organ, and accordion, with layered backing vocals by the Ladybirds.

Mortis opens with the brisk, tongue-in-cheek energy of “Gimme That Rock’n’Roll,” setting a playful, erratic tone that carries through much of the record. Covers like “Hound Dog” and “Lucille” unfold at measured, straightforward paces, with restrained arrangements that lean toward faithful replication rather than embellishment. Originals explore angular turns and jagged textures: “Peg Leg Peggy” drives forward with sharp, relentless guitar lines, while “Roller Skate Kate” adds doo-wop inflections and dramatic, exaggerated vocal shifts.

“Made in Japan” layers rollicking rhythms with a playful, contoured synth line, giving it a buoyant, satirical feel, and “Big Black Cadillac” spotlights a brief, elegant bass solo against steady, concise backing. Tracks such as “Do the Dangle” emphasize plain, propulsive rock’n’roll motion, while piano-led numbers like “Mr Bassman” introduce a loungey contrast that alternates with the sharper-edged tracks. Overall, the album moves between rollicking, jagged, and whimsical passages, maintaining a sporadic, unpredictable pulse throughout.

A1. “Gimme That Rock ’n’ Roll” (3:00)
A2. “Mr. Bass Man” (2:49) — written by Johnny Cymbal; playful tribute to the bass.
A3. “Do the Dangle” (4:05)
A4. “Hound Dog” (2:29) — cover of the 1953 Elvis Presley hit by Leiber and Stoller.
A5. “Made in Japan” (3:48)

B1. “My Wife” (3:32) — new version of Entwistle’s Who track.
B2. “Roller Skate Kate” (4:14)
B3. “Peg Leg Peggy” (3:38)
B4. “Lucille” (2:53) — cover of Little Richard’s 1957 song, co-written with Albert Collins.
B5. “Big Black Cadillac” (3:35)

Sessions occurred October–November 1972 at Nova Sound Studios in London with producers John Entwistle and John Alcock and engineer Mike Weighell.

Rigor Mortis Sets In features gatefold art showing a heart-shaped gravestone with the dedication “In Loving Memory of Rock ’n’ Roll 1950–∞” on one side and a wooden coffin engraved with the album title on the other, differing in arrangement between the UK and US releases.

Track releases included “Made in Japan” (b/w “Hound Dog”) and “Do the Dangle” (b/w “Gimme That Rock ’n’ Roll”) for the French market.

Mad Dog

John Entwistle released his fourth solo album, Mad Dog, in February 1975 on Track–Decca; formally credited to John Entwistle’s Ox.

The album presents Entwistle fronting a large brass-and-keyboard ensemble in a set built around driving mid-tempo rockers, stagier pieces with stacked horns, and a few rhythm-tilted detours that differ from his leaner early-70s solo work.

Entwistle wrote eight songs and co-wrote “Cell Number 7” with pianist Tony Ashton and “Jungle Bunny” with drummer Graham Deakin. John’s band arrangements place trombone, trumpet, and twin saxophones at the forefront, with additional piano and violin passages by Eddie Jobson. Select passages feature Entwistle on 8-string bass.

Mad Dog alternates between sharp, propulsive rockers, playful pastiches, and horn- and vocal-driven theatrics. “I Fall to Pieces” layers brisk horns over a snappy rhythm, while “Who in the Hell?” plays with staggered, tongue-in-cheek phrasing and contoured vocal lines. The title track relies on tight, Spector-style arrangements, with female backing vocals carrying the lead and punctuating the rhythmic drive.

“I’m So Scared” charges forward with jagged guitar lines and insistent pacing that recall a live, full-band intensity. Lighter, novelty-oriented numbers like “You Can Be So Mean” and “Drowning” adopt uneven rhythms and abrupt shifts, and the instrumental “Jungle Bunny” emphasizes repetitive motifs without expansion. “Cell Number Seven” unfolds slowly, with episodic pacing that mirrors its narrative focus. The album moves between urgent, angular tracks and theatrical, rhythmically varied numbers, maintaining a brisk, unpredictable energy throughout.

A1. “I Fall to Pieces” (3:55)
A2. “Cell Number 7” (4:02) — Entwistle recounts The Who’s 1974 Montreal arrest through clipped lines and tense pacing.
A3. “You Can Be So Mean” (3:55)
A4. “Lady Killer” (3:29)
A5. “Who in the Hell?” (3:34)

B1. “Mad Dog” (5:27)
B2. “Jungle Bunny” (4:03)
B3. “I’m So Scared” (4:01)
B4. “Drowning” (4:41)

Entwistles’ backing band includes guitarist Mike Wedgewood (Curved Air), trumpeter Dave Caswell (Galliard), trombonist John Mumford (Piblokto!), and backing vocalists Irene and Doreen Chanter (Roxy Music, Phil Manzanera).

Sessions occurred in late 1974 at Novasound and Scorpio Studios in London with producers John Alcock and Entwistle.

Track and Decca issued Mad Dog with the title track backed by “Cell Number 7” as its lone single.

Too Late the Hero

John Entwistle released his fifth solo album, Too Late the Hero, on November 23, 1981, on Atco.

Entwistle frames a sharp, high-definition rock sound around a focused trio setting with guitarist Joe Walsh and drummer Joe Vitale, both of whom also add keyboards alongside Entwistle’s bass, eight-string bass, piano, and synthesizers. Billy Nicholls provides backing vocals on most tracks.

Too Late the Hero unfolds with a dense, cinematic intensity, opening with a layered synthesizer and Joe Vitale’s flute that gradually swell into a dramatic cadence. “Lovebird” floats with poignant, delicate vocals, while “Sleeping Man” and “I’m Coming Back” move with measured rhythmic lift, the latter maintaining brisk energy despite occasional filler tendencies. “Dancing Master” juxtaposes playful, dance-like phrasing against ironic phrasing, and “Fallen Angel” pairs reflective lyrics with restrained, contoured instrumentation. “Love Is a Heart Attack” carries an eerie, anticipatory tension, often accentuated by Vitale’s piano and flute.

The title track, “Too Late the Hero,” builds through expansive sections of rising synthesizers, kettle drums, and piano, layering perilous and triumphant vignettes that mirror its theme of editing life like a film. Joe Walsh’s guitar threads seamlessly complement Entwistle’s material, adding angular lines and subtle counterpoints, while Entwistle’s voice conveys both streetwise grit and lyrical delicacy, anchoring the album’s shifting textures and its cinematic sweep.

A1. “Try Me” (3:55)
A2. “Talk Dirty” (4:06)
A3. “Lovebird” (4:51)
A4. “Sleeping Man” (3:55)
A5. “I’m Coming Back” (4:01)

B1. “Dancing Master” (4:23)
B2. “Fallen Angel” (4:40)
B3. “Love Is a Heart Attack” (5:13)
B4. “Too Late the Hero” (7:25)

Sessions occurred between 1979 and May 1981 at Crystal Studios in Los Angeles and Ramport Studios in London with Entwistle and Dave “Cyrano” Langston producing; Walsh and Vitale served as executive producers. Langston engineered with assistance from Neil Hornby, Jim Hill, and Jeff Eccles; Mike Reese mastered.

Too Late the Hero features an assemblage cover by Gered Mankowitz, who photographs Entwistle with an Alembic Explorer bass over grainy heroic personas.

Atco issued “Talk Dirty” as the first single in October 1981, followed in December by “Too Late the Hero” (“I’m Coming Back”). Entwistle made a “Too Late the Hero” video comprised of snippets from 1920s adventure films and miming footage from the album’s cover shoot. In early 1982, the clip received moderate rotation on MTV, the recently launched US cable music network.

Discography: