The key to a rock anthem
On what type of keyboard/organ was the opening strains of Baba O’Riley played? BaBa O’Riley was the opening track to The Who’s album Who’s Next (1971), and its pulsating keyboard intro is one of the most instantly recognisable soundbites in rock history. It is known to modern TV audiences as the theme tune to the U.S. forensic drama CSI: New York.
Songwriter Pete Townshend wrote the song about the Woodstock festival, where many audience members had overdosed on LSD, hence the refrain: ‘Teenage Wasteland, yes! We’re all wasted!’
The music was part of Townshend’s Lifehouse project where he inputted physical data from various subjects (height, weight etc.) into a synthesiser to produce a sound that represented them. In this case, the subjects were two of his heroes: the Indian spiritual leader Meher Baba and U.S. composer Terry Riley — hence the title of the track Baba O’Riley.
Many believe the Baba O’Riley sound came from one of Townshend’s massive aRP synthesisers. It was actually a home organ called the Lowrey Berkshire Deluxe, model TBO-1. To generate the sound, he used a setting called ‘marimba repeat’. This is different from a normal repeat effect in that certain notes are repeated either on or off the beat creating a much more complicated repeat pattern.
Frederick C. Lowrey was a Chicago businessman whose goal was to produce an affordable home organ. He experimented with many different tonegenerating systems, finally succeeding in his goal in 1955 by producing the Model S — with two 44-note manuals and a 13note pedalboard.
The Lowery company has since produced numerous models. Garth Hudson, The Band’s brilliant keyboardist, played a Lowrey Festival organ on many of the group’s songs. In 1989, the Lowrey Organ Company produced its millionth organ. The company is now owned by Kawai Musical Instruments of Japan.
Mike Luther, Worcester.
QUESTION
Did World War II soldiers take ‘performance-enhancing drugs’ to keep them alert? GeRMaN soldiers were apparently high on speed during the Blitzkrieg of 1940.
Pervitin, a methamphetamine drug, was developed by the Berlin-based Temmler pharmaceutical company and introduced to the market in 1938.
In September 1939, Otto Ranke, the director of the Institute for General and Defence Physiology at Berlin’s academy of Military Medicine, tested the drug on university students, who were suddenly capable of impressive productivity despite being short on sleep. He concluded that the drug could help the Germans win the war, and it was tested on military drivers who participated in the invasion of Poland. Its success saw millions of tablets distributed to soldiers for the invasion of France, where they dubbed it Panzerschokolade (‘tank chocolate’).
Initially it proved a success. The shortterm effects of Pervitin were similar to those of adrenaline: heightened alertness, increased self-confidence, concentration and the willingness to take risks, while at the same time reducing sensitivity to pain, hunger and thirst, as well as reducing the need for sleep.
Between april and July 1940, more than 35 million tablets of Pervitin and Isophan (a version produced by the Knoll pharmaceutical company) were shipped to the German army and air force, but commanders soon began to notice the negative effects of the drug: addiction, excess sweating, dizziness, depression, psychosis and hallucination.
Consequently, Pervitin was made a classified drug in spring 1941, although army commanders were still allowed to distribute it where necessary.
In January 1942, 500 German soldiers were surrounded by the Red army and tried to break out by a night march. The following is a summary of a field doctor’s report: ‘The snow lay deep and the temperature was down to minus 30.
‘after six hours’ march, many of the soldiers were about to give up, the physical exhaustion was complete and the morale was low. Some of them lay down in the snow, prepared to die. They took Pervitin pills and, after half an hour, they began to feel much better. They regained focus and determination, and could now drag their bodies forward.’
‘Wake-up pills’ were also distributed to British Forces. In 1941 they were given to submarine spotters who needed to stay sharp for hours. In 1942 the drugs began to be used more regularly by the crews of the strategic bombers — not only to combat fatigue, but to increase focus and motivation.
an air Ministry brochure from 1943 revealed, however, that there was knowledge about the side-effects of amphetamines: ‘anyone who takes them feels that he has full control over the situation and that he can continue to perform his duties without rest. He finds that he can perform well, when, in fact, he makes all kinds of mistakes.’
P. M. Cowan, Salisbury, Wilts.
QUESTION
In Great Gransden, there are two houses which, I am told, belonged to ex-King Peter of Yugoslavia. What is his story? I WaS interested to read the previous answer because I live in The Old Mill House in Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire. The article was correct in stating that Peter II’s mother Queen Maria once owned it. She also owned Brook Cottage, which was built at the end of the grounds for her security staff.
The Old Mill House had been bought in 1937 by Rosemary Creswell, a close friend of Queen Maria, and some time between then and 1941 the queen had also taken up occupation with her two sons, who attended Oundle School.
The queen bought The Old Mill House in 1942, and sold both in 1946 when she bought Great Swifts in Cranbrook, Kent; by this time both her younger sons had followed their brother to Clare College, Cambridge.
I don’t think King Peter ever lived in Great Gransden. according to one source, he had to stay ‘in a room above the garage’, and was asked to pay rent. The queen did not buy the windmill — it was already part of the property.
It was the next owner of The Old Mill House who gave the mill (and a small patch of land on which it stands) to Huntingdonshire County Council, as new legislation was about to put the onus on owners to maintain ancient monuments.
The mill is undergoing repairs. When complete Cambridgeshire County Council hope to sell it on to a body who will commit to maintain and repair it.
Nigel Day, Great Gransden, Cambs.