![\"Keith](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Keith-Richards-Pete-Townshend-Split-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Marcel Antonisse \/ Anefo \/ Bent Rej)<\/p>\n
Mon 13 October 2025 20:00, UK <\/p>\n
Classic rock is a rather loose term, and Pete Townshend<\/a> is sick of it being bandied about. In his view, only two groups justifiably exist in that canon: The Rolling Stones and The Who.<\/p>\n To him, anything either side of that British duo is either rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, an entirely different genre altogether, or some perverse mutation like heavy metal. And like a musical geneticist, Townshend loathed mutations of the form more than anyone. Well, anyone other than Keith Richards, that is.<\/p>\n You see, Richard always felt that rock needs to swing, and by the 1970s, too many bands had lost sight of this. \u201cRock \u2018n\u2019 roll I never get tired of, but \u2018rock\u2019 is a white man\u2019s version,\u201d he said of the creeping heaviness that he thought weighed down the genre in the \u201870s in Under the Influence, \u201cand they turn it into a march, that\u2019s [the modern] version of rock. Excuse me, I prefer the roll.\u201d<\/p>\n So, while the heavier bands that arrived in the wake of The Beatles might have argued that they brought something new to the genre, Townshend and Richards were aligned in thinking that they actually stripped something vital away. And it was Led Zeppelin who bore the brunt of their ire<\/a>.<\/p>\n While Townshend told the Toronto Sun<\/a> that he thought The Who \u201csort of invented heavy metal with [our first live album] Live at Leeds (1970),\u201d he was never happy with what followed. \u201cWe were copied by so many bands, principally by Led Zeppelin, you know heavy drums, heavy bass, heavy lead guitar,\u201d said Townshend. Alas, imitation was not the finest form of flattery on this occasion. In fact, he viewed it as the highest source of embarrassment.<\/p>\n In 1995, he was far more cutting. \u201cI don\u2019t like a single thing that they have done, I hate the fact that I\u2019m ever even slightly compared to them,\u201d he said. \u201cI just never ever liked them. It\u2019s a real problem to me cause as people I think they are really, really great guys. Just never liked the band.\u201d<\/p>\n Richards\u2019 critique was similarly laden with backhanders. He was wise enough not to rubbish the esteemed band across the board. \u201cJimmy Page is a great guitar player<\/a>,\u201d he once declared in a rare moment of praise, \u201cand a very respected one.\u201d In fact, he even went a step further in another interview and stated: \u201cTo me, Led Zeppelin is Jimmy Page if you want to cut the story short.\u201d<\/p>\n But on his own website, Richards candidly extended the story to include a rather more robust dismissal: \u201cAs a band, I felt aptly named, it never took off for me musically. At the same time, Jimmy Page is one of the best guitar players I\u2019ve ever known. Bonham was a hell of a powerhouse drummer, although I think he\u2019s kind of heavy-handed, myself \u2014 that\u2019s when the \u2018Led\u2019 comes in.\u201d <\/p>\n