EDITOR’S NOTE: Before the flood of new releases begins in 2019, we’re looking back at some releases from last year that we didn’t get a chance to write up when they were released. Roger Daltrey’s As Long As I Have You was released in June.
Roger Daltrey is a lot like Rocky Balboa, circa the 2006 film Rocky Balboa. In that flick, the titular character is a beloved icon who relives his biggest bouts and presses the flesh at a restaurant he owns. He yearns for something more, however. Although his halcyon days are long past, Balboa wants to go out and fight again. Because, as the boxer-philosopher says, “There’s still stuff in the basement.”
Similarly, Roger Daltrey didn’t need to make a solo album. As the frontman of The Who, he’s in the pantheon of great lead singers and personalities, and for a couple dozen shows each year, he can belt out The Who’s biggest hits and make millions. But, to crib the title from The Who’s last single in 2006, it’s not enough.
Back in June, Daltrey released As Long as I Have You, his first album since the excellent 2014 team-up with Wilko Johnson, Going Back Home. The new LP manages to fulfill two purposes: It serves as a logical thematic successor to the British garage rock ‘n’ soul of the Johnson collab while also sounding right at home in between spins of Who’s Next and Quadrophenia.
Daltrey is in fine form throughout, his voice powerful and vocal control sharp for any singer of rock and blues, much less one who turned 74 last March and has played thousands of arena and stadium concerts in the past half-century. The title track/album opener is a corker. Mick Talbot (of Dexys Midnight Runners fame) pounds out some chunky chords on the keyboard and the horn section provides an enthusiastic accompaniment for Daltrey, who belts it out with some real vigor and soul.
Pete Townshend, Daltrey’s Who bandmate and longtime friend, provides the guitar on this track and plays on 7 of the 11 songs on As Long as I Have You. With Townshend basically throwing in the towel on any new Who tunes years ago, this makes Daltrey’s release the closest thing you’re going to get to another studio record from the classic rock giants.
Townshend’s participation makes sense musically on his credited tracks, as they give off some serious echoes of his and Daltrey’s decades as collaborators. “How Far” is a cover of the Stephen Stills track from the 1972 album Manassas. Daltrey’s interpretation is less Stills-esque and more a throwback to what he was doing back when the original was recorded, feeling like a companion to the 1971 Who song “Love Ain’t for Keeping.”
But As Long as I Have You isn’t merely Daltrey taking a stroll through Who-ville. He tests himself as a vocalist on a cover of post-punk icon Nick Cave’s gorgeous ballad “Into my Arms.” The original is an elegant, romantic ballad, and Daltrey maintains its structure and arrangement. He also tamps down the vocal power and gives an understated, thoughtful delivery. With the level of nuance he provides, “Into my Arms” is presented as a piece that is deeply personal and meaningful to Daltrey himself.
“Certified Rose” is a similar song in the sense that there’s clear emotional heft to it. Co-written by Daltrey, it’s about watching his daughter Rosie grow up. In an interview this year, Daltrey said it was originally conceived as a Rod Stewart-style ballad. Despite that revelation, “Certified Rose” doesn’t reek of cheese and schmaltz. Instead, it’s a sturdily constructed, authentically delivered soul ballad.
Roger Daltrey isn’t trying to break new ground or reveal some heretofore unknown depth of character with As Long as I Have You. He’s showing that one of the most titanic voices in popular music history isn’t over the hill. He still has more to offer as a vocalist and interpreter of song. He still has a passion for music. There’s still stuff in the basement.
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