As Long As I Have You, Roger Daltrey

Long before they were penning puzzling panegyrics to paralysed pinball players, or formulating future forensic TV themes, the mighty Who were a top notch R&B band, and chief shouter Daltrey has always claimed it as the ground he felt most comfortable on. His brilliant collaboration with Wilko Johnson, 2014’s Going Back Home, proved his point. Daltrey was at the top of his game, howling out the best of Dr Feelgood, and Johnson played with the passion of a man who thought his time was up. It was a deserved hit.

As Long As I Have You bristles with the confidence that success must have engendered. The opening title track, a spirited run at the Garnet Mimms' 1964 floor filler that The Who played all the way back in their High Numbers days, dispels any worry that the voice might be failing. And, just in case, Regina McCrary (last heard on Dylan’s marvellous Trouble No More box) and her sisters add some old school soul vocals, most noticeably on The Five Keys’ ‘Out of Sight, Out Of Mind’ and Joe Tex’s ‘The Love You Save’.

Townshend’s here too, his instantly recognisable guitar driving some of the best moments, especially Stephen Still’s ‘How Far’ and Boz Scaggs ‘I’ve Got Your Love’. Surprisingly, as he’s hardly known for it, Daltrey’s song writing, on ‘Certified Rose’ and ‘Always Heading Home’, deserves attention too. Even his seemingly incongruous stab at Nick Cave’s ‘Into My Arms’ makes sense after a few spins.

It doesn’t all work, Parliament’s ‘Get Out Of The Rain’ and Stevie Wonder’s ‘You Haven’t Done Nothing’ are a bit over blown, but if we don’t get another Who album, which would be a shame as 2006’s Endless Wire was very good indeed, this will do to be going on with.

Rating: 7/10