When Roger Daltrey Rode to Brian Johnson's Rescue

A pre-fame Brian Johnson obtained some invaluable recommendation from Roger Daltrey when the 2 crossed paths in 1973. He additionally marveled on the Who frontman’s equestrian prowess.

Their likelihood assembly was backstage on the British music tv program Top of the Pops. Johnson was there along with his pre-AC/DC band Geordie to promote their new tune “All Because of You,” whereas Daltrey sang his debut solo single “Giving It All Away.”

“After the taping, [Geordie] went to the green room again for a couple of beers, fully expecting to get thrown out after an hour for not being famous enough,” Johnson writes in The Lives of Brian, which hits cabinets on Oct. 25 within the United States. “But it didn’t happen — probably because Roger unexpectedly introduced himself to us at the bar. ‘Hello lads, how are you doin’?”

“I was intimidated at first,” Johnson provides. “I mean, the guy was an absolute icon, and he was wearing the coolest flared dungarees with just his suntan underneath and a golden crucifix around his neck — but he turned out to be a regular lad, and he couldn’t have been friendlier. In fact, he went out of his way to tell me that I had ‘great pipes’ — which, coming from the guy who’d sung ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again,’ was the greatest compliment I’d ever been given.”

After their performances, Daltrey invited Johnson to his home that Sunday to have lunch and a chat. It was a no brainer for Johnson, who on the time was sharing a “filthy council flat with mattresses on the floor” along with his bandmates in London.

Johnson was suitably awed when he arrived on the palatial coastal residence belonging to Daltrey, who made his entrance in type. “Suddenly I heard the thud of approaching hooves, and when I looked up, I was treated to the most sensational sight — a beautiful white horse galloping towards me, no saddle, ridden by a bare-chested and barefoot man in powder blue jeans, with long, golden curly hair,” Johnson remembers. “He seemed to be holding on to the horse just by its mane.

“If this is not rock star, I believed to myself, I do not know what’s.”

Daltrey also gave Johnson a sneak peek at a piece of rock history. “‘[Pete] Townshend’s outdone himself this time,’ he mentioned. ‘I simply received this again. See what you assume.’ It was a studio tape of the Who’s new album: Quadrophenia.”

After lunch, Daltrey explained why he’d invited Johnson to his house. “You advised me that you simply have been residing in a grimy flat in Hackney,” he said. “Well, me and the missus went by way of all of that. So, I needed to convey you right here and present you what you are able to do if you happen to stick at it, as a result of there’s actually no straightforward manner — and if our paths by no means cross once more, I simply need to say that I actually hope every little thing works out for you.”

Johnson said that “what struck me most was that you might inform he actually meant it. From one singer to one other — though he was this large rock star, and I used to be only a man in a struggling band from Newcastle — he genuinely needed me to succeed. ‘The secret is,’ he added, ‘do not surrender. Never surrender.'”

“All Because of You” reached No. 6 in the U.K. after Geordie’s Top of the Pops appearance, becoming their first and last Top 10 hit. “Later on, when the lean years hit and my days of fame pale like a politician’s promise, there have been instances when Roger’s phrases have been a distant reminiscence,” Johnson writes. “But I clung on to all of them the identical, by no means giving up hope, even after my 30s crept up on me and kidnapped my 20s – even after I had to surrender being a musician and get a ‘actual job’ once more.”

Needless to say, Johnson’s persistence paid off. By the dawn of the ’80s, he would be one of the most successful rockers in the world. As for his relationship with Daltrey, he writes, “Meanwhile, I’m completely satisfied to report that our paths did cross once more. In truth, we nonetheless discuss to at the present time.”