Listen to Roger Daltrey’s New Song, ‘How Far’
Roger Daltrey has released the second song from his upcoming album, As Long As I Have You. You can listen to his cover of Stephen Stills' "How Far" below.
The song first appeared on the 1972 self-titled album by Stills' short-lived band Manassas, and is one of several covers on Daltrey's upcoming LP. The record also includes takes on Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothing," Nick Cave's "Into My Arms" and the title track by Garnet Mimms.
Daltrey said the soul leanings of the album brought back memories of the Who's early days playing R&B covers, before Pete Townshend became the group's primary songwriter. "That’s what we were, a soul band," he said. "And now, I can sing soul with all the experience you need to sing it. Life puts the soul in. I’ve always sung from the heart but when you’re 19, you haven’t had the life experience with all its emotional trials and traumas that you have by the time you get to my age. You carry all the emotional bruises of life and when you sing these songs, those emotions are in your voice. You feel the pain of a lost love. You feel it and you sing it and that’s soul.
"For a long time, I’ve wanted to return to the simplicity of these songs, to show people my voice, a voice they won’t have heard before. It felt like the right time. It’s where I am, looking back to that time, looking across all those years but also being here, now, in the soulful moment.”
As Long As I Have You comes out on June 1 and features Townshend's guitar on seven tracks. The singer said he had doubts about the quality of the material, but Townshend "convinced me that it was great."
A week after the album is released, Daltrey will embark on a 12-city tour where he'll play Tommy with a local orchestra at each venue. He also has an autobiography scheduled for release in August.
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