Millions know him as the longstanding lead singer for The Who. Millions of their offspring might simply ask, “Who’s he?”Roger Daltrey, onetime prince of power pop, is now old enough to be a grandpop. But at age 59 he’s still nimbly bouncing around. This time, though, it’s the Colorado River rapids, not a rock stage.
Consider the History Chan-nel thrilled to have a rock ’n’ roll fossil throw himself into its new Extreme History series. Daltrey does so with enough exuberance and vitality to make this a winning, instructive half-hour of seat-belted derring-do. No one’s risking life or even limbs. But at least heart rates are up.
Daltrey begins each half-hour episode by trumpeting, “This is Extreme History, where the first rule of survival is: Do anything to stay alive!”
The first obstacle is the reasonably mighty Colorado, tamed in 1869 by one-armed Civil War vet John Wesley Powell and his nine-man crew. It took them three months to navigate a then-uncharted 1,000-mile course, with four men quitting along the way. Daltrey and several river guides give viewers a taste of what it was like. Their vessel is a clunky old wooden boat similar to those that Powell and company used.
“I just have this feeling of ominous doom,” says a none-theless jolly Roger. His principal assignments are steering the boat, eating bread laced with rancid bacon grease and off-color river water and climbing a rock formation with the one-armed technique used by Powell.
“You’re a rock star,” he’s told. Good one.
Daltrey in fact is a very good sport, and certainly no pantywaist. He deftly fashions a new oar by trimming it with an ax. Back in the 1950s, he used roughly the same tool to make his first guitar at age 12, Daltrey says.
OK, so what’s the real reason Daltrey took the History Channel gig?
“I’ve been coming to America for almost 40 years,” he explains. “I’ve been across it probably more times than most Americans, but I’ve seen virtually none of it. I’ve seen the inside of a lot of limos, lots of hotel rooms, concert halls and stadiums, but I’d never seen the bits of America that I’d always wanted to see. So this was a really good opportunity. It’s been fantastic.”
He’s also a history buff.
“I feel very strongly that the only way to make history grab a new audience is to bring something new to it,” Daltrey said. “I love history, yet at school it was the most boring thing I’ve ever sat through in my life. It was about as exciting as a clam race. All they wanted to talk about was numbers and dates. It ceased to be about people,” he says, noting he’s tried to inject as much humor as possible into the series.
Next week’s episode finds him surviving a mock buffalo hunt in the company of Plains Indians who replicate the weapons and techniques used to kill the lumbering animals for essential food, shelter and clothing. While learning how to make an arrow, Daltrey inadvertently breaks wind. He laughs at himself, makes a little joke and moves on. His total lack of pretension is admirable in this entertaining little gem of an adventure series.
Other upcoming episodes will find Daltrey surviving the Civil War, NASCAR, West Texas of 1867 and life as a caveman. Bully for him. You can safely bet that Elton John would never do this — but we’d rather fix a meal in Elton John’s kitchen.
Bridget Byrne contributed to this report for the Associated Press.
Official Extreme History site:
www.historychannel.com
