In
May, 1966, Moon and Who bassist John Entwistle were late to the gig that night
because they were entertaining Beach Boy, Bruce Johnston. Townshend and Who
singer, Roger Daltrey were extremely angry at Moon and Entwistle as they started
the concert with a different rhythm section. During the finale of "My
Generation," Townshend accidentally hit Moon in the head with his guitar
and bruised Moon's face in addition to giving Moon a black eye. Moon and Entwistle
for 24 hours quit the band. Pete Townshend profusely apologized to Moon who
while accepting the apologies was looking to work with other bands including
The Animals.
Winter
1966, The Who released the single "I'm a Boy" with the B-side, "In
The City," a Moon-Entwistle composition. The Who performed on the British
television show "Ready, Steady, Who" with Moon singing "Barbara
Ann" and Jan & Dean's "Bucket T," which went #1 in Sweden
on the Ready, Steady, Who EP. Winter 1966, The Who released the album A Quick
One (Happy Jack in the U.S.) with two Moon songs, one an instrumental;Cobwebs
and Strange and with Keith singing "I Need You." "Happy Jack,"
the single, featured Moon as the lead instrument propelling the song as well
as carrying the melody. At the end of "Happy Jack," Townshend can
be heard saying, "I saw ya," after Moon was spotted sneaking into
the control room from which he was banned due to his distracting vocals.
By 1967,
Moon had established himself as one of the premier drummers in popular music.
Guitarist Jeff Beck recruited Moon for his nascent band, Jeff Beck Group.
Moon screamed and thundered on "Beck's Bolero" on the Truth album.
Summer 1967, Moon unveiled his infamous "Pictures of Lily" Premier
drum kit with the lettering "Keith Moon, patent British exploding drummer"
amid pictures of naked women. The Who played the Monterey Pop Festival where
at the conclusion of their set Moon destroyed his drum kit.
On August 23, 1967, Keith Moon's infamous 21st Birthday party that would become the stuff of legend. Moon recalling the party in 1972 in Rolling Stone magazine came up with a fanciful tale about driving a car in the swimming pool, escaping by waiting for the physics to be right and earning The Who a lifetime ban from the Holiday Inn for eternity. Neither the car in the pool nor the lifetime ban from the Holiday Inn happened.