| "A Little Is Enough" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Pete Townshend | ||||
| from the album Empty Glass | ||||
| B-side | "Cat's in the Cupboard" | |||
| Released | September 1980 | |||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length |
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| Label | Atco Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Pete Townshend | |||
| Producer(s) |
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| Pete Townshend USsingles chronology | ||||
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"A Little Is Enough" is a single written and performed by Pete Townshend, also known for being the guitarist for The Who. The track appeared on his album, Empty Glass .
Pete Townshend pledged that "A Little Is Enough" was meant to make the best of Pete Townshend and Karen Townshend's fitful marriage. "I was able to very easily put into words something that had actually happened to me when I was a thirty-four-year-old," he said. "It's very emotional, but it's also very straightforward and clear." [1]
Townshend has also said that the song was inspired by an encounter with his spiritual guru, Meher Baba's, secretary, Adi Irani.
Meher Baba's secretary Adi Irani made a visit to London around this time, I tried to get his advice. 'My wife doesn't love me anymore,' I said.'What should I do?' 'She doesn't love you at all?' he wobbled his head as he spoke. 'She said she loved me a little.' 'Ah!' Adi clapped his hands and smiled. 'A little! That's good. Love is universal. Limitless. So even a little is enough.' I wrote a song called 'A Little Is Enough', and recorded it using the same system as I'd used on "Let My Love Open The Door". Although I'd always thought my love songs were terrible, I think this is one of the best songs I've ever written.
Pete Townshend also said that he preferred "A Little Is Enough" to his US top nine hit "Let My Love Open The Door" by saying that "Let My Love Open The Door" was just a "ditty". [1]
The song also makes a reference to Rémy Martin in the lyrics "I'm like a connoisseur of champagne cognac, the perfume nearly beats the taste."
"A Little is Enough" was released on the 1980 Empty Glass album, where it was the eighth track on the album. The track was then released as the second US single from said album, where it was backed with "Cat's in the Cupboard" (also from Empty Glass). The single was modestly successful, hitting #72. It was followed up by "Rough Boys" in America. The single wasn't released in Britain, where another single from Empty Glass, "Keep On Working" was issued instead.
Record World called it a "stunning triumph" and said that "the vocal urgency is awesome." [4] "A Little Is Enough" was cited as a highlight from Empty Glass by AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine. [5]
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 [6] | 72 |
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. His aggressive playing style and poetic songwriting techniques, with the Who and in other projects, have earned him critical acclaim.
Empty Glass is the second solo studio album by English rock musician Pete Townshend, and his first composed of original material, released on 21 April 1980 by Atco Records.
Psychoderelict is a concept album written, produced and engineered by Pete Townshend. Some characters and issues presented in this work were continued in Townshend's later opus The Boy Who Heard Music, first presented on the Who's eleventh studio album Endless Wire (2006) and then adapted as a rock musical.
Who Came First is the debut studio album by the English musician Pete Townshend, released in 1972 on Track Records in the UK and Track/Decca in the US.
Then and Now is a 2004 greatest hits compilation album by The Who released internationally by Polydor Records and by Geffen Records in the United States. It features 18 Who classics and two new tracks—"Real Good Looking Boy" and "Old Red Wine"—which were the first Who originals since "Dig" from Pete Townshend's 1989 album The Iron Man. "Real Good Looking Boy" is a tribute to Elvis Presley, and "Old Red Wine" is a tribute to former band member John Entwistle, who died in 2002. The album was re-released in 2007 and replaced "Old Red Wine" with "It's Not Enough" from the 2006 album Endless Wire and "Summertime Blues" was replaced by "Baba O'Riley".
"Who Are You" is the title track on the Who's 1978 album, Who Are You, the last album released by the group before Keith Moon's death in September 1978. It was written by Pete Townshend and released as a double-A-sided single with the John Entwistle composition "Had Enough", also featured on the album. The song was one of the band's biggest hits in North America, peaking at number 7 in Canada and at number 14 in the United States, and has become one of the band's signature tunes at their live shows. The piano on the track is played by Rod Argent.
"Love, Reign o'er Me", subtitled "Pete's Theme", is a song by English rock band The Who. Written and composed by guitarist Pete Townshend, it was released on 27 October 1973 as the second single from the band's sixth studio album and second rock opera, Quadrophenia. It is the final song on the album, and has been a concert staple for years. The song peaked at number 76 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 54 on Cash Box.
"Let My Love Open the Door" is a song written and performed by Pete Townshend from his 1980 album Empty Glass. That year, it reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at number five on RPM's Top 100 singles chart.
Happy Birthday is a collaboration album by Pete Townshend, the guitarist for The Who and friends, including Ronnie Lane. It was pressed and released in 1970 by Universal Spiritual League.
"Drowned" is a song written by Pete Townshend, the guitarist for the Who, for their sixth album, Quadrophenia.
The Oceanic Concerts is a collaboration album with Pete Townshend and Raphael Rudd that was first publicly released in 2001.
"Don't Let Go the Coat" is a song written by Pete Townshend and first released on The Who's 1981 album Face Dances.
"Bargain" is a song written by Pete Townshend that was first released by the Who on their 1971 album Who's Next. It is a love song, although the intended subject of the song is God rather than a woman. The song has been included on several compilation and live albums. It was also included on several of Townshend's solo projects. Critics have praised the song's lyricism and power, as well as the performance of the band on the song. Townshend acknowledged during the Who's concert at the Prudential Center in Newark on 19 March 2016 that this is his favorite song on the album.
Anthology is a 2005 double compilation album of Pete Townshend's solo career. The album was originally released in Europe by SPV/Revisited Records on 10 October 2005. The US release by Hip-O Records were released on 15 November 2005 as part of the Gold album series, with alternate cover and reduced pricing but identical content.
Pete Townshend Live BAM 1993 is a live recording by Pete Townshend. The music was recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, N.Y., on 7 August 1993 and a double CD released 11 August 2003 by UK company Eel Pie Recording Productions Ltd. The concert took place during Townshend's Psychoderelict tour and the CD features the entire Psychoderlict performance as well as selections from Townshend's catalogue.
The Best of Pete Townshend is a compilation album by Pete Townshend released in 1996. It was released in the UK on the Virgin label, and the US on Atlantic. The compilation included songs from Pete Townshend's solo career as well as two songs from the album Rough Mix with Ronnie Lane. It also included the single edit of English Boy" and the first appearance of "Let My Love Open the Door " and the Psychoderelict outtake, "Uneasy Street".
"Rough Boys" is the debut solo single written and performed by English musician Pete Townshend, released in 1980 from his second solo album Empty Glass. Known for its homoerotic lyrics, the song was a minor chart hit in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
"Keep On Working" is a song written and composed by the English musician Pete Townshend, guitarist for the Who. The song was released as a single, and is on the album Empty Glass.
O' Parvardigar is a 2001 EP by Pete Townshend devoted to his song O' Parvardigar which in turn is based on Meher Baba's Parvardigar Prayer. The EP, which was released on Townshend's own label Eel Pie, contains three versions of the song—a 1972 studio version, a live version recorded in India, and a German-language version recorded for the opening of a European Baba Centre.
"Let's See Action" is a song written and composed by Pete Townshend and recorded by the Who. It was released as a single in the UK in 1971 and reached #16 in the charts.