Who knew The Who came about from a sort-of reality show? The documentary "Lambert & Stamp," out Friday, reveals how the band became successful due to the desire of two men to film the failures and triumphs of a band trying to make its start.
"Lambert & Stamp" refers to Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, the band's co-managers. Before they were involved in the music business, the two were aspiring filmmakers seeking a subject for a movie.
When Stamp saw London mod band the High Numbers, soon to be renamed The Who, he found their subject.
Chris Stamp and Kit LambertPhoto: Colin Jones/Sony Pictures Classics
The pair approached the band about managing them, despite neither having any knowledge of the music industry. The ultimate ambition was not to become band managers, but film directors.
"They were gonna film everything from all sides, the complete process," says James D. Cooper, director of "Lambert & Stamp."
But the two men were so different on paper that it's surprising they would interact at all.
Stamp, who died of cancer in 2012 at age 70, was the brother of actor Terence Stamp, and a blue-collar kid who grew up surrounded by poverty.
Kit Lambert, who died in 1981 at 45 of a cerebral hemorrhage, was the upper-class son of a composer. He was gay at a time when it was illegal.
They found similarities in their creative ambitions and their outcast natures.
Lambert and Stamp became so close that Who guitarist Pete Townshend says in the film he thought the two were having an affair. While the connection was never romantic or sexual, it was personal and deep.
The Who circa 1968. From left: John Entwistle, Keith Moon, Roger Daltrey and Pete TownshendPhoto: Getty Images
"Chris didn't even know Kit was gay until a year down the road. That was never an issue," says Calixte Stamp, his wife of 33 years. "Chris always spoke of him as a brother."
Early on, Stamp took a job on a film in Norway, and sent his entire salary to The Who to pay their expenses, while Lambert worked with the band back home.
We see in the film that Stamp's family thought the whole endeavor was a bad idea — because they thought The Who were "too ugly" to be successful.
The pair's film idea never came to fruition, but the band took off and managing The Who became the creative endeavor that Lambert and Stamp had been searching for.
The pair influenced the band personally as well as professionally. Lambert convinced Roger Daltrey to keep his wife out of sight, as an unattached singer would work to their benefit.
The Who found modest success in the mid-'60s, with hits like "My Generation." In time, Lambert and the more artistically ambitious Townshend started to discuss classical compositions that the rocker grew up around. Out of this came the rock opera "Tommy."
Ironically, this first big success for The Who signaled the beginning of the end of their relationship with Lambert and Stamp.
The Who's Pete Townshend and Kit LambertPhoto: Tom Wright/Sony Pictures Classics
By the '70s, partying progressed into addiction for the pair — alcohol for Stamp, heroin for Lambert. Things got so bad the band fired the pair, who went their separate ways.
Lambert descended into reclusion as his addiction worsened, and he became a ward of the court. Stamp got sober in 1987 and became an addiction counselor; he went on to rebuild his relationships with Daltrey and Townshend, remaining close with them until his death.
While the end was tragic for one, the story of Lambert and Stamp is still remarkable.
"They thought making a film would [make them] who they wanted to be," says Cooper. "But when they found The Who, they found what they were looking for."
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