There aren't many songs with a history as interesting as Pete Townshend's classic The Seeker. Originally released in 1970 as a solo piece on Happy Birthday, the limited edition devotional album Townshend made for his spiritual master Meher Baba in 1970, it was also recorded by The Who as a non-album single a year later.
Now The Seeker is back, lending its title to a new musical work put together by Townshend and his wife, the classical composer Rachel Fuller. The work is based on Herman Hesse’s classic tale of self-discovery and enlightenment, Siddhartha.
Siddhartha was written in 1922 and also inspired the Townshend track The Ferryman, which was written for an amateur production of Siddhartha staged at the Meher Baba Oceanic Centre in Twickenham, West London – the site of the guitarist's Eel Pie Studios – when it opened in 1976.
Things have come full circle: The Seeker is being released as a book and an album by Townshend and Fuller. New versions of the title song and The Ferryman are included on the album, which is narrated by late actor Christopher Plummer (d. 2021) and features Elton John, Layton Williams, Emeli Sande, Bollywood star Sunidhi Chauhan, South African singer Nakhane and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
The album and book will be released on November 7 and can be pre-ordered from theseekermusic.com. To celebrate the launch, a one-off performance will take place at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London on November 6, where Townshend will be joined by Chauhan, Williams, Nakhane, Alfie Boe, the Royal Philharmonic and the London Chamber Choir.
