Editing Kit Lambert (section)

=== ''Tommy'' ===
Ever since the beginning of their working relationship Lambert had been trying to convince [[Pete Townshend]] to move away from simple songwriting and compose more mature fare using his troubled childhood as a starting point. Townshend has acknowledged that it was Lambert who influenced him to combine [[rock music]] and [[opera]], which led to the creation of the [[rock opera]] ''[[Tommy (The Who album)|Tommy]]''. Although the Who were international hitmakers by the late 1960s, it was not until the release of ''Tommy'' in 1969 that the band became firmly established both creatively and commercially.