''One of the Boys'' is the third studio solo album by

the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

's lead vocalist,

Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include " My Generation", " Pinball Wizard", " Won't Get Fooled ...

. It was released in 1977, on

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United State ...

in the UK, and

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gen ...

in the US. The sessions were recorded at the Who's

Ramport Studios Ramport Studios was a recording studio on Thessaly Road, Battersea, south London, owned by the Who. The studio was built in an old church hall. Several major albums were recorded at Ramport, including 1974's '' Crime of the Century'' by Supertra ...

during the winter of 1976 (vocals were recorded at Pathe Marconi Studios in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, due to tax complications), and Daltrey allowed students from the local Battersea technical school to film them as an educational project. This also marked the first time that Daltrey had written or co-written a song since "Here for More" (released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the Who's " The Seeker") in 1970, and ''

Lisztomania Lisztomania or Liszt fever was the intense fan frenzy directed toward Hungarian composer Franz Liszt during his performances. This frenzy first occurred in Berlin in 1841 and the term was later coined by Heinrich Heine in a feuilleton he wrote on ...

'' in 1975. Daltrey's original choice for producers were

Jerry Leiber Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such Crossover music, crossover hit songs ...

and

Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...

, but they declined. When

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

launched his own career as a singer, Daltrey called on a widening group of friends to write for and perform on his (Daltrey's) albums.

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

contributed the new song "Giddy" to ''One of the Boys'', where the band included

Hank B. Marvin Hank Brian Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, 28 October 1941) is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the ba ...

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

Alvin Lee Alvin Lee (born Graham Anthony Barnes; 19 December 1944 – 6 March 2013) was an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lead guitarist of the blues rock band Ten Years After. Early life He w ...

and

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...

, as well as calling on a member of the Who,

John Entwistle John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band The Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member ...

Album cover art

On this cover, after releasing ''

Ride a Rock Horse ''Ride a Rock Horse'' is the second solo Album#Studio, studio album by English singer Roger Daltrey, released on 4 July 1975 by Track Records, Track in the UK and MCA Records, MCA in the US. ''Ride a Rock Horse'' was recorded during Daltrey's fil ...

'' with Daltrey as a rampant

centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as bein ...

, another visual trick is played with Daltrey's mirror image, with reference to Magritte's famous painting '' Not to Be Reproduced'', photographed and designed by Daltrey's cousin Graham Hughes

Tracks background

"Parade" is a cover song originally released on

Phillip Goodhand-Tait Phillip Goodhand-Tait (born 3 January 1945, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England) is an English singer-songwriter, record producer and keyboard player. Life and career Goodhand-Tait was known as Phil Tait in his school years. His mother was a ...

's sixth solo album, ''Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks'', in 1976. "Single Man's Dilemma" was written by

Colin Blunstone Colin Edward Michael Blunstone (born 24 June 1945) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Blunstone came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the English rock band the Zombies, wh ...

for Daltrey. Blunstone is the lead vocalist for

The Zombies The Zombies are an English Rock music, rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American chart-topper, hit in 1964 with "She's Not ...

. "Avenging Annie" is a cover song originally released on Andy Pratt's second solo album, '' Andy Pratt'', in 1973. The song was released as a single (by Daltrey) in October 1977, reaching No. 88 in the US, but was not released in the UK. "Leon" was written and recorded by

in 1972 and originally released on his third album Songfall. The song was released as a single (by Daltrey) in April 1978 but did not chart and was not released in the UK. "One of the Boys" was written by Steve Gibbons about Daltrey. Gibbons did his own version live in 1977; a recording was released on his live album, ''Caught in the Act''. The song was released as a single (by Daltrey) in June 1977 but did not chart; the song was not released in the US. "Giddy" was written by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

for Daltrey, The song started off as a demo called "Rode All Night"; the refrain was later incorporated into "Giddy". "Written on the Wind" was written by

Paul Korda Paul Korda (born Paul Kunstler, 1948 – 11 March 2020) was a Singaporean songwriter, singer, musician, and actor. He wrote and performed music from the 1960s onwards, and his songs have been covered by artists such as Roger Daltrey, Dave ...

for Daltrey. The song features Korda playing piano; it was released as a single in April 1977, reaching No. 46 in the UK, but was not released in the US. " Say It Ain't So, Joe" is a cover of song originally released on Murray Head's second solo album, ''

Say It Ain't So "Say It Ain't So" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. It was released as the third and final single from the band's self-titled 1994 debut album. Written by frontman Rivers Cuomo, the song came to be after he had all the music finished ...

'', in 1975. The song was released as a single (by Daltrey) in July 1977 but did not chart; it was not released in the UK. The song was rereleased in February 1978 with a different B-side.

Critical reception

Writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, critic William Ruhlmann said that "Roger Daltrey called on a wider circle of friends for his third album and came up with a more varied collection of songs ... But Daltrey was never in danger of getting lost in the all-star session. Nevertheless, the album was not treated as a major release and found only modest commercial success."

Track listing

Bonus tracks (2005 reissue)

Personnel

* Roger Daltrey -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

Jimmy McCulloch James McCulloch (4 June 1953 – 27 September 1979) was a Scottish musician best known for playing lead guitar and bass, as a member of Paul McCartney's band Wings from 1974 to 1977. McCulloch was a member of the Glasgow psychedelic band One in ...

* Paul Keogh -

* Brian Odgers -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, " Boris"

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

on "One of the Boys" and "Avenging Annie" *

Rod Argent Rodney Terence Argent (born 14 June 1945) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid 1960s as the keyboardist, founder and leader of the ...

- keyboards *

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

on "

Written on the Wind ''Written on the Wind'' is a 1956 American Southern Gothic melodrama film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone. It follows the dysfunctional family members of a Texas oil dynast ...

" * Phil Kenzie -

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

* Jimmy Jewell -

* Stuart Tosh -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Andy Fairweather-Low Andrew Fairweather Low (born 2 August 1948) is a Welsh guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

* John Perry -

Tony Rivers Tony Rivers (born Douglas Anthony Thompson, 21 December 1940, Shildon, County Durham, England) is an English singer, best known for singing with the groups Tony Rivers and the Castaways and Harmony Grass. Additionally, Rivers sang on albums by ...

* Stuart Calver -

;Engineering * Tony Meehan - arrangements * Phil McDonald - engineer * Judy Szekely - assistant engineer * Nigel Walker - assistant engineer ;Album cover art *

Graham Hughes Graham David Hughes, born on 28 February 1979, is a British adventurer, filmmaker, television presenter and Guinness World Record holder. Hughes was the first person to visit all 193 United Nations member states and several other territories ac ...

- photography, design * Ian Murray - typography

Sales chart performance

Album ;Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1977 albums Roger Daltrey albums MCA Records albums