One of the Boys
	Produced by David Courtney and Tony Meehan
	Released on May 13, 1977
	UK CHART POSITION #45 . . . US CHART POSITION #46
	Find it at GEMM
37031 cover

R eleased one year before Who Are You, light years removed from it musically. One of the Boys is one for the formaldehyde files, a curio for fans of the ‘70s singer/songwriter phase released on the eve of the punk revolution. If you heard the single “One of the Boys,” that wasn’t the tip of the rock & roll iceberg, it was the iceberg. The remaining tracks travel the lowlands between country and light rock (and even a little disco on the chorus to “Giddy,” which Ringo Starr frankly could have done better). Given that the mid ’70s was sort of a musical morass for everyone (Cat Stevens, Elton John, John Lennon), One of the Boys is one of the last Daltrey albums you need to own. I know, you’re wondering about “Say It Ain’t So, Joe” and “Avenging Annie.” Aren’t they better than that? Yes, they are, but they’re not unique to this album; songwriters Murray Head and Andy Pratt have dibs on those songs respectively. Daltrey does a good job on them, but he did as much with the material on McVicar, and it doesn’t hold a candle to the way he torched up Townshend’s material. (For UK fans: note that the US release featured “Say It Ain’t So” in place of “Written On The Wind.” Both songs plus a pair of tracks appear on the expanded CD reissue.) Now for the gratuitous namechecking: Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, John Entwistle, Mick Ronson, Rod Argent. They all contribute something to the final product, and yet it actually amounts to very little. I buy Daltrey albums because (1) I’m a collector, (2) I genuinely like his voice, and (3) I’ll slip a dog like Cat Stevens’ Foreigner or Elton John’s Caribou onto the turntable just to calibrate my sense of smell. There are weak moments when I think Daltrey’s work is adequate, usually when I crave any morsel from The Who’s bounty, but then I think of the all the hard-working people out there who might blow ten bucks on this instead of springing for The Who Sell Out or White City, and I find strength. Just kidding with the melodrama, but really this isn’t one of the better boys in Daltrey’s dugout.

37031 back cover	37031 lyric sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. PARADE    (Philip Goodhand-Tait)    3:43
2. SINGLE MAN'S DILEMMA    (Colin Blunstone)    3:03
3. AVENGING ANNIE    (Andy Pratt)    4:31
4. THE PRISONER    (David Courtney/S. Todd/Roger Daltrey)    3:32
5. LEON    (Philip Goodhand-Tait)    4:44
6. ONE OF THE BOYS    (Steve Gibbons)    2:42
7. GIDDY    (Paul McCartney)    4:46
8. SAY IT AIN'T SO, JOE    (Murray Head)    4:18
8. (*UK track repl. above:) WRITTEN ON THE WIND
9. SATIN AND LACE    (David Courtney/Tony Meehan/Roger Daltrey)    4:04
10. DOING IT ALL AGAIN    (David Courtney/Tony Meehan/Roger Daltrey)    2:28
    
    CD reissue bonus tracks (incl. both tracks #8 above)
    
11. MARTYRS AND MADMEN
12. TREACHEROUS

CREDITS

ROGER DALTREY -- vocals
ROD ARGENT -- keyboards
STUART CALVER -- backing vocals
JOHN ENTWISTLE -- bass
JIMMY JEWELL -- saxophone
PHIL KENZIE -- saxophone
PAUL KEOGH - guitar
JIMMY McCULLOCH -- guitar
BRIAN ODGERS -- bass
JOHN PERRY -- backing vocals
TONY RIVERS -- backing vocals
STUART TOSH -- drums
Eric Clapton -- guitar?
Andy Fairweather-Low -- guitar?
Alvin Lee -- guitar (3)
Hank B. Marvin -- guitar? (1,5)
Mick Ronson -- guitar
Tony Meehan -- arrangements
Phil McDonald -- engineer
Graham Hughes (with thanks to Magritte) -- photography & design
Ian Murray -- typography
Mike Mann Studio -- retouching

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