The album reached 46 in both the U.S. and Great Britain, a moderate success to say the least. It’s certainly not a classic, but far from Daltrey’s worst.
Written by: Dangerzone
ARTIST: Roger Daltrey
ALBUM: One Of The Boys
LABEL: Polydor
SERIAL: 2442 146
YEAR: 1977
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England
LINEUP: Roger Daltrey – vocals * Jimmy McCulloch, Paul Keogh – guitar * Brian Odgers, John Entwistle – bass * Stuart Tosh – drums * Rod Argent – keyboards * Jimmy Jewell, Phil Kenzie – sax * John Perry, Stuart Calver, Tony Rivers – backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Parade * 02 Single Man’s Dilemma * 03 Avenging Annie * 04 The Prisoner * 05 Leon * 06 One Of The Boys * 07 Giddy * 08 Written On The Wind * 09 Satin And Lace * 10 Doing It Again
WEBLINKS: WikiPedia Site Link
Background
Despite being vocalist for one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, Roger Daltrey’s solo work never seemed to be commercial successes. Granted his first two efforts, 1973’s ‘Daltrey’ and 1975’s ‘Ride A Rock Horse’ fared well in the charts, but it seemed Daltrey peaked with those in terms of sales.
During the mid-70’s Daltrey had attained a pinup status due to his appearance starring in the theatrical version of ‘Tommy’ and it wasn’t something he was comfortable with, as stated in his recent autobiography. This movie stardom helped his albums shift copies, but by the time of his third solo album, it seemed the impetus had worn off.
The inactivity of The Who played a part and the rising punk movement affected seasoned artists who were suddenly considered irrelevant and passe by the youth of the day. Nevertheless, Daltrey enlisted an assortment of solid studio musicians and outside songwriters, who helped crank out an album largely forgotten over the last 40 years.
The Songs
There’s a real contrast of styles to be found here, ranging from hard rock, funk, country and ballads, contributed by artists like Paul McCartney, Colin Blunstone, Murray Head and Steve Gibbons. Not all of them work unfortunately. Even Daltrey gets into the act, co-writing several songs, a rarity for him.
‘Parade’ is a whimsical opener, reminiscent of Supertramp or even 10cc if you can believe that. It follows the path of Daltrey’s previous solo work, far from the hard rock or aggressive tones of The Who.
‘Single Man’s Dilemma’ is a country track which belongs firmly in the Nashville scene and is fairly effective. Daltrey’s voice suits this style, whether or not anyone was expecting it. ‘Avenging Annie’ is a reworking of a track by a solo artist called Andy Pratt, who had a minor hit with the song in 1973.
‘The Prisoner’ is a softer ballad, where Daltrey tackles the tale of notorious English criminal John McVicar, who of course he would portray in a film in 1980. It has a country feel also and is pretty low-key as a result. ‘Leon’ isn’t too dissimilar, another ballad of sorts, this one more melodic and recalling Elton John to a degree.
The volume is finally turned up for the title track, where Daltrey tells the story of a disillusioned working class kid growing up in depressing 1970’s England. It adds some welcome heaviness, which is mostly lacking here. P’Giddy’ is even better, perhaps the best track McCartney wrote in the 70’s.
The mixture of country twang and funk is remarkably engaging, with some exciting verses and chorus. Easily the best thing here. The rest of the album fades into blandness with three ballads, the best of which is ‘Doing It Again’. The U.S. version of the album features the Head penned ‘Say It ‘Aint So, Joe’ which has Keith Moon on drums and is far better than the ballads.
In Summary
The album reached 46 in both the U.S. and Great Britain, a moderate success to say the least. It’s certainly not a classic, but far from Daltrey’s worst, that honor going to 1984’s appalling ‘Parting Should Be Painless’.
If anything it shows the diversity of Daltrey, who by this point had mastered his vocals to suit anything he pleased. One year later he returned with The Who and this album was long forgotten, something that hasn’t really changed since 1977.
Roger Daltrey on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
