One of the Boys is the third studio solo album by the Who's lead vocalist, Roger Daltrey. It was released in 1977, on Polydor in the UK, and MCA in the US. The sessions were recorded at the Who's Ramport Studios during the winter of 1976, 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" in 1970, and Lisztomania in 1975. Daltrey's original choice for producers were Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, but they declined. When Leo Sayer launched his own career as a singer, Daltrey called on a widening group of friends to write for and perform on his albums. Paul McCartney contributed the new song "Giddy" to One of the Boys, where the band included Hank B. Marvin of the Shadows, Eric Clapton of Cream, Alvin Lee and Mick Ronson, as well as calling two members of the Who, John Entwistle and Keith Moon.
On this cover, after releasing Ride a Rock Horse with Daltrey as a rampant centaur, 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 The album cover art depicts Daltrey standing in front of a mirror, but he can see only the back of his head.
Tracks background
"Parade" is a cover song originally released on Phillip Goodhand-Tait's sixth solo album, Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks, in 1976. "Single Man's Dilemma" was written by Colin Blunstone for Daltrey. Blunstone is the lead vocalist for The Zombies. "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 in October 1977, reaching #88 in the US, but was not released in the UK. "Leon" was written and recorded by Phillip Goodhand-Tait in 1972 and originally released on his third album Songfall. The song was released as a single 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 in June 1977 but did not chart; the song was not released in the US. "Giddy" was written by the Beatles' Paul McCartney 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 for Daltrey. The song features Korda playing piano; it was released as a single in April 1977, reaching #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, in 1975. The song was released as a single 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, 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."
