Teddy Boy (song)
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Morgan Studios, London
| "Teddy Boy" | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the song's sheet music | |
| Song by Paul McCartney | |
| from the album McCartney | |
| Released | 17 April 1970 |
| Recorded | December 1969 – February 1970 |
| Studio | McCartney's home, London; Morgan Studios, London |
| Genre | Folk rock |
| Length | 2:25 |
| Label | Apple |
| Songwriter(s) | Paul McCartney |
| Producer(s) | Paul McCartney |
| McCartney track listing | |
13 tracks
| |
"Teddy Boy" is a song by Paul McCartney included on his first solo album McCartney, released in April 1970. According to Ernie Santosuosso of The Boston Globe, it describes the way in which a close relationship between a widow and her grown son Teddy boy is destroyed by her new romantic interest.
Paul McCartney wrote "Teddy Boy" during the Beatles' 1968 visit to India.[1][2] In 1970, McCartney described the song as, "Another song I started in India and completed in Scotland, and London gradually. This one was recorded for the Get Back film, but later not used."[3]
Recording
January 1969
| "Teddy Boy" | |
|---|---|
| Song by the Beatles | |
| from the album Anthology 3 | |
| Released | 28 October 1996 |
| Recorded | 24 and 28 January 1969 |
| Studio | Apple Studios, London |
| Genre | Folk rock |
| Length | 3:18 |
| Label | Apple |
| Songwriter(s) | Paul McCartney |
| Producer(s) | George Martin |
McCartney first played the song to the other Beatles on 9 January 1969.[4][5] The Beatles did not return to the song until 24 January, recording several takes.[nb 1] This recording includes some instances of guitar feedback.[7] During one rendition of the song, John Lennon is heard calling "do-si-do" and other square-dance steps, something both musicologist Walter Everett and Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn ascribe to Lennon's boredom with the song.[8][7] Musicologist and writer Ian MacDonald writes that any attempts at recording the song "were sabotaged by Lennon's continuous burble of parody".[9] MacDonald describes "Teddy Boy" as an "annoyingly whimsical ditty – notable solely for its key change from D major to F sharp major".[9]
The Beatles recorded "Teddy Boy" again on 28 and 29 January.[10]
December 1969 – February 1970
McCartney recorded the McCartney version of "Teddy Boy" at his home in Cavendish Avenue, St John's Wood.[11] He began the album around Christmas 1969,[12] recording on a recently delivered Studer four-track tape recorder, without a mixing desk,[13][14] and therefore with no VU displays as a guide for recording levels.[15][16] McCartney described his home-recording set-up as "Studer, one mike, and nerve".[11] He had finished recording the basic track of "Teddy Boy" by 12 February 1970, when he brought his tapes to Morgan Studios.[11] These tapes were transferred from four- to eight-track tape, adding an audible hiss to the recording. At Morgan Studios, McCartney completed the track by overdubbing drums, a bass drum and clapping.[2]
