ROGER DALTREY - IT'S A HARD LIFE

IT'S A HARD LIFE

ROGER DALTREY

SONGWRITERS: DAVID COURTNEY & LEO SAYER

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: DALTREY

LABEL: MCA RECORDS

GENRE: ROCK

YEAR: 1973

 

        Roger Harry Daltrey(born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, songwriter, actor and film producer. 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 Again", "Baba O'Riley" and "You Better You Bet". He began his solo career in 1973, while still a member of the Who. Since then he has released ten solo studio albums, five compilation albums, and one live album. His solo hits include "Giving It All Away", "Walking the Dog", "Written on the Wind", "Free Me", "Without Your Love" and "Under a Raging Moon".

     The Who are considered one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century and have sold over 100 million records worldwide. As a member of the band, Daltrey received a Lifetime achievement award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1988, and from the Grammy Foundation in 2001. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. He and Pete Townshend received Kennedy Center Honors in 2008 and George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement at UCLA on 21 May 2016. Daltrey has also been an actor and film producer, with roles in films, theatre, and television. Planet Rock listeners voted him rock's fifth-greatest voice in 2009, and he was ranked number 61 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest singers of all time in 2010.

       Daltrey is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Roger Daltrey, the lead vocalist of The Who. It was released on 20 April 1973 by Track Records in the United Kingdom and MCA Records in the United States. Daltrey was the third member of the group to make a solo album. The bulk of the record (ten of the twelve songs) was written by David Courtney and Leo Sayer. It took six weeks to record during January and February 1973. Sessions took place at Daltrey's Barn Studio, Burwash, East Sussex, where the backing tracks were laid down; vocals, overdubs, and mixing was completed at the Beatles' Apple Studios at 3 Savile Row (the vocals for "One Man Band(reprise)" were recorded on the Apple rooftop, where the Beatles had performed their famous final concert in January 1969), and at Nova Sound Studios.

        The album was recorded during a hiatus in the Who's touring schedule. The first single released from the album, "Giving It All Away", reached number five in the UK and the album made the Top 50 in the United States. He also released a single in 1973, "Thinking"; its B-side, "There is Love", features Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin on guitar. Bizarrely, the British release, with considerable airplay of "Giving it All Away" (first lines "I paid all my dues so I picked up my shoes, I got up and walked away") coincided with news reports of the Who being sued for unpaid damage to their hotel on a recent tour, including a TV set being thrown out of the window.

          David Courtney and former British pop teen idol Adam Faith co-produced the album.

It's A hard life

When you feel down

And nobody understands you

They leave you hanging around

You waste all your days

Miss all your nights

Sit round just dreaming

You can do nothing right

 

It's a hard life

When your alone

Cramped in your lonely little room

Under dressed like a bone

You Walk in the streets

And people are so blind

Won't give you there penny

They just don't have the time

 

Ooooh It's a hard life

Up on the road

You better check it well first

Before you meet all the blows

For you won't like the walkin'

You'll get caught in the rain

But the steep on the highway

Lord you wish you never came.