"Real Good Looking Boy" | ||||
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Single by The Who | ||||
from the album Then and Now | ||||
B-side | "Old Red Wine" | |||
Released | 2 May 2004 | |||
Format | CD | |||
Recorded | 2003–2004 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 3:50 | |||
Label |
Polydor (UK) MCA (US) |
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Songwriter(s) |
Pete Townshend Luigi Creatore Hugo Peretti George David Weiss |
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Producer(s) | Simon Townshend | |||
The Who singles chronology | ||||
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Then and Now track listing | ||||
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"Real Good Looking Boy" is a song written by the guitarist of the British rock band The Who, Pete Townshend. It was originally released in 2004 on the compilation album Then and Now, and was one of two new songs on that album, the other being "Old Red Wine". Together, they were the first new songs released by the Who for 15 years. It was later released as an edited single backed with the aforementioned song. "Real Good Looking Boy" was later performed in the 2007 rock musical The Boy Who Heard Music.
The song was a tribute to the legendary rock 'n roll singer Elvis Presley. During live performances, Roger Daltrey gives a short introduction to the song, describing it as a song about "A man that changed my life at the age of 11. I saw Elvis Presley live at 11. Thank God I did, I loved him because everybody under the age of 20 thought they were Elvis and dressed like him. Everybody over 20 hated them and that was good enough for me." The piano intro borrows from the Elvis song "Can't Help Falling in Love", and one of the later verses in "Real Good Looking Boy" uses lyrics from the first verse of the Elvis song.
"Old Red Wine" was written for The Who's former bassist John Entwistle, who died two years prior to the release of "Then and Now".
The riff at the end of the song predated the actual song by a few years, being played at the end of some versions of "My Generation" from the 2000 tour. The riff was also played in a performance of the same song during Entwistle's last show, at the Royal Albert Hall on 8 February 2002. Portions of the song were also played sometimes after "My Generation" on the band's 2002 (after Entwistle's death), 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 tours.