Boris the Spider
{{Short description|1966 single by the Who}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Boris the Spider
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| type =
| artist = the Who
| album = A Quick One
| EP =
| A-side = "Whiskey Man"
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| published =
| released = {{Start date|1966|12|09|df=yes}}
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| recorded = 4 October 1966
| studio = Pye (London)
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| genre = Rock{{cite web|last= Casalena|first= Em|title= 5 Underrated Rock Songs That Are Perfect for a Refined Halloween Playlist|website= American Songwriter|date= October 28, 2024|url= https://americansongwriter.com/5-underrated-rock-songs-that-are-perfect-for-a-refined-halloween-playlist/|accessdate= October 28, 2024}}
| length = 2:29
| label =
| writer = John Entwistle
| composer =
| lyricist =
| producer = Kit Lambert
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"Boris the Spider" is a song written by the Who's bass guitarist, John Entwistle. It appears as the second track on their second studio album A Quick One (1966). This song is claimed to be Entwistle's first composition, and became a staple of live shows.{{cite web|title=A Quick One|url=http://thewho.com/album/a-quick-one/|publisher=The Who|access-date=23 February 2013|quote=The very first song that John wrote for The Who endured as a live favourite while he was alive. The band even played it on their 25th anniversary reunion tour in 1989.}} This song, along with "My Wife", "Heaven and Hell" and "The Quiet One", were Entwistle's most popular songs to perform live.{{cite web|url=http://www.thewho.net/linernotes/FaceDances.htm |title=Face Dances |access-date=2015-01-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219112406/http://www.thewho.net/linernotes/FaceDances.htm |archive-date=19 December 2014 }} Though this song was popular, it was not released as a single in the US or UK. In Japan, "Boris the Spider" was released as the B-side to "Whiskey Man" in 1967.
Background
"Boris the Spider" was written after Entwistle had been out drinking with the Rolling Stones' bass guitarist, Bill Wyman. They were making up funny animals names when Entwistle came up with "Boris the Spider". The song was written by Entwistle in six minutes and, according to Entwistle in a 1971 interview for Crawdaddy, is considered a horror song.{{cite web|last=Swenson|first=John|title=The Who Puts the Bomp|url=http://www.thewho.net/articles/townshen/crawdaddy_71.htm|work=Crawdaddy|publisher=(Online archive) The Hypertext Who|access-date=2021-12-15|date=5 December 1971|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219112115/http://www.thewho.net/articles/townshen/crawdaddy_71.htm|archive-date=2014-12-19}}
The chorus of "Boris the Spider" was sung in basso profundo by Entwistle, mimicking a popular Spike Milligan character, Throat, from The Goon Show,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uqmQDwAAQBAJ&q=Boris+the+spider+goon+show&pg=PT88|title = The Ox: The Last of the Great Rock Stars: The Authorised Biography of the Who's John Entwistle|isbn = 9781472129376|last1 = Rees|first1 = Paul|date = 12 March 2020| publisher=Little, Brown Book }} with a middle eight of "creepy crawly" sung in falsetto. These discordant passages and the black comedy of the theme made the song a stage favourite.
According to Pete Townshend in his song-by-song review of Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (1971) for Rolling Stone, it was Jimi Hendrix's favourite Who song.{{cite news | title= The Who's 50 Greatest Songs |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-whos-50-greatest-songs-20160303/boris-the-spider-a-quick-one-1966-20160303| last1= Browne | first1= David|last2= Fricke| first2= David|last3= Dolan| first3= Jon| last4= Grow| first4= Kory| last5= Gehr| first5= Richard| last6= Greene| first6= Andy| last7= Hermes| first7= Will | date=3 March 2016| magazine= Rolling Stone | access-date= 9 May 2018 }}
To commemorate the launch of the BBC's Radio One in 1967, the Who created a brief jingle for the station featuring Entwistle singing "Radio One" to the central riff. This recording was eventually released on the 1995 and 2009 reissues of The Who Sell Out (immediately after their cover of "In the Hall of the Mountain King"), and at the end of their album BBC Sessions (2000). They created similar jingles to the tune of "My Generation" and "Happy Jack" (available on BBC Sessions and Thirty Years of Maximum R&B, respectively).
Personnel
The Who
- Roger Daltrey – backing vocals
- John Entwistle – lead vocals; bass guitar
- Pete Townshend – backing vocals; guitar
- Keith Moon – drums
Sequel
"My Size", the opening track of Entwistle's debut solo studio album Smash Your Head Against the Wall (1971), is a sequel to "Boris the Spider."{{Cite web|url=http://stylusmagazine.com/reviews/john-entwistle/so-whos-the-bass-player-the-ox-anthology.html|title = John Entwistle – So Who's the Bass Player? The Ox Anthology – Review – Stylus Magazine}} The closing riff of the song is the same as the one heard throughout "Boris the Spider." Regarding this, Entwistle stated: "I wrote it as a sequel to Boris the Spider for our manager. Our manager wanted me to put Boris the Spider on my album. So I wrote My Size and I wrote it in a sort of code so it sounds as if it were being sung about a woman. Then I stuck the ending on it as a clue. It wasn't a very good clue, I suppose."{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{A Quick One}}
{{John Entwistle}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:Songs written by John Entwistle