Spawning out of the suburbs of Liverpool in 1960, The Beatles had no idea what was in store for them in the decade that followed. Beatlemania would sweep the nation first, followed by the world, as those four young lads quickly became some of the most important names in music history. They changed the music industry as we know it, created some of the greatest songs of all time, and won over millions in the process. But, as George Harrison once affirmed, all things must pass.
As the 1960s drew to a close, it became clear that the Beatles were nearing their end, too. The death of their manager, Brian Epstein, weighed heavy on the band, who began to struggle with creative differences and domineering personalities. It was time for the Beatles to go their separate ways and quit while they were still ahead, but it wasn’t time for them to stop making music altogether.
Each of the Beatles would focus on their solo careers in the years that followed, but it was songwriter and bassist Paul McCartney who would achieve the greatest success with his solitary endeavours. He kicked things off in the spring of 1970, just one week after he had announced that he would no longer be working with the Beatles, with the release of his self-titled debut, McCartney.
Given the timing, the record seemed like McCartney was separating himself completely from the Beatles. He even earned criticism for causing their break-up. But McCartney wasn’t a complete departure from the band that had made him so successful. In fact, there was a song on the tracklisting that McCartney had first penned during his time with the Beatles and that the band had even recorded as a four-piece.
‘Teddy Boy’, which appeared on the second side of the album, wasn’t penned as a solo track. It was conceived much earlier when McCartney was still writing for the band, but they couldn’t quite finish it. A version of the track would appear on Anthology 3, but it never found its place in the Beatles’ main catalogue. When McCartney came to creating his solo debut, he decided to give ‘Teddy Boy’ another shot.
“It was from the Beatles period,” the songwriter explained in an interview with Musician, “There was always a song that’d lie around coupla years with one good part, and you’d mean to finish it one day.” Recruiting his wife, Linda, on additional vocals, McCartney managed to complete the song, telling the story of a boy named Ted and his mother.
McCartney also explained the meaning of the song, acknowledging that, in England, the words referred to a “motorcycle-type guy”.
“To us, it was these fellas in Edwardian long coats, a big fashion when I was growing up,” he explained. There was also a real-life Ted behind the song. “I also have a cousin Ted,” McCartney added, “so he was the other meaning.”
The song didn’t necessarily become a staple in McCartney’s solo catalogue. In fact, McCartney as a whole was panned upon first release. ‘Teddy Boy’ wouldn’t come close to some of McCartney’s later solo releases, the likes of ‘Band on the Run’ and ‘Live and Let Die’, or to his work with Wings. Still, he had proven that he could finish the track without his bandmates.
