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"The Ox" is an instrumental piece by English rock band the Who. It was on their debut studio album My Generation (1965). The tune was improvised by Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, Keith Moon and keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. This track appears as the B-side of "The Kids Are Alright" on the single's UK release. The tune was also on the compilation album Thirty Years of Maximum R&B (1994). A jingle based on this tune was released as "Top Gear" on both reissues of The Who Sell Out (1967). It is the oldest known recorded track by the Who. The title is a nickname given to Entwistle by the band, because of his strong constitution and seeming ability to "Eat, drink or do more than the rest of them."

The song was very rarely played live by The Who. The only known live appearance of this song was in a medley of "My Generation" at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 29 September 1969, part of the Tommy tour.

Rolling Stone's John Swenson described "The Ox" and "My Generation" to be "sonic marvels of the time" due to Townshend's feedback technique on these songs.

References

1. Wawzenek, Bryan (10 October 2018). "All 245 Who Songs Ranked Worst to Best". Ultimate Classic Rock. Bryan Wawzenek. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
2. Kemp, Mark (2004). "The Who". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 871–873. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
3. Discogs - the Kids are Alright 7inch 1966 Brunswick (05965) Netherlands
4. The Who Sell Out Liner Notes (Find this under Radio One (Boris Mix)) Archived 10 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine
5. Swenson, J. (1983). Marsh, D.; Swenson, J. (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Rolling Stone Press. p. 543. ISBN 0-394-72107-1.

• 1965 songs
• Songs written by Pete Townshend
• Songs written by John Entwistle
• The Who songs
• Song recordings produced by Shel Talmy
• Rock instrumentals