My Generation

Townshend wrote it, and the band recorded it on 13 October 1965 at IBC with Shel Talmy producing. The single came out in Britain on 29 October 1965 on Brunswick and in the United States on 20 November on Decca. It reached number two in Britain, number three in Canada and number 74 on the US Hot 100. The BBC initially refused to play it.

Townshend told Rolling Stone in 1985 that it was very much about trying to find a place in society, and said in 1989 that when he wrote the lyric, old meant very rich. The stutter has competing accounts. One says the song began as a slow talking blues and Townshend added the stutter after hearing John Lee Hooker's Stuttering Blues. Another says Daltrey was asked to stutter like a mod on amphetamines. Daltrey says he was nervous and could not hear himself. Talmy called it one of those happy accidents.

Live

The Live at Leeds version runs 14:47, and medleys in 1969 and 1970 sometimes reached 15 minutes. On the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in September 1967, Moon's bass drum exploded at the end. It has been played about 921 times live.