Lonely Boy – Andrew Gold | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#7); 1977
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Andrew Gold was born with a musical spoon in his mouth. His father, Ernest, composed the Academy Award-winning music for Exodus. His mother, Marni, dubbed Natalie Wood’s and Audrey Hepburn’s singing vocals in the films West Side Story and My Fair Lady respectively.
As for Andrew, his first attempt to follow in his parents’ footsteps – a 1967 British single called Of All The Little Girls In The World billed to Villiers and Gold – failed. Four years later he reappeared on vinyl as one-fourth of Bryndle; a group that also included Karla Bonoff, Kenny Edwards, and Wendy Waldman.
In 1974, multi instrumentalist Gold was on board for Linda Ronstadt’s #1 pop and country chart-topper, Heart Like A Wheel and its follow-up, Prisoner In Disguise.
In turn, Linda sang backup on Gold’s debut, and she and her band chipped in for his second, What’s Wrong With This Picture? All that talent brought Gold’s original songs to life; including his first Top 10, Lonely Boy, with Linda’s singing supporting Andrew’s.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Peter Asher
Lyrics Written by:
- Andrew Gold
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).