I’m working on some too-ambitious posts that are getting away from me, so I’m letting them sit in the drafts bin for a while. In the meantime I’m just going to enjoy some books, music, and movies.
I’m listening to Neil Innes’ Rutles follow-up, called Archaeology, and it’s really good. Innes displays an uncanny ability to be insightful and funny at the same time, while turning a catchy tune that turns Rock and Roll musical conventions on their side. He could be called a completely unique talent if not for Ray Davies. Give a listen to Hey Mister!
Innes does an inspired twist on McCartney’s When I’m Sixty Four, called Back in ’64. This is the closing of the second Rutles mockumentary, Can’t Buy Me Lunch.
If you poke around the videos that show up after the Bonzo Dog Band skit-song I used in my last Neil Innes post, you’ll find this amazing video.
http://youtu.be/-VxV0ZjOcQg
Keep in mind this was before Monty Python’s Flying Circus. And these are cartoons that Terry Gilliam did for the programme.
http://youtu.be/edsgfNFjLYw
As I pointed out years ago, Gilliam had met John Cleese in New York in 1965, and they collaborated on a somewhat notorious magazine project. Later, at the same time when Palin, Idle, and Jones were being very silly with Innes and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Cleese and Graham Chapman were working with Marty Feldman.
http://youtu.be/DAtSw3daGoo
So, in a way, Gilliam was the bridge between the two camps — Palin-Idle-Jones and Cleese-Chapman — and Neil Innes was the de facto seventh Python.
And, of course, they just have to knock Belgium, don’t they? 😉
From Neil Innes last Saturday I got a typically nasty autograph from his Rutles alter ego, Ron Nasty.
After Innes and the Bonzo Dog Band were in Magical Mystery Tour with the Beatles, they were on a BBC TV show for kids called Do Not Adjust Your Set, where they met Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Terry Gilliam.
http://youtu.be/AI4ekBi5Hhc
During A People’s Guide to World Domination last Saturday night, Innes sang the “Brave” Sir Robin song from Monty Python and the Holy Grail…
… but he didn’t do the famous Knights of the Round Table song, for which he wrote the tune but not the words, which were by Cleese and Chapman.
http://youtu.be/sGAYk5VWkTw
A People’s Guide to World Domination is a wonderfully funny and engaging show, mixing British music hall humor with social satire. When Innes was in town he did this interview, and on his way up to Boston he stopped at the NPR music studios in Washington, for a Tiny Desk Concert. When I saw Innes he didn’t play Urban Spaceman, a Bonzo-era favorite, but you’ll hear it here.
A tip o’ the virtual toupee to Samjay, for spotting a Rutles song in the credits when he saw The Robber last weekend. It’s I Love You, from the Rutles second album, Archaeology.
You know about the Rutles, I’m sure. You must. The Rutles is a Beatles parody by Monty Python’s Eric Idle and a tremendously talented and funny musical chap named Neil Innes, whose Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (later just the Bonzo Dog Band) had a spot in Magical Mystery Tour, performing their legendary dirty ditty, Death Cab for Cutie.
http://youtu.be/jfHPs_1KUW4
Neil Innes appeared in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, singing the ballad of Eric Idle’s “Brave” Sir Robin. Innes then did a BBC comedy sketch show with Idle called Rutland Weekend Television. RWT was most notable for introducing the Rutles, with Idle playing the George part (he switched to being Paul) and Innes as John.
The Rutles film re-appeared on Saturday Night Live, and it was such a big hit that Lorne Michaels produced a TV movie with the faux four called All You Need is Cash. The parody adhered so closely to the Beatles story that it made the reality of it seem all the more unreal.
All of the Rutle songs are by Neil Innes, and they don’t just capture the sound and feeling of the Beatles. Innes managed to deconstruct the Lennon-McCartney magic and turn it inside out, while being both scathing and reverential. Lyrics like “nature’s calling and I must go there” are brilliant and hilarious.
I’ve been wanting to do a Neil Innes post for some months, but I have to do this one right now, because I will be seeing Innes perform tonight, at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Massachusetts.
