The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - A Dog's Life (1969)

Tonight will be a comedy/rock special, as I've got three albums to post from comedy legends of the 60's and 70's. I know that a lot of visitors have a soft spot for the Bonzo Dog Band, from the comments on my various Rutles posts, and they were a unique and innovative band who've never been bettered in their genre. They've been well served over the years with numerous compilations and remasters which have uncovered previously unheard material, but there's never been a comprehensive collection of all their rarities in one place. 
For this post I've gathered all the songs they recorded which never appeared on any of their albums, and they include both sides of their two pre-album singles from 1966, followed quickly by a first album out-take in the same vein. 
They recorded a lot of sessions for the BBC, mostly for John Peel, and as well as performing otherwise unheard songs, they also wrote surreal musical sketches, and 'The Craig Torso Show' is one from 1967, with the more conventional 'I've Found The Answer' being broadcast the following year. A couple of covers of popular songs and a second album out-take precede the second 'Craig Torso Show', which is a Christmas special from 1967. 'Da Story Of Da Bonzo' is an early version of 'The Bride Stripped Bare', with a bit more guitar than the finished take, and 'Excerpt From 'The Brain Opera' - Act 3 Scene 1' is another musical sketch recorded for John Peel in 1968. 'Little Sir Echo' is a live take from the German TV pop show 'Beat Club', before we're back for part 3 of 'The Brain Opera', broadcast in 1969. 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles' is taken from a live jazz festival at Bilzen, and the 1969 Peel session recording of 'Sofa Head' segues into 'Give Booze A Chance', as it was originally broadcast, whereas more recent compilations have split them into two separate tracks. 
The Bonzos got back together in 1992 to release a satirical song about UK politics with 'No Matter Who You Vote For, The Government Always Gets In (Heigh Ho)', and this version is the much longer demo, which features a lot more Viv Stanshall than the eventual single release. We finish with the entirely appropriate 'End Of The Show', taken from the 'New Faces' TV show in 1967. There are quite a few more rarities out there, but they tend to be either demos or early versions of songs which subsequently made the albums, such as 'Tragic Magic', which is almost exactly the same as the eventually re-titled 'Keynsham', or a very brief 'National Beer', which later metamorphised into 'King Of Scurf'. I've tried to make this the definitive Bonzo's rarities album, and hope that it contains every rare song that you could possibly want to hear, so enjoy an hour and a quarter of exquisite silliness.

Track listing

01 My Brother Makes The Noises For The Talkies (single 1966)
02 I'm Going To Bring A Watermelon To My Girl Tonight (b-side of 'My Brother.....)
03 Alley Oop (single 1966)
04 Button Up Your Overcoat (b-side of 'Alley Oop')
05 On Her Doorstep, Last Night (previously unreleased 1967)
06 The Craig Torso Show (John Peel session 1967)
07 I've Found The Answer (John Peel session 1967)
08 Blue Suede Shoes (previously unreleased 1968)
09 Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (previously unreleased 1968)
10 Mr Hyde In Me (previously unreleased 1968)
11 The Craig Torso Christmas Show (John Peel session 1967)
12 Da Story Of Da Bonzo (aka 'The Bride Stripped Bare' 1969)
13 Boo! (previously unreleased 1969)
14 Excerpt From 'The Brain Opera' - Act 3, scene 1 (John Peel session 1968)
15 Boiled Ham Rhumba (previously unreleased 1969)
16 Little Sir Echo (live in Germany 1967)
17 Excerpt From 'The Brain Opera' - Part 3 (John Peel session 1969)
18 I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles (Live at Jazz Bilzen 1969)
19 Sofa Head / Give Booze A Chance (John Peel session 1968)
20 We're Going To Bring It On Home (John Peel session 1969)
21 No Matter Who You Vote For, The Government Always Get In (Heigh Ho) (demo 1992)
22 End Of The Show (New Faces 1967)