The Rutles - Past Masters - Volume Two (1969)

For this second volume of 'Past Masters' from The Rutles, we've once again raided the back catalogues of The Flames, Neil Innes, GRIMMS, Timebox and The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band for 'singles and b-sides' that didn't appear on their albums. The Flames contributed some tracks that actually were from 1965 and 1966, and Neil Innes filled in the gaps from the later years. I'd already used every contemporary song from the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, but in a recent post of theirs I unearthed a recording that they'd made for a radio session which actually fitted on here quite well, and so by adding that, plus the one suitable unused song from GRIMMS and two from Timebox, we now have a second volume of rarities from the Pre-fab Four, which finally completes their discography.

Track listing

01 Blue Colour (b-side of 'Hold My Hand' 1963) 

02 Bring Back The Time (single 1963) 

03 Stop, Look And Listen (b-side of 'Ouch!' 1964) 

04 Tell It Like It Is (b-side of 'Between Us' 1965)  

05 Busy Day (b-side of 'Nevertheless' 1966)  

06 Lost (single 1966)  
07 You've Got The Chance (b-side of 'Piggy In The Middle' 1967) 
08 Stoned On Rock (single 1967) 
09 We're Gonna Bring It On Home (b-side of 'Good Times Roll' 1967)
10 Feel No Shame (b-side of 'Hey Mister!' 1968)  
11 Black Dog (b-side of 'Get Up And Go' 1969) 
12 City Of The Angels (b-side of 'Easy Listening' 1969)    
13 Oo-Chuck-A-Mao-Mao (b-side of '9-5 Pollution Blues' 1969) 
14 Rock Of Ages (single 1969) 
 
PERFORMERS
 
*The Flames - 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 
*Neil Innes - 5, 8, 10, 12, 14
*The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - 9
*Timebox - 7, 11
*GRIMMS - 13

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)

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - A Dog's Breakfast (1983)

To close this comedy/rock special here's a collection of hard to find singles, b-sides, and radio sessions by various members of the Bonzos, which were issued by them after the band broke up. You might think that there's not enough Viv on here, but that's because there are actually enough rarities from him to make his own album, which I'll be posting later, but I've added my favourite single of his - 'Labio-Dental Fricative'/'Paper Round' - so that there's at least two songs of his on here. 
Here are some notes on each song that I found online, although I've re-jigged the track listing from the original album that they came from.     

Topo D. Bill - Witchi-Tai-To (A-side) - 3:29
Topo D. Bill - Jam (B-side) - 3:10
originally released in December 1969 as the first single (CB-116) on Tony Stratton Smith's newly founded 'Famous Charisma' record label. Produced by 'Legs' Larry Smith, both tracks were recorded with help from former collegue Roger Ruskin Spear and one or more (unknown) members of Yes and/or The Who. The single was released under a pseudonym as the various participants were already signed to other record companies. The word is that 'Springtime for Hitler' was 'Legs' Larry's first choice to be released but rejected by Stratton Smith as he was just finalizing a deal with a German distributor.

The World - Angelina (A-side) - 2:48
The World - 9 To 5 Pollution Blues -  4:22
Neil's first short-lived solo project 'The World', was a more conventional group than the Bonzo's and featured besides Neil on lead vocal, piano and guitar, former Bonzo Dennis Cowan on bass and guitar, Ian Wallace on drums and Roger McKew on lead guitar. They only released one album 'Lucky Planet' (LBG-83149) and one single 'Angelina' b/w 'Come Into The Open' (LBF-15402 in mono) in 1970 on Liberty Records.

Viv Stanshall & The Sean Head Showband - Labio-Dental Fricative - 3:09
Viv Stanshall & The Sean Head Showbnad - Paper Round - 2:05
Viv's first solo single was released on the Liberty Label in 1970, coupling "Labio-Dental Fricative/Paper Round", and credited to Vivian Stanshall and The Sean Head Showband (an oblique reference to Stanshall having shaved off all of his hair during his breakdown). Both sides featured Eric Clapton on guitar.

Roger Ruskin Spear - Trouser Freak (Full Version) (A-side) - 2:49
Roger Ruskin Spear - Trouser Press (A-side) - 2:58
Roger Ruskin Spear - Release Me (B-side) - 2:50
Roger Ruskin Spear - Drop Out! (B-side) - 2:02
Roger's wonderful 'Rebel Trouser EP' was released in 1971 under the monniker 'Roger Ruskin Spear And His Giant Orchestral Wardrobe' on EMI's subsidiary label United Artists (UP-35221) and recorded with help from former Bonzo bass players Dave Clague and Dennis Cowan (on guitar), Leon Williams on trumpets and Tat Meager on drums. The EP's opening track 'Trouser Freak' was re-released several times on Bonzo compilations but these versions were all edited down to 2:18 omitting the ending, whereas the version here is complete.

Roger Ruskin Spear - Mattress Man (BBC Radio Flash 10-08-1971) - 2:11
Roger Ruskin Spear - Call Of The Freaks (BBC Radio Flash 10-08-1971) - 2:47
Two live tracks by 'Roger Ruskin Spear And His Giant Orchestral Wardrobe' from the Viv Stanshall presented BBC radio show 'Radio Flash' broadcast on August 10, 1971 and produced by John Walters and engineered by Bob Conduct. Among others Roger on tenor sax, Dave Glass on piano, Tad Meager on drums, Jerry Gardner on rhythm guitar, Bob Kerr on cornet and Thunderclap Newman's Andy Newman on sax. (He also recorded a cover of the Bonzo's track 'On Her Doorstep, Last Night', but I've omitted that as it was nowhere near as good as the Bonzo's version. PJ)

Neil Innes - Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues (A-side) - 3:30
Neil Innes - Fluff On The Needle (B-side) - 5:36
From the Neil Innes solo-single 'Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues' b/w 'Fluff On The Needle' released in 1974 on United Artists (UP-35676) and featuring Monty Python member Michael Palin acting as a record shop keeper. Among the featured send-ups are standards like 'Take Good Care Of My Baby', 'White Christmas', 'In The Mood' and 'Who Wants To Be A Millionare'.

Neil Innes - What Noise Annoys A Noisy Oyster (A-side) - 2:47
Neil Innes / Grimms - OO-Chuck-A-Mao-Mao (B-side) - 3:51
Two great Neil Innes penned tracks released under his own name in 1975 on United Artists (UP-35772). The B-side was originally released in 1973 on the second Grimms album 'Rockin' Duck'. 

Roger Ruskin Spear - I Love To Bumpity Bump - 2:35
Roger Ruskin Spear - When Yuba Plays The Rumba On The Tuba - 3:04 
Both sides of a 1974 single from Roger's second solo album 'Unusual'. The b-side, a wonderful cover version of a tune found on an old 78 RPM-single is his solo version of an early Bonzo favorite they never recorded.

Grimms - Womble Bashers Of Walthamstow (A-side) - 2:50
Grimms - The Worst Is Yet To Come (B-side) - 2:48
Grimms' (featuring Neil Innes) final release from the album 'Sleepers' and released as 7" single in 1976 on DJM Records (DJS-679). 

'Legs' Larry Smith - Springtime For Hitler (A-side) - 3:59
'Legs' Larry Smith - I Got A Braun New Girl (In God Wet Rust) (B-side) - 2:12
From the 1978 single 'Springtime For Hitler' released in 1978 on Arista Records (ARIST-194). 'I Got A Braun New Girl' was re-released in 2009 on Smug Records as part of a five track digital EP 'Call Me, Adolf!' produced by Gus Dudgeon.

'Legs' Larry Smith - Bullshot - 2:16
Title song from the 1983 Handmade Films release 'Bullshot' featuring 'Legs' Larry on vocals. Handmade was a George Harrison owned company that he established in 1979 with Denis O'Brien to finance Monty Python's second feature film 'Life Of Brian' after their movie deal with EMI fell through at the last minute.

Neil Innes - Them (B-side) - 2:52
Written and performed by Neil Innes, this song was originally released in 1982 as A-side to the single 'Them' b/w 'Rock Of Ages' (MMC I00) and re-released in 1992 as B-side to 'No Matter Who You Vote For The Government Always Gets In (Heigh Ho)'. The latter song, recorded in 1987, was Vivian Stanshall's final recording with the band as he died in 1995 when a fire broke out in his house.

That's your lot for tonight, and if nothing else this album shows that every member of the Bonzo Dog Band had much more to give after the group had disbanded. Watch out for Viv's album later on. 

Track listing

01 Topo D. Bill - Witchi-Tai-To (single 1969)
02 Topo D. Bill - Jam (b-side of 'Witchi-Tai-To')
03 The World - Angelina (single 1970)
04 The World - 9 To 5 Pollution Blues (from 'Lucky World' 1970)
05 Viv Stanshall & The Sean Head Showband - Labio-Dental Fricative (single 1970)
06 Viv Stanshall & The Sean Head Showband - Paper Round (b-side of 'Labio-Dental Fricative')
07 Roger Ruskin Spear - Trouser Freak (Full Version) (single 1971)
08 Roger Ruskin Spear - Trouser Press (b-side of 'Trouser Freak')
09 Roger Ruskin Spear - Release Me (b-side of 'Trouser Freak')
10 Roger Ruskin Spear - Drop Out! (b-side of 'Trouser Freak')
11 Roger Ruskin Spear - Mattress Man (BBC Radio Flash 1971)
12 Roger Ruskin Spear - Call Of The Freaks (BBC Radio Flash 1971)
13 Neil Innes - Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues (single 1974) 
14 Neil Innes - Fluff On The Needle (b-side of 'Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues')
15 Neil Innes - What Noise Annoys A Noisy Oyster (single 1975)
16 Neil Innes / Grimms - OO-Chuck-A-Mao-Mao (b-side of 'What Noise Annoys A Noisy Oyster')
17 Roger Ruskin Spear - I Love To Bumpity Bump (single 1974)
18 Roger Ruskin Spear - When Yuba Plays The Rumba On The Tuba (b-side of 'I Love.....')
19 Grimms - Womble Bashers Of Walthamstow (single 1976)
20 Grimms - The Worst Is Yet To Come (b-side of 'Womble Bashers Of Walthamstow')
21 'Legs' Larry Smith - Springtime For Hitler (single 1978)
22 'Legs' Larry Smith - I Got A Braun New Girl (In God Wet Rust) (b-side of 'Springtime For Hitler')
23 'Legs' Larry Smith - Bullshot (from the film 'Bullshot' 1983)
24 Neil Innes - Them (single 1982)

Vivian Stanshall - Are You Having Any Fun? (1990)

As promised on Friday, here's the first of two posts from the legendary Vivian Stanshall. Born Victor Anthony Stanshall in 1943, he is, of course, best know for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. They were actually named following a word game that Stanshall played with co-founder Slater, in which they cut up sentences and juxtaposed fragments to form new ones and 'Bonzo Dog/Dada' was one result which they liked. The band initially performed under this name, but grew tired of explaining what Dada meant and so it became the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, 'doo-dah' being a quaint expression that both Slater's mother and Vivian himself used to describe everyday objects. After acquiring a manager, they went full-time and were booked on the working men's club circuit, mainly in the north of England, and in 1967 they appeared in The Beatles' television film 'Magical Mystery Tour', performing Stanshall's 'Death Cab for Cutie' during the strip club scene. This led to a spot as the house band on 'Do Not Adjust Your Set', a weekly children's television revue series that also featured pre-Monty Python appearances from Eric Idle, Michael Palin and Terry Jones. 
In 1968 the band scored a surprise top-ten hit with 'I'm The Urban Spaceman', co-produced by Paul McCartney and Gus Dudgeon under the alias 'Apollo C. Vermouth'. After a couple more successful albums they decided to split whilst they were still friends, and in March 1970, they played their last show at Loughborough University. Following the split Stanshall formed a number of short-lived groups during 1970 alone, including biG GRunt (including former Bonzos Roger Ruskin Spear and Dennis Cowan, and with Anthony 'Bubs' White on guitar), The Sean Head Showband (again featuring Cowan and White), Gargantuan Chums, and the slightly longer-lived Bonzo Dog Freaks with Innes and the ever-faithful Cowan and White. Early that year, biG GRunt recorded a well-received John Peel session for BBC Radio 1, but despite this promising start they dissolved during their first UK tour when Stanshall became incapacitated by the onset of an anxiety disorder which caused a nervous breakdown that would continue to plague him for the rest of his life. He soon recovered sufficiently to record and release his first solo single 'Labio-Dental Fricative/Paper Round', credited to Vivian Stanshall and The Sean Head Showband (an oblique reference to Stanshall having shaved off all of his hair during his breakdown), and featuring Eric Clapton on guitar. 
Later in the year, his single version of Terry Stafford's song 'Suspicion' was released, credited to Vivian Stanshall and Gargantuan Chums and featuring Keith Moon and John Entwistle of The Who, with the b-side being 'Blind Date', the only officially released track by biG GRunt. In early 1971, Stanshall returned to touring with a new band, Freaks. This group recorded a BBC radio session for John Peel that featured solo numbers by Stanshall and Innes, alongside tracks from The Bonzo's yet-to-be-released 'Let's Make Up And Be Friendly', and it also marked the first appearance in any medium of an episode of Stanshall's magnum opus, 'Rawlinson End'. Further singles were rare, but avidly welcomed by his fans when they appeared in 1974 and 1976, as were the Peel sessions that he was continually offered by his DJ friend. In 1973 he recorded his contribution to the 'That'll Be The Day' soundtrack album, although the song didn't make the film, and one of his last recordings was for a charity album in support of the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre, put together by the New Musical Express, and featuring his '(There's) No Room To Rhumba In A Sports Car'. 
Vivian Stanshall was found dead on the morning of 6 March 1995, following a fire at his flat. 
I hope that this collection of non-album singles, choice radio sessions, and the afore-mentioned charity record and film soundtrack work, is a fitting tribute to a unique character, for whom it can honestly be said 'there'll never be another like him'.  

Track listing

Vivian Stanshall & biG GRunt 
01 Eleven Moustachioed Daughters (John Peel session 1970)
02 The Strain (John Peel session 1970)
03 Cyborg Signal (John Peel session 1970)
Vivian Stanshall & The Sean Head Showband
04 Labio-Dental Fricative (single 1970)
05 Paper-Round (b-side of 'Labio-Dental Fricative')
Vivian Stanshall & Gargantuan Chums
06 Suspicion (single 1970)
Vivian Stanshall & biG GRunt
07 Bind Date (b-side of 'Suspicion')
Vivian Stanshall
08 Lakonga (single 1974)
09 Baby Tunde (b-side of 'Lakonga')
Vivian Stanshall, Keith Moon, Jack Bruce, Ronnie Wood & Graham Bond
10 Real Leather Jacket (from the 'That'll Be The Day' soundtrack album 1973)
Vivian Stanshall
11 Trail Of The Lonesome Pine (John Peel session 1975)
Vivian Stanshall & Kilgaron
12 The Young Ones (single 1976)
13 Are You Having Any Fun? (single 1976)
14 The Question (b-side of 'The Young Ones'/'Are You Having Any Fun?')
Vivian Stanshall & The Big Boys
15 (There's) No Room To Rhumba In A Sports Car (from 'The Last Temptation Of Elvis' 1990)

The Rutles - The Shite Album (2017)

Now that we've worked our way all the way back to the start of the band's career, I just need to mop up with a couple of albums from later on that should have appeared as the start of the series. At the time I didn't realise it was going to take off quite as well as it did, and so I was posting random albums in no particular order, so this is the classic 'The Shite Album' and being a double, it contains a wealth of great songs. I've had to make a few substitutions as usual, and so the track listing posted on the Rutles Wiki page is now missing 'Under My Skin', 'Protest Song', 'Monkey On My Back', 'The Blackest Of Blues', and 'Tubas In The Moonlight', as they've all appeared on previous posts, and I just didn't think 'Hard Times' was up to the quality of the other stuff on here, so I dropped that as well. I hope I've picked some suitable replacements, and I'm particularly pleased that I remembered Vivian Stansall's brilliant 'Labio Dental Fricative' / 'Paper-Round' single, arranged by Neil Innes, as it features guitar from Eric Clapton on both tracks, and so mirrors his contribution to 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' on the original album. 'Sugar Cube 1967' was suggested by TheLazenby, and I hadn't heard it before but it acts nicely as the 'Savoy Truffle' of this set. 'Evolution Number Ten' comes from the band's new 'The Wheat Album', but fits on here perfectly. There is a cover for this on the net, but I've made my own as I wanted to try to get the title to look as though it was embossed onto the sleeve.    

Track listing

Disc One

SIDE ONE
01 We've Arrived! (And To Prove It We're Here) 
02 Let's Be Natural 
03 Unfinished Words 
04 Mr. Eurovision Song Contest Man 
05 My Little Ukelele
06 Hey Mister!
07 Jollity Farm
08 Dream On
09 I Give Myself To You

SIDE TWO
10 Another Day
11 Bad Blood
12 Rutleution 2
13 Living In Hope
14 How's Your Father    
15 Labio Dental Fricative
16 Mother  


Disc Two

SIDE ONE
01 Sausages  
02 Short Blues  
03 Quiet Talks & Summer Walks 
04 Don't Know Why 
05 We Are Normal  
06 Highs And Lows 

SIDE TWO
07 Paper-Round
08 Tent
09 Sugar Cube 1967
10 11 Mustachioed Daughters
11 Godfrey Daniel
12 Evolution Number Ten
13 Scarlet Ribbons


PERFORMERS

Disc One

* The Rutles - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13
* Nel Innes - 4, 8, 9, 16
* Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 7, 11
* Patto - 14
* Vivian Stanshall/Neil Innes - 15

Disc Two

* The Rutles - 4, 12 
* The Flames - 6
* Neil Innes - 11
* Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 3, 5, 8, 10, 13 
* Patto - 1, 9
* Vivian Stanshall/Neil Innes - 7
* GRIMMS - 2

The Rutles - Rut Sounds (2017)

Not much to say about this one, other than the official press release from the band's press office. Glad to finally post this, as it includes some great songs like 'Immortal Invisible', 'Useless Illusion', and 'Down That Road'.
'Rut Sounds' is a 1966 album recorded by The Rutles. It was originally going to be an album by Les Garçons de la Plage (under the name "Pot Sounds"), but after their sudden breakup, Leggy Mountbatten decided to let the Rutles record it instead. This album has gone on to be considered one of the greatest albums of all time, second only to 'Sgt. Rutter's Only Darts Club Band'. Originally, the album was part of the US discography, but it was later added to the UK discography when The Rutles albums were first released on CD. 
There is an alternative cover around, but the picture of the band on donkeys was quite low-res, so I grabbed this screenshot from the 'All You Need Is Cash' film as I felt it fitted better with the vibe of the album, and I changed the font to resemble it's parent album.

Original cover

Track Listing

SIDE ONE

01 See The Light
02 Love Has Got Me 
03 Useless Illusions
04 Lie Down And Be Counted
05 Let's Go Away For Some Wine 
06 Etcetera

SIDE TWO 
07 Early Morning Train 
08 Immortal Invisible
09 Sometimes It Happens 
10 God Is Love 
11 Rut Sounds
12 Down That Road 

PERFORMERS

*The Flames - 01, 03, 08
*Neil Innes - 04, 06, 10, 12
*Timebox - 02
*Ollie Halsall - 05, 11
*Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 07
*Brian Patten - 09

The Rutles - Sgt. Rutter's Only Darts Club Band (2017)

I guess it's only logical to post this one next, as it's probably the one most fans would want to hear how it turned out. Pretty well, as it happens, with another good selection of songs from the various member's careers, so without further ado, here it is.

Track listing

SIDE ONE
01 Major Happy's Up And Coming Once Upon A Good Time Band
02 Rendezvous
03 Good Times Roll
04 The Knicker Elastic King
05 Equestrian Statue
06 She's Leaving Home
07 Being For The Benefit Of Mankind!

SIDE TWO
08 Solitude
09 Back In Sixty-Four
10 Rockaliser Baby
11 Major Happy's Up And Coming Once Upon A Good Time Band (Reprise)
12 Cheese And Onions

PERFORMERS
* The Rutles - 01, 02, 03, 04, 09, 11, 12
* The Flame(s) - 08
* The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 05, 07, 10
* GRIMMS - 06

The Rutles - Tragical History Tour (2017)

It's time for your mid-week Rutles treat, and this time it's the 'Tragical History Tour' album, containing another great batch of psychedelic-style Beatles pastiches. This one has some of my favourite Rutles songs in 'Doubleback Alley', 'Piggy In The Middle' and 'Love Life'.

Track listing

SIDE ONE
01 Shangri La
02 Questionnaire
03 Lying
04 Purple Haze
05 Piggy Bank Love

SIDE TWO
06 Piggy In The Middle
07 Raggy Dolls
08 Montana Cafe
09 Doubleback Alley
10 What Do You Do
11 Love Life

PERFORMERS
* The Rutles - 01, 02, 03, 06, 09, 11
* The Flame(s) - 04
* Neil Innes - 07, 08
* The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 05, 10

And no, I don't know what 'Purple Haze' is doing on there!

The Rutles - Let It Rot (2017)

It's Wednesday - it's Rutles day. This week's post is 'Let It Rot', which is still in their psychedelic pop phase and so the opportunity is here for some great pastiches from the Rutles and their connected bands and artists.

Track listing

SIDE ONE
01 Bandwagon (Live)
02 Don't Get Me Wrong 
03 All Alone 
04 Hey Mister! 
05 Stig It 
06 Imitation Song 

SIDE TWO
07 Slaves Of Freedom 
08 Concrete Jungle Boy 
09 Momma Bee 
10 How Sweet To Be An Idiot 
11 Blackest of Blues 
12 Get Up And Go 

PERFORMERS
* The Rutles - 04, 12
* Neil Innes - 01, 03, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10
* The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 02
* GRIMMS - 11
* Rutles Song Performed By Neil Innes On The BBC - 05

The Rutles - Semi-Automatic (2017)

We stick with late 60's pop/psyche for the next Rutles album, with it's strange title (who on earth would name their album after a gun?!), and including the fab 'Nevertheless' - always a favourite.

Track listing

SIDE ONE

01 Promises

02 Time To Kill

03 My New School

04 Nevertheless

05 Now You're Asleep

06 Ging Gang Goolie

07 Get Your Mind Made Up

SIDE TWO

08 Gone Is The Sad Man

09 Make It Easy

10 Readymades

11 Poor Little Heartbreaker
12 Tree House
13 Knock On Wood
14 Joe Public

PERFORMERS
* The Rutles - 04, 14
* The Flame(s) - 07, 09, 13
* Neil Innes - 02, 03
* Timebox - 01, 08, 11, 12
* Dirk & Stig (Fataar/Idle) - 06
* The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 05, 10

The Rutles - Ouch! (2017)

This week's post was going to be the last one in the series, as I'd exhausted the ones that I'd found on Youtube, and had used the couple that I'd made up myself based on track listings by TheLazenby and Rutles' Vinyls, and so I thought that was enough. However, after seeing how well-received the series has been I decided to see it through to the end, and so have now completed the whole discography. Working backwards, the next album released by the Pre-Fab Four was 'Ouch!', and now that we are getting towards the end of the series I've noticed that a few duplications of songs were starting to creep in, so where the same song is on two albums quite close together I've made a substitution, and I hope the compilers don't mind. Just a couple on here, as 'Now She's Left You' is also on 'Rutles For Sale' (next week's post), and 'Time To Kill' was on 'Semi-Automatic'. As 'I Must Be In Love' will appear on 'A Hard Day's Rut' in a few weeks I've used a 'live' version for this album.
After I posted this, TheLazenby made a good point, that when he compiled 'Rutle Sole' he included 'I'm Looking Good' as the equivalent of 'I'm Looking Through You' from the actual 'Rubber Soul', and bearing in mind that by substituting all the duplicated songs on 'Rutle Sole' we actually ended up with a Rutles album without a single song from the band themselves, I'm more than happy to reinstate it into its rightful place. I've just moved 'Summertime Kids' from 'Rutle Sole' to 'Ouch!', and this is what the new track listing looks like for that one.

Track listing

SIDE ONE
01 Ouch!  
02 Summertime Kids 
03 I Want To Be With You 
04 If You Need Me 
05 Baby Let Me Be 
06 Things You Don't Forget
07 I Can't Help Myself

SIDE TWO  
08 Act Naturally 
09 Tubas In The Moonlight 
10 That's Enough 
11 I Must Be In Love (live)
12 Mr. Sheene  
13 L'amour Perdu  

PERFORMERS
* The Rutles - 01, 05, 08, 11
* The Flame(s) - 04, 06, 07, 10
* Neil Innes - 13
* The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 03, 09
* Dirk & Stig (Fataar/Idle) - 12
* Ollie Halsall 02

'Act Naturally' is a rehearsal take featuring Neil Innes and John Halsey.

The Rutles - Rutle Sole (2017)

TheLazenby recently asked me if I was going to re-post some of the earlier albums and substitute songs which have already appeared on other albums, as I have done on recent posts, and I originally said that I wouldn't be doing that, as there weren't that many and I'd run out of suitable songs to use, so I'd just leave them as they were. But as I was finalising one last album I discovered that in fact all of the duplications were on just one post, so if I added a few substitutions to 'Rutle Sole' then every album would have a unique track listing, so that was definitely worth doing. It helped that I'd also discovered a new batch of Neil Innes and Ollie Halsall songs that I could use, and so here is 'Rutle Sole' with four substitutions, meaning that there should no longer be any albums with the same song on them. If there are then I've missed it, so please let me know.  

Track listing

SIDE ONE
01 Yellow Van
02 If You Think You're Groovy 
03 You Done My Brain In 
04 Singing A Song Is Easy
05 Restless
06 Love The Girl 
07 Randy Raquel

SIDE TWO
08 Boring 
09 Lady 
10 Song For Yvonne 
11 See Me Back
12 This Love Of Ours
13 Fresh Wound 
14 It's Looking Good

PERFORMERS

* The Rutles 14
* Timebox - 01
* The Flame(s) - 02, 05, 06, 09, 11
* Neil Innes - 04, 07, 08, 10, 12
* The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 03, 13

The Rutles - A Hard Day's Rut (2017)

This is the soundtrack album to The Rutles first foray onto the big screen in 'A Hard Day's Rut'. The original track listing included 'High School Hermit' by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, but this was never properly recorded by the group, and is only available on a live TV broadcast, with the quality somewhat letting it down compared to the other tracks on the album, and so I was reluctant to include it. However, I have downloaded it and carried out a couple of (I hope) subtle edits to remove the comedy sketch in the middle, and it's included as a bonus if you want to add it back into your own copy. 'Fresh Wound' and 'I Want To Be With You', both by the Bonzos, are already on 'Rutle Sole' and 'Ouch!', so have been substituted. 

Track listing

SIDE ONE
01 I Must Be In Love  
02 Lovers Leaping
03 With A Girl Like You  
04 Between Us  
05 I Love You 
06 I'm So Happy

SIDE TWO
07 I'm Talking About You 
08 Boring 
09 Lonely-Phobia 
10 See Me Back 
11 One Of These Days 
12 Nobody

Bonus track
13 High School Hermit

PERFORMERS
* The Rutles - 01, 03, 04, 05, 09,
* The Flame(s) - 06, 07, 10, 11, 12
* Neil Innes - 08
* Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 13
* Ollie Halsall - 02 

The Rutles - Shabby Road (2017)

I was in two minds whether to post this one, but I thought I would anyway and see what sort of reaction I got to it.
A couple of weeks ago I stumbled on some Youtube videos where fans of the Pre-Fab Four - Ron Nasty, Dirk McQuickly, Stig O'Hara, and Barry Wom - had pieced together actual 'records' of the ones mentioned in the classic 'All You Need Is Cash' film, such as 'Ouch', 'Sgt. Rutters Only Darts Club Band', 'Let It Rot', and 'Semi-Automatic' (work it out). I grabbed them to see what they were like, and they were all surprisingly good, so I managed to piece together the ones which weren't posted using track listings that I found on the Rutles Wiki page  http://rutlesriki.wikia.com/wiki/The_Rutles_ discography, and I can post them all if this one proves popular. As The Rutles didn't record that many songs themselves, these fans have taken music from any band in which the individual members were involved in real life, so there are contributions from Neil Innes solo, as well as with The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, GRIMMS, The World, and Brian Patten, Ricky Fataar with The Flames and The Beach Boys, John Halsey and Ollie Halsall with Timebox, Boxer, and Patto, and also one small piece from Eric Idle. They then looked for songs which resembled those from the actual Beatles albums and put them together, resulting in some intriguing combinations. I'm posting 'Shabby Road' first as it think it works really well, with the superb 'No Reply (She's Too Heavy)' on "side one" and the lovely medley of shorter songs on "side two", just like the album that it's parodying. 

Track listing

SIDE ONE
01 Eine Kleine Middle Klasse Musik
02 Don't Worry, BIll
03 Say Sorry Again
04 If You Need Me
05 Easy Listening
06 No Reply (She's Too Heavy)

SIDE TWO
07 Here Comes The Sun (Live)
08 Dove
09 Sail Away
10 Postcard
11 Angelina
12 Hexachlorophene Sham
13 Not The First Time
14 Now You're Asleep
15 Plenty Of Time
16 Lullaby

PERFORMERS
* The Rutles - 01, 05, 16
* The Flame(s) - 02, 04, 08
* Neil Innes - 03
* Boxer - 06
* The Beatles [Moog hiss sample] - 06
* Eric Idle - 07
* The World - 09, 11, 13
* The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 10, 12, 14
* GRIMMS - 15

The Man In The Magenta Wig, a.k.a. TheLazenby has put a lot of work into these, and inspired other to follow in his steps, and so thanks to them all. If this one proves popular then I can post more, although I think I'm going to anyway whether you like it or not!