March 1978 - The Rutles Are Coming!

A postcard dropped on the doormat in March 1978, sent from the press office at Warner Brothers (WEA actually) where a mate of mine worked.

The postcard was heralding the television premiere on Easter Monday of All You Need Is Cash, the story of legendary British beat group The Rutles.

The Prefab Four

Note the postmark advert for Elvis Costello's second album

The Prefab Four, as they were known, were the brainchild of Monty Python's Eric Idle, with songs (not entirely) originally composed by Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, who had collaborated on music for the Monty Python movies. His contribution to Holy Grail, for example, included the famous Tale of Sir Robin.

The Rutles' career arc was oddly familiar - from early days in Northwest England, to worldwide fame - Rutlemania! - the expansion of their musical horizon after consumption of exotic teas - and the embracing of eastern religion.

The TV special, shown at Easter time on BBC2 and on American TV the same week, included 
appearances by George Harrison, Mick and Bianca Jagger, Paul Simon, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner. The Saturday Night Live actors had become fans of the Rutles when Idle and Innes appeared on SNL in 1977.

For All You Need Is Cash, The Rutles characters, apart from Idle, were played by real-life musicians. 

Innes played singer and guitarist Ron Nasty, Idle was singer and bass player Dirk McQuickly.  

Ricky Fataar (a drummer in real life with the Beach Boys) played guitarist Stig O'Hara. 

John Halsey (drummer in the band Patto, whose sessions include Lou Reed's Transformer album) played drummer Barrington Womble, otherwise known as Barry Wom.

Guitarist Ollie Halsall, also from the band Patto, who was one of the studio musicians on the Rutles recording sessions, appears in the Rutles film as Leppo, the fifth Rutle "a friend of Nasty's from art college, who mainly used to stand at the back".

The Prefab Four became the most popular group in the whole world, loved for their cheeky banter as much as for their music.

 Here's the original trailer for The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash

Of course, The Rutles were a very closely observed pastiche of The Beatles. All You Need Is Cash is narrated by an earnest Alan Whicker-type documentary presenter and highlights the key moments of their career in the 1960s, familiar to anyone with a reasonable knowledge of The Fabs and with helpful commentary from Jagger and others:

Jagger: Why did the Rutles break up? Women. Just women. Getting in the way. Cherchez la femme, you know.
Narrator: Do you think they'll ever get back together again?
Jagger: I hope not.

The show features some wicked caricatures of Rutle associates, such as Gwen Taylor in a Nazi costume playing the Yoko-like Chastity.

While the Rutles film now looks rather quaint and of its time, the music composed by Neil Innes still has universal appeal, because it is so fiendishly close to the source material. 

The Rutles - Ouch!
The Rutles - With A Girl Like You
The Rutles - Get Up And Go

Too close for some: While George Harrison was happy to provide some funding for the project and to appear in the film, Paul and John didn't see the funny side of having their music pastiched in this way.

The initial reaction to All You Need Is Cash from UK audiences was appreciative without being ecstatic. The Prefab Four's legend grew, though, with repeat TV showings. Perhaps it was a case, as had happened with The Beatles, that people needed to be told that this was actually a spoof.

And so, in May 1978, I received another postcard from WEA. The BBC were giving The Rutles another go, with a showing on BBC 1 at 10:15pm on May 27th.

The postcard featured the covers of various Rutles albums, With The Rutles, Tragical History Tour, Sgt. Rutters Only Darts Club Band and Let It Rot.

On the back of the postcard was a sample of "genuine Rutle trouser fabric", authenticated by the former Rutles manager, Leggy Mountbatten, now living in Australia.

Genuine Rutle trouser fabric

Archie Macaw, Record Producer: Well, one day this rather odd chap hopped into the office. He'd been to see virtually everyone in the business and been shown the door. He asked to see MY door, but I wouldn't show it to him. Instead, he showed me the photographs and tapes of the Rutles. They were pretty rough, but they had something.

Narrator: What was it?

Macaw: I think it was the trousers.

 
Following the release of The Rutles album in the 1978, ATV Music, the then-owner of the Beatles publishing rights, sued Innes for copyright infringement. Innes was always on a sticky wicket legally because The Rutles were unmistakeably a Beatles rip-off, however affectionate.

Lennon and McCartney both felt that, at least with some of the songs such as Get Up And Go, that Innes had sailed too close to the originals. He was forced to settle out of court for 50% of the royalties on the 14 songs included on the Rutles album.

In 2019 Neil Innes was still playing The Rutles' music live, but he died suddenly on 30th December. He is fondly remembered on social media for his work with The Bonzos on TV shows like Do Not Adjust Your Set and Rutland Weekend Television - even The Old Grey Whistle Test.  
Proof that his legend will live long after other living legends have died.

Neil Innes talks about Rutland Weekend Television and the genesis of The Rutles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxxyG9jJhm0

Ron Nasty and Barry Wom with The Rutles live in London, 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoOwx3j4b_I

IF YOU LIKE MY BLOG, PLEASE HIT THE FOLLOW BUTTON ON THE SIDE PANEL THANKS

See also on this site:

My Visit To Abbey Road Studios

The Beatles escape the madness of the road to create Revolver

Sgt. Pepper Is The Beatles - Who Knew?

At Home With The Lennons, 1967

A Night With John Lennon - The Fab Faux at Radio City Music Hall

From Pinner to LA - Elton's big breakthrough, 1970

As a depiction of how you can go from being a pop fan to a pop idol in the blink of an eye, the story of how Elton John and Bernie Taupin went from sitting in the crowd at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival watching Bob Dylan, to being ushered into Dylan’s presence at an LA club a few months later, is hard to beat.

In 1970, Elton was living at his mother’s house in Pinner, a suburb west of London. with his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. He was frustrated at their lack of success and had considered giving it all up and becoming a session pianist.

His recent album Elton John, had failed to capture the British public’s imagination, but it had gained a measure of recognition in America, where Elton was considered a new talent to match the singer songwriters of LA’s Laurel Canyon.

Russ Regan, an LA-based A&R man, picked up on the airplay the Elton John album was getting and wanted to bring Elton, drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray out to LA. Troubadour club owner Doug Weston agreed to give them a six night residency.

Having never been to America, but having worshipped its music from afar, Elton and Bernie went from the obscurity of a suburban living room in Pinner to the very centre of the music business in one move.

Elton and Bernie Taupin in 1970

Their opening night at the Troubadour, with Quincy Jones, Mike Love and Henry Mancini in the crowd, was the moment that changed Elton and Bernie’s lives forever.

The audience had come to hear the new British balladeer. Before the show Neil Diamond took the stage and introduced Elton: “Folks, I’ve never done this before, so please be kind to me. I’m like the rest of you; I’m here because of having listened to Elton John’s album. So I’m going to take my seat with you now and enjoy the show.”

Elton himself recalled: “It was very hot and smoky and a great vibe. We came on; I was in flying boots and hotpants and did (a heavy version of) Sixty Years On. They weren’t expecting it. They thought it was going to be a low-key thing, because the music on the Elton John album was very orchestral. But with a three-piece band, we went out and did the songs completely differently and just blew everyone away. We knew halfway through the show that we were on fire.”

I have discovered some rare footage from 1971 of the trio playing Sixty Years On, which shows perfectly how they beefed-up the songs; Elton pounding the piano, Nigel using mallets with gusto on the drums while Dee uses his bass like a lead guitar. It's had 260 thousand views so far.

On the second night at the Troubadour, Elton had looked up to see another hero, Leon Russell staring straight at him: “I nearly shat myself”. Then, one night at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, Elton and Bernie were led to a booth for an audience with Bob Dylan himself.

Elton told Mojo magazine: "Dylan said he loved the song My Father’s Gun, from Tumbleweed Connection. Bernie and I were petrified. Dylan has an aura about him. It’s not frightening, it’s just - foo, blimey."

Melody Maker Sept 5th 1970 notes Elton's success in LA

Having seen the Troubadour show, Robert Hilburn, music critic for the Los Angeles Times, wrote: “Tuesday night at the Troubadour was just the beginning. He’s going to be one of rock’s biggest and most important stars.”

But much like the Stax artists who toured Britain in the 60s as major stars, only to return to the US as nobodies, back in London, Elton's career moved slowly forward.

Record sales remained sluggish, but that all changed in February 1971, when his label DJM released Your Song from Elton John as a single. A whole different phenomenon was about to begin – the era of Elton as a pop star in the UK.

With a run of hit singles in 1971 and '72 - Honky Cat, Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, Daniel etc, Elton found himself increasingly part of the developing Glam Rock scene, along with T. Rex, David Bowie and Roxy Music. This played well with his natural flamboyance on stage, and the costumes became more outrageous.

Front page of Melody Maker 1973

In contrast, his reputation in the US grew on the strength of his albums, particularly the ersatz Americana of Tumbleweed Connection and the Laurel Canyon songwriter vibe of Madman Across The Water.

In the UK, his albums from 1972’s Don’t’ Shoot Me, I’m Only The Piano Player onwards sold well, but his earlier albums such as Tumbleweed and Madman, both full of great songs, did not get the attention they deserved at the time, nor probably even today from record buyers in the UK.

The elaborate lyric books that came with Elton's early 70s LPs

For more insight into how good those early shows were, the album 17-11-70 captures a live radio broadcast in New York that year. Also worth checking out, for the sheer power of their performance, is the Cleveland Music Hall show on 26th November 1970, available at the Concert Vault website - http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/elton-john/concerts/music-hall-cleveland-november-26-1970.html

It's easy to see why he created such a buzz in America. He demanded your attention and rightly so - these are powerful performances.

With his mother and stepfather in Pinner, 1971

Pinner happens to be my hometown too, though Elton is significantly older than me and our paths have never crossed. When he was making the journey to LA for his big breakthrough, I was about to enter my second year of high school. One of the first singles I bought was Rocket Man.

To conclude this piece, here's another example of how Elton's life changed so dramatically in 1970. Every year, Pinner has its May Fair. In his diary for May 1969, Elton wrote, “Went to Pinner Fair with Mick and Pat. I won a coconut and two goldfish!" He called them John and Yoko.

Wind forward five years and Elton played a key role in reuniting the real John and Yoko after their brief separation. During this period, Elton collaborated with Lennon on the song Whatever Gets You Through The Night.

“My life has been incredible,” he says now.

Here are a few additional links:
An early performance of 'Amoreena' from the US tour in 1970
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnzuL-xCX0U

Elton talks about songwriting with Bernie and the breakthrough gigs at The Troubadour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=javNC9znQQA

Elton rehearsing with Nigel and Dee, 1970
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-bnX1d1s7Y

Full performance of Sixty Years On in 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEgE0ojgRi4

Elton in the throes of writing 'Tiny Dancer', 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbZmPdu8Vko

Performance of 'Levon' for BBC TV, 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mire1WJKdR8

Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters, 1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrOu0oc9aB4

See also on this blog, Elton John and Rod Stewart at Watford FC, 1974
https://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2012/10/elton-and-rod-at-watford-fc-1974.html