Legends In Their Own Lunchtime!

The old saying of 'imitation is the highest form of flattery' certainly rings true with anything associated with The Beatles. The majority of Beatles tribute bands are fans as well as performers who try to perfect the performance, so that when fans go to watch them it's as close to the original as they can get. The major exception to this rule has to be The Rutles - a legend in the or own lunchtime (their own words, but supported by Beatles and Monty Python fans alike!), the actors/musicians that form the band took well-known concerts, situations and albums and twisted it in a comedic way to produce a clever, entertaining and unique way of looking at the hysteria that surrounded the originals.

The Rutles idea was the brainchild of former Monty Python star Eric Idle. When producing the weekly series 'Rutland Weekend Television' with Neil Innes, Gwen Taylor and others, one of the sketches thought up was influenced by A Hard Day's Night. During the same series a cameo appearance by George Harrison with him singing a composition by Eric and George - The Pirate Sin - was shown, which seemed to be the latest in a string of appearances that cemented the friendship between them both. (through George being a fan of the Python team, he later funded the production of Life of Brian thus saving the film and beginning George's filming career - Handmade Films) Once the sketch had been shown on BBC2 in early 1976 to rave reviews, an executive at ABC thought it would make a good feature length spoof TV documentary. Written solely by Eric Idle it featured the Beatles-inspired songs composed by Neil Innes of Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Bands fame. More Beatle links follow, as the Bonzo's were he artists that had a hit with I'm The Urban Spaceman, which was produced by Paul McCartney under the pseudonym of Apollo C Vermouth - the band also featuring in the stripper section of Magical Mystery Tour.

Once the Rutles had been shown on TV, an album of the music in the documentary was quickly put on the shelves. Closely following the themes, chord structures and harmonies of the Beatles - and the links being more apparent when seeing the recreation of performances from the TV film - I don't think many people would say that any of these songs would sound out of place on The Beatles Anthology! Doubleback Alley) Penny Lane influenced), Number One (Twist and Shout), Cheese and Onions (A Day in the Life - complete with ongoing note at the end) and I Must Be In Love (A Hard Day's Night and my personal favourite!) were perfect recreations - so much that whenever I Must Be Love is played it has to be credited to Neil Innes, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The bizarre thing to Rutles and Beatle fans is that even the Rutles have their own tribute band who sometimes appear at the annual Beatleweek in Liverpool!

First released in 1978, it featured many stars from the 60's including 'in-depth' interviews with Mick Jagger and Paul Simon talking about what the Rutles were like to work with, their rivalries and even their visit with The Rutles to Bognor (not Bangor!) to visit their own Maharishi - Arthur Sultan. Bianca Jagger proves to be a wonderful wife to Dirk McQuickly - one of the hilarious scenes from the film being when the two of them have just been married and it ends up with Bianca Jagger having to carry Dirk (Eric Idle) over the threshold. Michael Palin proves to be a wonderfully accurate Derek Taylor, being interviewed by George Harrison outside the Rutle Corps Headquarters. Another detail that is picked up by the producers if the Apple logo - The Rutles using a Banana as theirs! Even when the Beatles Anthology was released in 1995, the Rutles had their own version of it 1996 - Archaeology, a compilation of the Rutles great unreleased alternative versions of their songs and new found songs that had been 'lost' for many years. There's lots of laughs for the casual and hardcore Beatle fan alike, but one thing is for sure - you can watch it again and again and still find new details that you hadn't seen in a previous viewing! Even as I'm writing this, the second Rutles documentary incorporating music from the Archaeology album has been made - the only thing I want to add is… release it as soon as possible!

Special thanks to Ron Nasty, Dirk McQuickly, Barry Wom and Stig O'Hara for the hours of entertainment they've bought to us all!

For more information check out: www.pythonline.com www.neilinnes.org

Eleanor Wilde
TWIL Issue Eight August 2002