As most of you no doubt know, George Harrison was a big fan of Monty Python. I'm reading Monty Python's "Autobiography by the Pythons" and there was a satisfying sequence about George Harrison singing in the first American show that Monty Python ever did.  It was at New York at the City Center in April 1976. The Pythons say:

Eric Idle: George Harrison was a great pal of mine, and one night he came and asked if he could do the "Lumberjack Song" and we said, "Yeah, of course".  So he came on stage at City Center and he did the "Lumberjack Song" as a Mountie, and nobody knew it was George.  Harry Nilsson found out George had done it and so the next night Harry is going to do it but Harry is pissed as a f*rt, and makes a big display. ... Nobody ever recognized it was George, which was really cool and very typically George.

John Cleese: George was wonderful.  He came up on stage with us as a Mountie and sang the "Lumberjack Song" impeccably and I don't suppose 10 percent of the audience knew he was up there.  And then Harry Nilsson came up and tried to take the show over, just one huge inflated ego, he wouldn't do his Mountie's jacket up properly, and insisted on wearing dark glasses.  A Mountie in dark glasses?  And then at the end of the show he started shaking hands with the audience and obviously just wanted as much attention as he could get.  I was struck by the extraordinary contrast between George, who did it so beautifully and aesthetically, and Nilsson who was just a sort of egotistical drunk.  It doesn't mean that he wasn't a nice chap but under those circumstances he didn't behave the way he should have done.


Gotta love George. What a class act!

There are several cool George/Monty Python anecdotes, but I just saw this and wanted to share. Cheers!

Quoted from harihead

[...]
Eric Idle: George Harrison was a great pal of mine, [...]

Jim Keltner talking about George ...

"Was it meaningful for you to have spent some time with him at the end of his life?

Oh, God, you can't imagine. My whole deal with George was that I never gave up for a minute, not even till the very last second. We saw him on Sunday, and he died on Thursday, and I didn't believe it. When we left him that day, we were walking three feet off the ground as we got to the car. We had been talking and laughing with him a little bit, and he seemed to have rallied and had his strength, and it was just so wonderful. God, it was just fantastic: "Hi, Jimmy." It just was such a great gift. That's what I'm holding onto. Eric Idle was there one night. When Eric walked in, George just beamed. He started laughing, and he raised his hand to Eric and held his hand, and was actually laughing. I will never forget that moment in my entire life. He was such a huge Eric Idle fan. Just the thought of Eric made him laugh. He was always quoting Eric. And so to see Eric walk in and have George just brighten up like that and start laughing, it was just fantastic.

He seemed to die as he lived, with remarkable dignity."

P.S. Thanks for this thread, harihead!  

Quoted from harihead

[...]
Eric Idle: George Harrison was a great pal of mine, and one night he came and asked if he could do the "Lumberjack Song" and we said, "Yeah, of course".  [...]

George Harrison produced the song the year before:
Lumberjack Song / Spam Song
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Released November 14, 1975 in the UK

from here: http://www.hariscruffs.com/discography2.html

This is what I've read about that show ...

"Tuesday April 20, 1976
Still in America, George, wearing the uniform of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, appears unannounced with his friends the Monty Python comedy team at New York's City Center, at West 55th Street, during their performance of 'The Lumberjack Song'. He had, in fact, been watching the first half of the show from the audience and went backstage at the interval. The Python team, starting a three-week run at the venue, invited him to join the cast during the song. "George is a lumberjack freak. He used that song on his tour to introduce the show," says Nancy Lewis, Monty Python's American manager. (Incidentally, the former Beatle is such a fan of the song that, when George and Olivia go on holiday during the late Seventies and early Eighties, he will use the name "Jack Lumber" as an alias.)"


... here: http://wingspan.ru/bookseng/diary2/b09_1976.html

Now this is what i call a good thread!!  
Nice one Harihead!!!!

Hope you are loving the Python biography! i thought you might like
to know that i've heard that all the Python tv series will be remastered
on dvd soon! I always found it odd that you can't buy every episode on dvd
but just a best of boxset i had. But i do have an import boxset with all the
series on.
I'm always quoting Python!

Quoted from harihead

[...]there was a satisfying sequence about George Harrison singing in the first American show that Monty Python ever did.  It was at New York at the City Center in April 1976. [...]

Few months before ...



"Saturday December 13, 1975
Today, at the BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane, London, George, as pirate "Bob", records a special Boxing Day edition of Rutland Weekend Television, featuring his exclusive performance of the Harrison/Eric Idle composition 'The Pirate Song' which appears at the very end of the show with the credits running over the top. George also makes further cameo appearances in the 31-minute programme, including one where he is dressed as a pirate. The show, which also features such comic delights as How To Ski In Your Own Home and the Christmas play entitled Santa Doesn't Live Here Anymore, is broadcast for the first time on BBC2 on December 26 between 10:55 and 11:26pm. (Rutland Weekend Television, besides being the show that first introduced The Rutles to the nation, is a comedy series centred around a small TV station in Rutland and was created by Eric Idle, one of the brains behind The Rutles and a founder member of the Monty Python comedy team)"

from here: http://wingspan.ru/bookseng/diary2/b08_1975.html

You can see that clip here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSIjlUMV6Is




But it's uploaded here (13,7 Mb) for you:
http://rapidshare.com/files/24969915/George_Harrison_-_Pirate_Song.wmv.html

And the lyrics ...

excellent!! one of the most amazing things about George was his modesty I reckon  

I like that quote from John Cleese- I've often wondered how well George and John Cleese knew each other or how well they got on because I've heard things about George and Eric Idle or Michael Palin but never John Cleese- and then I wondered why John Cleese didn't attend 'concert for George' - anyone know??

I love George's pirate song!! If you look here, someone has kindly posted all the individual rutland clips of George as a pirate including the pirate song at the end. It really cracks me up- especially the clip when he's out of character trying to get the other guy to get his pirate scene in haha. He really was quite the actor! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AarhZScyuz0&mode=related&search=

and just because I love george so much and though I'm sure we've all seen this but let's watch it again!- George's cameo in the rutles film 'all you need is cash'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YViPPlvR1kQ&mode=related&search=

Quoted from tangerine

[...] I wondered why John Cleese didn't attend 'concert for George' - anyone know??
[...]

The Pythons in 2002 for Concert for George, recreating the famous 'Lumberjack song'

"Idle has responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in the early 1990s about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but then he added a classic Python spin: "we're talking to his agent about terms."

[...]

"Four of the remaining Pythons (excluding John Cleese) reunited along with Python associate Neil Innes for a Concert for George salute to Harrison on the first anniversary of Harrison's death in 2002."

from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python#Python_.28Monty.29_Pictures

Quoted from tangerine

and just because I love george so much and though I'm sure we've all seen this but let's watch it again!- George's cameo in the rutles film 'all you need is cash'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YViPPlvR1kQ&mode=related&search=

Great, tangerine!!!  



"The Rutles were played by Idle, John Halsey, Ricky Fataar, and Neil Innes, with Fataar replacing David Battley who had appeared as Stig O' Hara in the original sketch. Former Beatle George Harrison appeared in the film as a reporter."

from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Need_Is_Cash





A driving force behind Python in the late 1970s was George Harrison, who not only funded Life of Brian but guest-starred as Mr. Papadopolous (though his voice is dubbed by Palin), and also produced a number of their songs from that period, including "The Lumberjack Song" single. He also made a cameo appearance in Idle and Neil Innes' cult Beatles parody All You Need Is Cash (aka The Rutles), which also featured cameo appearances by three members of America's Saturday Night Live team - produced by Broadway Video, SNL's production company. Harrison even claimed in an interview that "Monty Python helped me get over the trauma of the breakup of the Beatles."

from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python#Python_.28Monty.29_Pictures

Tom Hankes took John Cleese place but i've no idea why he didn't attend.
Another one i always wondered was ehy Bob Dylan didn't attend  (as he was
probley George's fav songwriter of all time).

Quoted from Andy Smith

Tom Hankes took John Cleese place but i've no idea why he didn't attend.
Another one i always wondered was ehy Bob Dylan didn't attend  (as he was
probley George's fav songwriter of all time).

It seems that he was touring   ... but who knows the reason?
http://dmbeatles.com/forums/b-harrison/m-1163234885/

Quoted from raxo

Great, tangerine!!!  


Former Beatle George Harrison appeared in the film as a reporter."

from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Need_Is_Cash

Yes, he was Eric Manchester taking off Derek Taylor ( i did come in once & found
my office had been nicked!! )

Quoted from raxo

It seems that he was touring   ...

Ah, that would explain it!

... but who knows the reason?  
http://dmbeatles.com/forums/b-harrison/m-1163234885/

Quoted from raxo

Great, tangerine!!!  


Former Beatle George Harrison appeared in the film as a reporter."

from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Need_Is_Cash

Yes, he was Eric Manchester taking off Derek Taylor ( i did come in once & found
my office had been nicked!! )

"George Harrison, who became friends with several members of the cast, said that he regarded Monty Python as 'continuing the spirit' of The Beatles.

[...]




Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)

[...]

The project was saved by George Harrison, who immediately set up Handmade Films to finance Brian - budgeted at that time at J5 million. He later quipped that he did so because having read the script he simply wanted to see the film. The Pythons have joked that it is the most anyone has ever paid for a cinema ticket.

Brian also featured brief cameos from George Harrison

A driving force behind Python in the late 1970s was George Harrison, who not only funded Life of Brian but guest-starred as Mr. Papadopolous (though his voice is dubbed by Palin), and also produced a number of their songs from that period, including "The Lumberjack Song" single. He also made a cameo appearance in Idle and Neil Innes' cult Beatles parody All You Need Is Cash (aka The Rutles), which also featured cameo appearances by three members of America's Saturday Night Live team - produced by Broadway Video, SNL's production company. Harrison even claimed in an interview that "Monty Python helped me get over the trauma of the breakup of the Beatles."

from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python


"The film would not have been made without George Harrison, who set up Handmade Films to help fund it, after the subject matter scared off the original backers, EMI Films. Terry Gilliam later said, "They pulled out on the Thursday. The crew was supposed to be leaving on the Saturday. Disastrous. It was because they read the script... finally." Harrison appears in a cameo role as Mr. Papadopoulos, owner of "The Mount", who shakes hands with Brian."

from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Life_of_Brian

I've always thought of comparisons between the Beatles & Python, George said
that the two groups were so alike in many ways,
for instance:

the beatles broke up when Python started so that some-what
beatle spirit passed on.

Beatles wrote classic songs while Python wrote classic sketches.

Both groups wrote their own material. (lennon-mcCartney, - Cleese-chapman,
palin-jones) (or wrote on own Eric Idle - George harrison)

the first beatles single came out on 5th october 1962 while
the first python episode transmitted on 5th october 1969! Neither the
single or episode were huge successes at first.

Both groups either sang or spoke about important issues (life, love, death, etc)

Both the beatles & python were & still are very funny! & cheecky!

I like Monty Python a lot. They remind me of The Beatles' sense of humour. But not always, I have to say.

I've always thought that George liked MP so much because their humour is so similar to Hard Day's Night-type stuff. Whenever I see that movie, I think of Monty Python.

Eric Idle, that shameless copy cat...

...kidding. I'm a Python fan. Love 'em to death.

"While filming the last scene of Monty Python's Life of Brian, the cast were bored and hot sitting up on their crucifixes. So Eric Idle started singing a little ditty. Everyone (but Eric) liked it so much that they decided to use it. It has since become one of their most popular songs.

Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman) has been sentenced to death by crucifixion for his part in a kidnap plot. After a succession of apparent rescue opportunities all come to nothing, a character on a nearby cross (played by Eric Idle) attempts to cheer him up by singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" to him. As the song progresses, many of the other crucifixion victims (140 in all, according to the script, though fewer than that are actually seen on screen) begin to dance in a very limited way and join in with the song's whistled hook. The song continues as the scene changes to a long-shot of the crosses and the credits begin to roll. An instrumental version plays over the second half of the credits."

"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was conceived as a parody of the style of song often featured in Disney films. It may be considered an 'answer song' to the entire genre, but particularly to songs such as "Give a Little Whistle" from Pinocchio. Its appearance at the end of the film, when the central character seems certain to die, is deliberately ironic.



Eric Idle singing at the end of Monty Python’s Life of Brian.


The song opens with an introductory verse (half-sung with an acoustic guitar backing on the soundtrack album and most subsequent versions, though simply spoken unaccompanied in the film itself):

'Some things in life are bad,'
'They can really make you mad,'
'Other things just make you swear and curse,'
'When you're chewing on life's gristle,'
'Don't grumble, give a whistle,'
'And this'll help things turn out for the best, and...'

This deviation from the standard rhyme scheme (with 'best' replacing the expected 'worse' to rhyme with 'curse') leads into the first appearance of the chorus, which consists of the title and a whistled tune. A second verse continues in a similar vein, and the third and fourth verses move on to discuss the situation (namely, imminent death) in which Brian now finds himself, and alludes to the Shakespearean cliche that 'all the world's a stage':

'You'll see it's all a show,'
'Keep 'em laughing as you go,'
'Just remember that the last laugh is on you.'

The whistled hook is an uncredited contribution from Idle's frequent collaborator Neil Innes. One occurrence in the final chorus was omitted at the insistence of the film's executive producer

George Harrison, so as not to obscure a pet phrase in John Altman's orchestral arrangement."


from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life

The film scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo

Quoted from raxo

[i]"While filming the last scene of Monty Python's Life of Brian, the cast were bored and hot sitting up on their crucifixes. So Eric Idle started singing a little ditty. Everyone (but Eric) liked it so much that they decided to use it.

Hmm, the Wikipedia version differs from the one that Eric gave during the Monty Python anniversary special.  In that special, which I have on tape, Eric explains that they needed a closer for the movie.  He came up with the song, "Always look on the bright side of life", and everyone hated it.  "I sang it very straight," said Eric. "They just didn't think it was funny."

Eric was also playing a character called Mr. Cheeky.  He's the guy who gets saved at the end by being a wiseacre.  Anyway, Mr. Cheeky used a Cockney accent.  Eric came up with the idea of applying a Cockney accent to his song and, bingo, it suddenly worked. That's why this character pops out of nowhere at the end, and starts singing the lyrics with the accent that we all recognize.

Eric also told a very moving story about that song.  During the Falklands Islands battles, one of the British ships was damaged and was sinking.  The crew, awaiting rescue for a couple of hours at least, started to sing "Always look on the bright side of life".  Eric said that was the most flattering tribute he ever had in his life.

^Awesome, harihead!!!I didn't know that, thanks for the explanaction!



By the way, I've uploaded a different clip of the song (non the film scene) here (49 Mb):
http://rapidshare.com/files/24.....Life_Stereo.avi.html

The Python Rules!!!!!!!My fiancee' is a Huge Fan!!!!!!!!!

Is your wife interesting in photography?
Snap Snap Grin Grin Wink Wink Say No More!!!!

Quoted from Andy Smith

Is your wife interesting in photography?
Snap Snap Grin Grin Wink Wink Say No More!!!!

Is your wife a woman? i BET SHE IS. I bet she is. Wink Wink Nudge Nudge.

a nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat ay? ay?

Does your wife like games eh? She's been around, eh? Been around?

Oh, wicked. Wicked. You're wicked. Eh? Know what I mean. Know what I mean?

pure genius! Anytime people talk about Monty Python though, I tend to go off on a spiel about George! I'm so pleased that George had Monty Python as a way to show his high quality, wonderfully python-esque humour  

This is a bit off topic, but I read somewhere (wish I could re-find where it was!) that whilst John and George thought the Rutles were really funny, Paul was really unamused by them, and found the whole thing irritating...! It didn't really suprise me though- he seems to have a different sense of humour- maybe it's just that it is less 'off the wall' ?!  

Yes, it does seem odd because all the Beatles seem to share the
same sense of humor. Maybe Paul thought it was taking the micky (which
in some way it is) but i've always put the film down as a tribute to the Liverpool lads!
I biught the Rutles DVD some time back & i was listening to Eric Idle's
commentery where he said that, 'Linda McCartney loved the movie but never said
anything about paul.
George did say that, 'if you want to know about the Beatles, just watch the Rutles' !

I just ran across some interesting George interactions with the Pythons in Michael Palin's diary entries from the 70's. See:

http://www.deardiary.net/show/diaries/6814/1179878400

Michael mentions the Live at City Center show that opened this thread. It's sad that George was apparently in poor health when he did his "Lumberjack" performance.  George did seem to have recurring health problems throughout his life. Poor buddy. *hugs his memory*

I've seen the second bit before, but never the first part with George as a pirate! Just thought I'd share the secret - forget rabbits (although they may be killers, Ah tell you!), George is a pirate!

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=5048336

I dont think Mon