Quoted from theBEATLESrock_on

i gotta check this out!

Yes you do!

Gosh that looks great! I don't know when I will be able to check it out, my boyfriend hates the beatles, and hates satire films like those, so I will have to watch it when he is at work or something, but I Really wanna see it now, where can I find the films in their entirety?

Sarge, you're gonna haveta get the DVD







Just tell him it's a documentary.

Here is what I've written about the Rutles:


In the late Seventies, Eric Idle, a former member of the hugely successful Monty Python comedy team, conceived the most spectacular Beatles parody – ‘The Rutles.’

Eric had been given his own half-hour BBC 2 series which he called ‘Rutland Weekend Television’, taking the name from the smallest British county.

In one episode he introduced the Rutles in a sketch that featured the Neil Innes number ‘I Must Be In Love.’ The Beatles spoof went down so well that Eric decided to plan a full-scale script and Neil set to work composing a series of songs parodying various Beatles numbers.

The programme was first broadcast in America on NBC TV in mid-March 1978 and the British screening took place on BBC 2 on 27 March.

The Rutles career closely parallels that of the Beatles: In Liverpool at the beginning of the Sixties, Arthur Scouse, who has won the Rutles in a bet, decides to send them to Hamburg. The liner notes on the Rutles album take up the story:

“Thinking that Hamburg was just outside Liverpool, they accepted. It turned out to be not only in Germany, but in the very worst part of Germany. The Reeperbahn in Hamburg is one of the naughtiest streets in the world. This is where they ended up, far from home – and far from talented.

In those days there was a fifth Rutle, Leppo, who mainly stood at the back. He couldn’t play the guitar but he knew how to have a good time, and in Hamburg that was more difficult. For five hungry working-class lads there are worst places than prison – and the Rat Keller in Hamburg is one.

For fifteen months, night after night, they played the Rat Keller before they finally escaped and returned to Liverpool. In the rush they lost Leppo. He had crawled into a trunk with a small German fraulein and was never seen again.”

The Rutles career begins to take off when they are discovered at the Cavern Rutland in 1961 by a retail chemist from Bolton called Leggy Mountbatten.

The liner notes continue:

“Dirk McQuickly, Ron Nasty, Stig O’Hara and Barry Wom received their biggest boost to fame when Leggy bought them trousers. He’d also bought them suits, arranged photographic sessions, made tapes and took the material down to London where most people were impressed – by their trousers!

“Their A&R man Archie Macaw was to say, “He showed me the tapes and photographs of the Rutles. They were pretty rough but they had something. I think it was their trousers.”

“He recommended them to music publisher Dick Jaws, who was to say: “I liked the trousers right away. I’d been in the garment trade myself and knew a thing or two about inseams, and these were clearly winners.”

As the Rutles begin their rise to fame they travel on a ‘ferry ‘cross the Mersey’, and their fans are shown chasing policemen at a concert. Mick Jagger comments on how he first met the group: “I suppose when we were living in Edith Grove in London and we were living in squalor and we didn’t have any money and there were the Rutles on TV with girls chasing them and we thought this can’t be difficult, so we thought we’d have a go ourselves.”

Mick relates how the Rutles came to see the Rolling Stones at Richmond when they were billed as the South’s answer to the Rutles. Dirk was trying to hustle them to record one of his songs. Mick describes the Rutles appearance at Che Stadium and events at Bognor, when he joined the Rutles in a mystical experience.

“We all got on the train together and someone was very late, one of the girls, they’re always late. Nasty thought we were trying to get on the Rutles mystical bandwagon, which wasn’t true at all, we were just as eager to find out what was going on at this board-tapping thing at Bognor as anybody

“Anyway, we had a bit of board-tapping and nothing much happened, we didn’t reach anywhere much, and we had to spend the night there in a youth-hostel type place and I remember I was with Marianne Faithfull and we only had single beds in the hotel so Marianne and I put the beds together so that we could sleep together on the floor and Nasty came in and said, “Oh, Mick, all you think about is fucking sex, man. We’re down here for board-tapping, not sex!”

A Pathetique News item ‘The Prefab Four’ is shown and then we join the Rutles at their Civic Reception in Liverpool. As Rutlemania hits Britain, they appear at the Royal Variety Show, where Nasty bows to the Royal box and says, “We’d like to dedicate this next number to a very special lady in the audience tonight…Barry’s mum!”

The group have hit after hit in the charts: ‘Rut Me Do’, ‘Twist And Rut’ and ‘Please Rut Me.’

They are presented with MBE’s, conduct a press conference, fly to the United States, where they have another press conference. In New York, Bill Murray, a D.J., latches on to the group.

Paul Simon recalls the group and tells how he first noticed Rutlemania during a trip to England early in 1963: “There were music papers, I don’t remember the names – Mersey Beat, Rutle Beat, there might have been one called Rutlemania, but they were just focussed on the activities of the Rutles,” and he mentions the first time he met Nasty:

“I met Nasty about two days after I met Dirk. They were together and we were at the screening of some avant-garde film in a hotel in London. He was there and Dirk was carrying this portable tape machine with him and whoever he spoke to he’d put the microphone out in front of them and it was extremely intimidating. It was intimidating anyway to be in the same room with them.”

He went on to say, “People say who will be the next Rutles, you know. I don’t think there will be a next Rutles. I think there will be something else, you know, some other entirely new transformation.”

Rutland Television sent a commentator – Eric Idle – to trace the Rutles story. Following scenes of their American debut on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show,’ the commentator brings us back to modern times as he moves from California to New Orleans seeking interviews with legendary musicians such as Blind Lemon Pye and Rambling Orange Peel. We see covers of albums such as ‘A Hard Day’s Rut’, receive garbled recollections from real-life Liverpool poet Roger McGough and view clips from Australia, London and Greece.

Brian Thigh, a record company executive, then tells how he turned down the opportunity of singing with the group.

The band is next shown filming ‘Ouch!’ in Switzerland; we then follow them on their second tour of America when they appear at the Che Stadium, named after the famous guerrilla leader. The group arrive at the gig by helicopter a day early, which enabled them to leave before the audience arrived – although, with so much noise, nobody really noticed they weren’t there!

After further reminiscences from Mick Jagger, the Rutles’ story is taken up to 1966, when Nasty was misquoted about God.

American papers claimed that he had said that “The Rutles are bigger than God.” As a result, Rutles records were burned and there was a huge anti-Rutles campaign until Nasty explained that what he had actually said was that they were bigger than ‘Rod’, meaning Rod Stewart, who wouldn’t become a big star for another eight years.

Another controversy arose the following year when Bob Dylan introduced them to tea. They claimed that the pleasant effects of a warm cuppa inspired them to create the great ‘Sergeant Rutters Only Darts Club Band’ album, a milestone in rock music history.

Paul Simon discusses the Rutles once more and we are treated to gossip about the group’s romances. After comments by David Frost we hear of the group’s dismay when Leggy left them to take up a teaching post in Australia in 1968.

Inspired by their new guru, Arthur Sultan, the Surrey mystic (a hot shot on a Ouija board), they made their TV special ‘Tragical History Tour.’ This was the story of four Oxford History Professors on a walking tour of English Tea Shops. It was a flop and they were savaged by the critics.

Dirk and Nasty flew to New York and announced the launch of their own business empire, Rutle Corps – a project doomed to failure.

As Rutles Press Agent Eric Manchester discusses the venture, members of the staff loot their offices and Hell’s Angels arrive. The Rutles then become involved in the animated feature film ‘Yellow Submarine Sandwich.’

Nasty meets an artist called Chastity at an exhibition of her Destructo Art. He falls in love with this sinister figure in SS uniform; meanwhile Stig falls in love with a large-breasted American lady called Gertrude Strange and Barry spends a year in bed as a tax dodge. Stig has earlier been the subject of a ‘Stig is dead’ rumour following bizarre ‘clues’ on the Rutles ‘Shabby Road’ album.

Ron Decline is called in to run their Rutle Corps, but this much feared figure causes them further problems. They make ‘Let It Rut’ in 1970, filming on the rooftop of the Rutles Corps building.

Finally, they begin to drift apart, with Dirk joining the Punk Floyd, Barry becoming a hairdresser and the others involving themselves in various ventures. The Rutles era has come to an end.

The film was made on location in Liverpool, London, New York and New Orleans, and was conceived and written by Eric Idle, who also took the roles of S. J. Krammerhead and the commentator.

The Prefab Four were: Eric as Dirk McQuickly (the Paul figure), Neil Innes as Ron Nasty (the John figure), John Halsey as Barry Wom (the Ringo figure) and Rikki Fataar as Stig O’Hara (the George figure). The film was directed by Gary Weis and Eric Idle.

George Harrison made an appearance as an interviewer and, in addition to Mick Jagger and Paul Simon, other rock celebrities appeared in the film. The cast included: Bianca Jagger (Martini); Gwen Taylor (Chastity); Carinthia West (the Bigamy Sisters); Penelope Tree (Penelope); Terence Bayler (Leggy Mountbatten); Michael Palin (Eric Manchester); Frank Williams (Archie Macaw); Barry Cryer (Dick Jaws); Robert Putt (roadie); Dan Aykroyd (Brian Thigh); John Belushi (Ron Decline); Al Franken, Tom David (Decline’s henchmen); Jeanette Charles (HM, the Queen); Ronnie Wood (I. J. Waxley, a Hell’s Angel); Gwen Taylor (Mrs Iris Mountbatten); Ollie Halsall (Leppo); Gilda Radnor (passer-by); Bill Murray (Bill Murray the K);
Jerome Green (Blind Lemon Pye); Bob Gibson (Rambling Orange Peel); Pat Perkins (Mrs Peel) and Bunny May (journalist).

In addition to lovingly recreating all the major events in the Beatles chequered career, The Rutles project was meticulous in its attention to detail.

Neil Innes’ excellent parodies of the Beatles music was released as an album, ‘The Rutles’ on WEA Records. As well as writing the music and lyrics, the album was produced by Innes, who played guitar, keyboards and sang. The other musicians included Ollie Halsall (guitar/keyboard/vocals); Rikki Fataar (guitar/bass/vocals/sitar/tabla); John Halsey (percussion/vocals) and Andy Brown (bass).

The songs featured in the actual mockumentary were: ‘Goose-Step Mama’; ‘Number One’; ‘Baby Let Me Be’; ‘Hold My Hand’; Blue Suede Schubert; ‘I Must Be In Love’; ‘With A Girl Like You’; ‘Between Us’; ‘Living In Hope’; ‘Ouch!’; ‘It’s Looking Good’; ‘Doubleback Alley’; ‘Good Times Roll’; ‘Nevertheless’ ‘Love Life’; ‘Piggy In The Middle’;  ‘Another Day’; ‘Cheese and Onions’; ‘Get Up And Go’; ‘Let’s Be Natural’.

There was also an album issued on 24 February 1978 featuring the tracks: ‘I Must Be In Love’; ‘Ouch!’; ‘Living In Hope’; ‘Love Life’; ‘Nevertheless’; ‘Good Times Roll’; ‘Doubleback Alley’; ‘Cheese And Onions’; ‘Another Day’; ‘Piggy In The Middle’; ‘Let’s Be Natural’.

I love the bit about Bob Dylan introducing them to tea; the improbable images it conjures up are hilarious. I also can't help but wonder if Barry Wom's idea of spending a year in bed as a tax dodge isn't worth a try.

There's a documentary on Neil Innes coming up. Trailer here:

It was Neil Innes' wife Yvonne who designed the George Harrison garden at the Chelsea Flower Show. She said, “I believe that if he hadn’t been a musician, he’d have gone on to become a landscape gardener. He had the ability and was fascinated by gardening.”

Yvonne used to help George with his designs for gardening at Friar Park, the 120 room Victorian mansion which George lived in. She also says, “He had a natural eye for where things should go in a garden. He would buy rocks or plants and place them very precisely and in such a way that they always looked absolutely perfect.

“I’d wanted to go a garden here for Chelsea for George for a while. I know most people never saw the garden side of him. Olivia was really supportive of the idea.

The first area of the garden was set against a red brick background and reflected George’s early days in Liverpool. Next there was a Sixties section with bright flowers to simulate psychedelic colours’ All George’s favourite bits of greenery were featured and there was a huge glass sun with the titles of George’s songs etched onto it. Interwoven with his song lyrics there was a photograph of him and a large ‘Here Comes The Sun’ emblem. The more mature years were featured in the next section which was a tranquil lawn of moss, ferns and grasses. The final part of the garden represented George’s spiritual life and his belief in an afterlife, with an oriental style pavilion surrounded by fragrant flowers.

Aw, that's such a sweet story about Yvonne and George's gardening.

I will definitely see the Neil Innes documentary when it comes out... but only if it's an untold story.