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Neil Innes: Eric Idle
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THE RUTLES, Eric Idle and Neil Innes' affectionate send-up of The Beatles, began as a sketch on Eric Idle's tv show Rutland Weekend Television, with music by Neil Innes. When it was shown on Saturday Night Live, audience response was enough for Lorne Michaels to give the go-ahead for Idle and Innes to collaborate on a tv movie, "All You Need is Cash." The film was and is a classic of musical comedy.
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Given that a cottage industry has sprung up around seemingly anything related to Monty Python, it's rather surprising that Neil Innes remains little more than a cult figure in America. As Python's unofficial musical director (you've seen and heard him in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, and Monty Python at the Hollywood Bowl), Innes has been a consistent presence in the group's post-TV work. As the musical mind behind the Rutles, his gift for both hooks and witty lyrics had as much to do with making that satire fly as Eric Idle's contribution. And the smart, surreal humor that dominates Innes' recordings (both with the Bonzo Dog Band and on his own) would seemingly be right up the alley of any Python fanatic -- and the guy ... knows how to write a great pop tune. Following the breakup of the Bonzo Dog Band, Innes briefly fronted a semi-serious pop band called the World before cutting his first solo album, 1973's How Sweet to Be an Idiot. Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues is essentially an expanded version of How Sweet to Be an Idiot, featuring all 11 songs from that LP along with some rare single sides, and it's as good a starting point as any for examining Innes' solo work.
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While firmly ensconced within the Bonzos, Neil first became acquainted (and vice-versa) with Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and Terry Jones while working on a TV program. The program was DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET, a children’s show whose viewers tended to skew a bit older than the intended audience. Eric, Mike, and the two Terrys went on to form MONTY PYTHON with Graham Chapman and John Cleese. The Pythons called on Neil’s musical skills numerous times over the years, particularly when producing their best-selling albums. When John Cleese decided to move on to greener pastures prior to PYTHON’s fourth series, Neil stepped into the void as a contributing writer and performer.
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It was during the latter-half of the ’70s... that Neil produced his most enduring work. While collaborating with Eric Idle on the post-Python TV series Rutland Weekend Television, the two devised a brief Hard Day’s Night parody with Idle portraying a boring filmmaker (so boring the camera ran from him) and Innes providing the Beatles-esque “I Must Be in Love.” During his next hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, Idle unleashed the short film on the American public. That led to SNL’s Lorne Michaels producing a mockumentary of the mock-band, named The Rutles, for NBC. All You Need Is Cash aired on March 22, 1978, starring Eric and Neil as one half of the “Pre-Fab Four” and featuring songs by Innes. In 1996, Innes reunited with Rutles bandmates John Halsey and Ricki Fataar to release The Rutles: Archeology, which sported 16 brand new tracks “discovered in the vaults,” a la The Beatles Anthology.
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It was during the latter-half of the 70s... that Neil produced his most enduring work. While collaborating with Eric Idle on the post-Python TV series RUTLAND WEEKEND TELEVISION, the two devised a brief HARD DAY’S NIGHT parody with Idle portraying a boring filmmaker (so boring the camera ran from him) and Innes providing the Beatles-esque “I Must Be in Love.” During his next hosting gig on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, Idle unleashed the short film on the American public. That led to SNL’s Lorne Michaels producing a mockumentary of the mock-band, named The Rutles, for NBC. ALL YOU NEED IS CASH aired on March 22, 1978, starring Eric and Neil as one half of the “Pre-Fab Four” and featuring songs by Innes. A beautiful pastiche of the Beatles sound, the album has endured as a work of art every bit as credible as the albums done by those four chaps from Liverpool.
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NEIL INNES: Gary Weis, Eric's co-director, was shooting it with the camera over his shoulder. The four policemen had clambered up on to the top of the wall. Suddenly, the glider shot into view over their heads, missing their helmets by about three feet. They went white as sheets.
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