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Customer Reviews of The Rutles

Dog-splosion
Before there was Spinal Tap there was The Rutles, who did the same as Tap but for the Beatles. Despite the participation of Eric Idle they were very good; for a generation of schoolchildren, the raising of the Mary Rose was a terrible disappointment. As with the first Spinal Tap album, The Rutles works as a set of catchy, amusing songs, even if you haven't seen 'All You Need is Cash', and most people haven't. Furthermore, the tracks are rarely more than three minutes long, and if you're into the Beatles the album is like delving into an alternative world where everything was wrong. Also, as with Tap, it's not gut-bustingly funny in itself, more dry chuckles than belly laughs.

It's occasionally uncanny; the Lennon imitation in 'Cheese and Onions' is spot-on, whilst 'Get Up and Go' and 'Let's Be Natural' sound like parallel universe versions of 'Get Back' and 'Dear Prudence'. Neil Innes, the musical brains behind the Rutles, has always seemed to be a frustrated 'straight' songwriter, and with only a little work most of the early period songs here could have been straight, Beatles-esque pop music, a bit like Badfinger or any number of late-80s jangly indie guitar groups ('I Must be in Love', the very first song written for the project, in particular).

The songs divide into those that spoof a particular song ('Ouch!' is a fairly close riff on 'Help!', whilst 'Hold My Hand' combines a lyrical parody of 'I Want to Hold My Hand' set to the music from 'She Loves You'), and those which ape a period or style. The title of 'Piggy in the Middle' references 'Piggies', the first half is a take on 'I Am the Walrus', whilst the last half copies the epic bit from 'Hey Jude' (it even has a backwards message). 'Cheese and Onions', for many people the highlight of the album, was originally written for Saturday Night Live as a parody of John Lennon's solo work ('Mother' and 'Imagine', in particular), although it has typically Beatles-y descending harmonies, and a fade-out which is an extremely funny spoof of 'A Day in the Life' (complete with epic, monumental piano strike - 'ding!').

Ironically the one thing that spoils the illusion is the sound engineering, which is too pristine and clear to fool the ear. Furthermore the arrangements are often sparser than those of the Beatles, most obviously on 'Piggy in the Middle', which imitates 'I am the Walrus', a famously dense-sounding song.

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Seriously funny spoof of The Beatles
I love The Rutles! The songs are superb imitations of The Beatles songs, yet they are more than that, as they are mostly great songs in their own write [whoops!] Neil Innes has created some very clever parodies, which often take a swipe at several Beatles songs at once. The lyrics are great fun. My favourite line is from Goosestep Mama, which is meant to be from The Rutles days in Hamburg:

"You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier!" [It may help if you say it out loud, but then again, maybe not!]

The parody on Roll Over Beethoven features a lyric about Blue Suede Schubert, the King of the Bop, and backing vocals "Bop Schubert, bop bop, Schubert" which make me crack a smile every time.

Some of my other favourite tracks are:
Doubleback Alley, parodying lyrics, melody and instrumentation of Penny Lane
Get Up and Go, which is lampooning Get Back
Living in Hope which will remind you of Ringo's masterpiece, Don't Pass Me By
With a Girl Like You effectively imitates If I Fell, and is also a pretty song
Ouch!, which is a very close imitation of Help!
Another Day could be serious if it weren't so close to Martha, My Dear's instrumentation and style

The original gramophone record featured a fantastic 18 page booklet, satirising the Magical Mystery Tour LP packaging. If you can find one in a second-hand shop, I am sure you will be rewarded, as it has much more material than the CD packaging [but the CD has 6 more songs].

I also recommend Archeology, which is an inventive poke in the eye at The Beatles' Anthology.

Highly recommended

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It's some of the most ridiculous songs ever
I found this in a bargin bin in December of 84. I found it for the most part a big steaming pile of shaving cream. Don't forget this is a family webpage. There was some demented genius here with "Good Times Roll" where they play to the tune of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", There is also "Cheese and Onions" not a good mix. "Hold My Hand" which is to the tune of "All My Loving" qualifies as a competent love song, and "Piggy In The Middle" was done to the tune of "I Am The Walrus", but to me should've been released this year as these are songs that would probably be big hits right now as Rock and Roll is truly dead.