The Rutles (album)
1978 soundtrack album by The Rutles / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Rutles (alternately titled Meet The Rutles) is a soundtrack album to the 1978 telemovie All You Need Is Cash. The album contains 14 of the tongue-in-cheek pastiches of Beatles songs that were featured in the film.
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The Rutles | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | March 1978 (1978-03)[1] | |||
Genre | Comedy rock, rock and roll | |||
Length | 36:13 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. Records | |||
The Rutles chronology | ||||
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Neil Innes chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Christgau's Record Guide | C[3] |
The primary creative force of the Rutles' music was Neil Innes, the sole composer and arranger of the songs. In the late 1960s, Innes had been the "seventh" member of Monty Python as well as one of the main artists behind the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, who had been featured in the real Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film performing "Death Cab for Cutie".
Innes credits the three musicians he recruited to assist him on the project as having been important in helping him capture the feel of the Beatles. Guitarist/singer Ollie Halsall and drummer John Halsey had played together in the groups Timebox and Patto. Multi-instrumentalist Ricky Fataar had played with the Flames before joining the Beach Boys in the early 1970s.
Eric Idle, who devised the Rutles concept and co-wrote the film, did not play or sing on any of the recordings; he offered to help, but had recently had an appendectomy, so he was encouraged to recuperate instead. George Harrison, having encouraged Idle and Innes to make a film that satirised the Beatles' history, and lent them archival footage for inclusion in the film,[4][5] facilitated the album's release by introducing them to the chairman of Warner Bros. Records, Mo Ostin.[6]
The pastiches mimic the Beatles' sound to the degree that a 1978 Beatles bootleg, Indian Rope Trick, included the Rutles' "Cheese and Onions", attributing it to John Lennon. In the early 1980s, Innes was accused by one American Beatle fan of stealing unreleased Beatles tracks to use in the film; this was based on a recording of "Cheese and Onions" obtained by the fan which he believed to be by John Lennon. When the recording was played to Innes, he was amused to discover that it was actually his own demo of the song.
Innes was taken to court by the owners of the Beatles' catalogue, alleging copyright infringement of their songs. Innes had to testify under oath that he had not listened to the songs at all while composing the Rutles' songs, but had created them completely originally based on what he remembered various Beatles songs sounding like at different times.