Songwriter extraordinaire, Neil Innes, has passed away. Innes was best known for his musical contributions to Monty Python (remember Bravely Bold Sir Robin Ran Away?), the Bonzo Dog Band, and the brilliant Beatles mockumentary band, The Rutles. Innes began his career with fellow art school pals in the mid-1960s with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, which became a feature act on Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967-1969). The show's cast included future Pythons, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Eric Idle. The Bonzos also made an appearance singing Innes' tune "Deathcab For Cutie" in The Beatles film, Magical Mystery Tour (1967) and recorded their hit, Urban Space Man (produced by Paul McCartney) in 1968. Their work was collected in a CD compilation called Dog's Life: 1967-1972. Innes continued to work closely with the Pythons in the 1970s, writing songs and appearing in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Life of Brian, and collaborating on the troupe's extensive live shows. In a brief period when Cleese left the group, Innes became one of the only non-Pythons credited as a Python writer (an honor he shared with Hitchhiker's Guide author Douglas Adams). Innes also joined the Pythons on stage in the 2002 tribute to George Harrison, who famously financed The Life of Brian and was a great supporter of The Rutles projects. More below. In recent years the Bonzos spent some precious energy reclaiming their name from a legal entanglement. And Neil Innes kept busy, producing new CDs and playing limited tours and engagements. Collaborators and fans have reached out to social media this morning. Michael Palin wrote: "Neil was one of the best. A terrifically accomplished musician, writer and performer who could make people laugh, cry and dance, all at the same time. He had an eye and ear for the surreal and a gentleness at the heart of all his work which made him the most delightful of companions." John Cleese shared this on Twitter: "Utterly dismayed to hear about Neil Innes. Right out of the blue... A very sweet man, much too nice for his own good. Lovely writer and performer. When he worked with Python on our stage show, I listened every night to "How sweet to be an Idiot" on the tannoy." Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Doctor Who): "Neil Innes has gone. As a Python-obsessed teen I saw him at Darlington Arts Centre & missed my bus home to catch his brilliance. I used to record ‘The Innes Book of Records’ on C-60s & marvel at his talent. I still hum ‘I like Cezanne, says Anne’. Sweet dreams, sweet idiot." Close collaborator throughout Do Not Adjust Your Set, Python and The Rutles, Eric Idle, seemed to allude to his distance from Innes in more recent years with this statement on Twitter: "Writer, reader, husband, father, Dogfather, dog owner, guitarist, humorist, humanist, satirist, cricket fan. Have finger will block." I think SpyVibers will enjoy Neil's musical cocktail of humor and heart. Some of my favorite moments include: The Bonzos performing "Look Out, There's A Monster Coming" (Do Not Adjust You're Set), "Brave Sir Robin Ran Away" (Holy Grail), "A Short Blues" (Python Live at the Civic Center), and every second of The Rutles: All You Need is Cash (1978). Innes had a great ability to blend humor and surrealism with moments of great emotional comment and poignancy. Two Rutles songs come to mind: "Cheese and Onions" (a Yellow Submarine-style sequence ala John Lennon) and "Questionnaire" (a Lennon-style number that sneaks in a sombre statement about gun violence). Spend some time today with Neil Innes on Youtube and you'll see what I mean. Bonzo. Python. Rutle. Gone Sunday at 75. Below: Neil Innes with the Bonzos, The Rutles, The Pythons (Giliam, Idle, Jones), with Eric Idle in 2008, and "Questionnaire". Sending my condolences to his family and friends.
Monty Python's Flying Circus made its TV debut 50 years ago on this day in 1969! The combination of these six talented writers/performers combusted in a cocktail of Goon-like silliness, satirical wit, astounding surrealist flights of imagination, and Beatle-like magic that was sheer genius. It's been all dead parrots, killer rabbits, silly walks, Spanish Inquisitions, and wink wink nudge nudge ever since. Like many kids in the US, my introduction to the group was a two-pronged invasion of hilarious comedy records and late night PBS. One of my fondest memories of childhood was watching my best friend Alec's dad, Strome Lamon (Director of corporate advertising at Simon and Schuster) sitting in his chair watching the family TV with tears streaming down his face in fits of ecstatic laughter. He really opened up the world of British comedy to me (thank you, Strome). It was great to have that kind of support from adults to learn about humor and to cultivate my curiosity. I had a copy of Python's Live at the Civic Center album and I'm pretty sure I forced to Alec memorize all the skits with me one summer so we could perform it verbatim (in accents) to his parents (thank you, Alec). My mom was also a supportive audience as I continued to pursue this newfound love of recitation. Little did I know Alec and I were joining a growing population (cult?) of kids who obsess over the Pythons and trade lines of dialog in darkened hallways like secret handshakes. I think knowledge of their brilliant skits and movie scenes became a kind of cultural currency. And I'm happy to report that even my current 9th graders say they know kids who still do that. There is hope! During my summer in the UK this year I was super lucky to see Michael Palin give a talk about his new book and an overview of his career (loved it!)- and amazingly caught up with him again at the National Archives for a talk about his travels during the end of the Soviet Union. I'm happy to say I've also been lucky to see John Cleese and Eric Idle a number of times in person and every experience has brought me right back to that fundamental love for the incredible intelligence, sense of humor, off the charts imagination, and deep humanity of this group of guys. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Monty Python, Spy Vibers can look forward to many new releases and cool events. The BFI have released two restored (and more complete) DVD sets of the great pre-Python series, At Last the 1948 Show and Do Not Adjust Your Set, and UK distributer Network have put together a gigantic restored Blu-ray set of the original Flying Circus series -with tons of extras, including text by my friend Andrew Pixley. The Monty Python Sings album was released this week as a 2LP set. Folks who loved the Holy Grail and Life of Brian films can catch special screenings in theaters (check local listings). Spy Vibers in London should also check Python events happening at the BFI this fall (check at BFI). Carol Cleveland has done some Q&A events and just did a long radio interview about Python (check her news page for details). John Cleese is currently on tour (check his Facebook page for dates). Subscribers of Netflix can see just about everything via their streaming platform. And the Radio Times has just published a Python at 50 special edition. And there is even more because four of the Pythons just refuse to retire and keep spoiling us with new projects (bless them). More at Monty Python, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Carol Cleveland. Enjoy!
