The Rutles 1996

The original Rutles album (released in 1978) had been kind of a mixed blessing for Neil Innes. It was the most successful project of his career (both with the Bonzo Dog Band and solo), but it also stirred up legal trouble. The then-owners of the Northern Songs (who owned the rights to the Beatles' songs) sued Innes for copyright infrigement. Innes argued that The Rutles was a parody, and thus exempt. Warner Brothers decided not to back Innes, which cost him a large chunk of the profits from The Rutles. Over the years, Innes had been asked about a Rutles revival, and in 1996 he finally did so. Of the four who appeared as "The Rutles" in the film (Innes, Eric Idle, Rikki Fataar, John Halsey), only Innes, Fataar and Halsey played on the album. The "fourth Rutle" on the album was guitarist Ollie Halsall, who died in 1992.

Innes reconvened the remaning trio and used a combination of leftovers from the original project, "Rutle-ized" old songs, and wrote new material to build Archaeology. "We've Arrived!" and "Now She's Left You" are outtakes from the original album. In addition, "Unfinished Words" was an instrumental outtake from '78 that Innes completed with lyrics in 1996. Part of the ideas in "Rendezvous" are from an old, unused Bonzo Dog Band song. "The Knicker Elastic King" and "Shangri-La" were released by Innes on solo albums, and "Joe Public" an "Eine Kleine Middle Klasse Musik" were songs Innes had previously played live.

Archaeology References

As I mentioned in the review, Archaeology is absolutely packed with references to Beatles and Rutles songs. Some are blatant, like the opening pair. Some are more subtle, a riff here, a quoted lyric there. For fun, I've made a list of what I've found so far. If you've got changes, updates, additions (or complaints), let me know. I'm curious.

"Major Happy's Up And Coming Once Upon A Good Time Band"

• "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" [general parody]

"Rendezvous"

• "With A Little Help From My Friends" [general parody]

"Questionnaire"

• (opinions?)

"We've Arrived! (And To Prove It We're Here)"

• "Back In The USSR" [general parody]
• "Flying" [the "la la la" part]
  Thanks to Laurie Shea for pointing out something I'd missed!
• "Revolution 9" ["number two, number two"]

"Lonely-Phobia"

• "Things We Said Today" [overall feel]

"Unfinished Words"

• "Cheese And Onions" (from The Rutles) [lyric reference]
• "Free As A Bird" [a partially finished track, finished for release]
• "Colliding Circles," "Left Is Right (And Right Is Wrong)," "Pink Litmus Paper Shirt," and "Deck Chair" [lyric references]
  This is a particularly subtle reference. The four songs listed above were listed as Beatles outtakes as a prank in an article about Beatles bootlegs. None of the four actually exist, but Neil name-checks all four in the lyrics. See the page on The Urban Legend Reference Pages (snopes.com) for more details. Thanks to Bryce Rhude for the tip!

"Hey Mister!"

• "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill" [the drum triplet before the fast parts]
• "Helter Skelter" [the comment at the end of the song]

"Easy Listening"

• "Don't Pass Me By" [overall feel]
• "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" [lyric reference]

"Now She's Left You"

• any of the early pop songs [overall feel]

"The Knicker Elastic King"

• "Fixing A Hole" [melody, especially the ending]
• "Yellow Submarine" [the muffled vocals]

"I Love You"

• "It's Only Love" [overall feel]

"Eine Kleine Middle Klasse Musik"

• "Come Together" [the bass-heavy intro]

"Joe Public"

• "Tomorrow Never Knows" [rhythm and instrumentation]

"Shangri-La"

• Oasis' "Whatever" [the first part of the intro]
  "Whatever" is itself a lift from Neil Innes' "How Sweet To Be An Idiot". Call it payback.
• "A Day In The Life" [the second part of the intro]
• "Penny Lane" [the piccolo trumpets]
• "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite" [the "circus music" section]
• "Magical Mystery Tour" [the cries of "Roll up! Roll up!"]
• "Dear Prudence" [the "all day long the sky is blue" section]
  Thanks to Paige for catching that one!
• "Hey Jude" [the final, extended singalong fade out]
• The Rutles' "Love Life" [background vocals during the fade out]
• The Rutles' "Piggy In The Middle" [background vocals during the fade out]
• Oasis' "Whatever" [background vocals during the fade out]

"Don't Know Why"

• "Free As A Bird" [general feel]
• "Hello, Goodbye" [lyric reference]
• "Norwegian Wood" [lyric reference]

"Back In '64"

• "When I'm Sixty Four" [general parody]