Neil Innes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Neil Innes | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Neil James Innes |
| Born | 9 December 1944 |
| Origin | Danbury, England |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Years active | 1960s - present |
| Label(s) | indie, distributor Danny Barbour at http://www.enygmag.com |
| Associated acts | The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, The Rutles, Monty Python, The World, Fatso, Grimms. |
| Website | neilinnes.org |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| piano, guitars, harmonica, vibes, accordion, harpsichord | |
Neil James Innes (born 9 December 1944, in Danbury, Essex) is an English writer and performer of comic songs, best known for his collaborative work with Monty Python, and for playing in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later The Rutles. Born in Danbury, Essex, England, on December 9, 1944, Innes spent a good part of his childhood in post-war Germany during his Scottish father's military assignment as a Warrant Officer. He also took piano lessons as a child. Neil also has a brother, Iain, about 3 years older. Neil's parents were supportive of their sons' interests. His father drew and painted, and his mother loved horses.
He later attended Thorpe Grammar School and the Norwich School of Art in Norwich. While he attended Goldsmith's School of Art, he met Yvonne Catherine Hilton, majoring in drama, there, and they later married on March 3, 1966. They have 3 sons, Miles (b. 1967), Luke (b. 1971),and Barney (b. 1977). They have at least 2 grandchildren.[1][2]
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[edit] Career
Innes graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from Goldsmith's School of Art at some time between 1962 to 1965. [3][4]
In the period 1962 to 1965, Innes and several other art school students started a band which was originally named The Bonzo Dog Dada Band after their interest in the art movement Dada, but which was soon renamed the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (often shortened to The Bonzo Dog Band). Innes, with Vivian Stanshall, wrote most of the band's songs, including "I'm the Urban Spaceman", their sole hit, (produced by Paul McCartney and Gus Dudgeon under the collective pseudonym Apollo C. Vermouth) and "Death Cab for Cutie" (which inspired an American musical group of the same name), which was featured in the Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour. Innes won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Novel(ty) Song in 1968 for "I'm the Urban Spaceman".
In the late 1960s, Innes appeared with the Bonzo Dog Band on both seasons of the UK children's television series Do Not Adjust Your Set which also featured future members of the Monty Python comedy team.
After the breakup of Bonzo Dog Band, Innes joined with former Dog Band bassist Dennis Cowan, drummer Ian Wallace and guitarist Roger McKew to form The World, a band hoping for "more commercial" success with music ranging from rock to pure pop, yet still retaining some Doo-Dah flavor and even a bit of the humor. Unfortunately for them, by the time their sole album Lucky Planet was released in 1970, the members had already disbanded and were moving on to other projects.
In 1973 Neil worked with Andy Roberts, Adrian Henri, Mike McGear, Brian Patten, John Gorman, David Richards, John Megginson, Ollie Halsall, and Gerry Conway in the band GRIMMS, who released their self titled album and Rocking Duck in 1973 followed by their last album Sleepers in 1976.[5]
In the mid-1970s, Innes became closely associated with the TV series Monty Python's Flying Circus, and played a major role in performing and writing songs and sketches for the final series in 1974 (after John Cleese had left). He wrote a squib of a song called "George III" (sung by a pastiche black American girl group) which appears in the episode "The Golden Age Of Ballooning". He also wrote the song "Where Does A Dream Begin?" (included in the episode "Anything Goes: The Light Entertainment War") and he co-wrote the "Most Awful Family In Britain" sketch in the last episode, "Party Political Broadcast". He is one of only two non-Pythons to ever be credited writers for the TV series, the other one being Douglas Adams (who co-wrote another sketch in "Party Political Broadcast".
Innes wrote the songs for Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and appeared in the film as a head-bashing monk, the serf crushed by the giant wooden rabbit, and the leader of Sir Robin's minstrels. He also had a small role in Terry Gilliam's Jabberwocky, and performed with the Pythons on stage, including at their legendary Hollywood Bowl concert. Because of these long-standing connections, Innes is often referred to as "the Seventh Python".
He appeared on stage with the Pythons in New York City in 1975, performing the Bob Dylanesque song "Protest Song" (complete with harmonica) on the album Monty Python Live at City Center. He was introduced as Raymond Scum. After his introduction he told the audience "I've suffered for my music. Now it's your turn." In 1982 he traveled to the States with the Pythons again, appearing in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He performed the songs "How Sweet to Be an Idiot" and "I'm the Urban Spaceman."
After Python finished its original run on UK television, Innes joined with Python's Eric Idle on the series Rutland Weekend Television. This was a Python-esque sketch show based in a fictional low-budget regional television station. It ran for two series in 1975-76. Songs and sketches from the series appeared on a 1976 BBC LP, the Rutland Weekend Songbook. This show spawned The Rutles (the "prefab four"), a Beatles parody band, in which Innes played the character of Ron Nasty, who was loosely based on John Lennon. Innes played Nasty in an American-made spin-off TV movie, All You Need Is Cash, with Idle. The film also had a spin-off LP on Warner Brothers.
After Rutland Weekend Television, Idle relocated to the USA, and Innes went on to make a solo series on BBC television, The Innes Book of Records (punning on the Guinness Book of Records).
During the 1980s, Innes played the role of the Wizard in the children's television series Puddle Lane, made by Yorkshire Television for the ITV network.
He also voiced the 1980s children's cartoon adventures of The Raggy Dolls, a motley collection of "rejects" from a toy factory. The 65 episodes for Yorkshire Television included the characters Sad Sack, Hi-Fi, Lucy, Dotty, Back-to-Front and Princess.
At the time of The Beatles Anthology CDs, there was a revival of interest in The Rutles and a new album was released entitled Archaeology.
Innes took part in the 2002 Concert for George, in memory of George Harrison.
Innes can occasionally be heard (often as the butt of jokes) standing in as the pianist for the BBC Radio 4 panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
Innes toured the US and UK in 2006 as part of the Bonzo Dog Band's 40th Anniversary tour.
A film about Neil Innes called The Seventh Python is in post-production as of October 2007[6], and is scheduled to be released in June 2008.[7]
[edit] Solo albums
- How Sweet to be an Idiot (1973)
- Taking Off (1977)
- The Innes Book of Records (1979)
- Off the Record (1982)
- Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues (compilation LP, 1994)
- Recollections 1 (2000)
- Recollections 2 (2001)
- Recollections 3 (2001)
- Works in Progress (2005)
[edit] The World
- Lucky Planet (1970)
[edit] GRIMMS
- GRIMMS (1973)
- Rocking Duck (1973)
- Sleepers (1976)
[edit] References
- ^ Words of Innespiration - The Lyrics & Unplanned Career of Neil Innes
- ^ Neil Innes on MSN Music
- ^ Words of Innespiration: The Lyrics and Unplanned Career of Neil Innes--[1]
- ^ Neil Innes on MSN Music
- ^ Grimms Page
- ^ IMDB entry
- ^ http://www.theseventhpythonmovie.com/
[edit] External links
- "Words of Innespiration – The Lyrics & Unplanned Career of Neil Innes" – the official site
- The Seventh Python Official MySpace page (for Neil Innes musical biopic)
- Neil In Us--An unofficial site with periodically changing themes, multiple songs, pictures, and some historical information.
- Biographical information by Ian Kitching
- Doo Dah Diaries - The project to compile the complete history of the Bonzos
- Neil Innes at the Internet Movie Database
- The Innes Book of Memories
- [2] Neil Innes, UK based fan page http://www.myspace.com/neilinnestribute
