Bonzo Dog Band

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - 1967 - Gorilla

Band: Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
Album: Gorilla
Year: 1967
Country: UK
Format: Lossless (FLAC+CUE+LOG+COVER)
Time: 55:35
Size: 323 Mb (RAR, 3% recovery)
Genre: Jazz, Avant-garde, Experimental

Очень смелый и оригинальный альбом, полный экспериментов и иронии.


Tracks:
1 "Cool Britannia" - 1:00
2 "The Equestrian Statue" - 2:49
3 "Jollity Farm" - 2:29
4 "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" - 1:04
5 "Look Out There's a Monster Coming" - 2:55
6 "Jazz (Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold)" - 3:11
7 "Death Cab for Cutie" - 2:56
8 "Narcissus" - 0:27
9 "The Intro and the Outro" - 3:04
10 "Mickey's Son and Daughter" - 2:43
11 "Big Shot" - 3:31
12 "Music for the Head Ballet" - 1:45
13 "Piggy Bank Love" - 3:04
14 "I'm Bored" - 3:06
15 "The Sound of Music" - 1:21
Bonus tracks:
16 "My Brother Makes the Noises For the Talkies"
17 "I'm Gonna Bring a Watermelon To My Girl Tonight"
18 "Ali Baba's Camel" (previously unreleased, early version)
19 "On Her Doorstep Last Night"
20 "Alley Oop"
21 "Button Up Your Overcoat"
22 "The Craig Torso Show" (I Remember You / With a Little Help From My Friends / I Left My Heart In San Francisco)

Gorilla was the 1967 debut album by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, who would thereafter drop the "Doo Dah" from their name and establish themselves as the greatest satirical British pop band of all time. Their first effort is far more tentative and tamer than their second and third albums, when they hit their stride by expanding their musical and topical recklessness. The Bonzos, after all, did not begin as a rock band, or even a pop band, but as a somewhat vaudevillian comedy outfit that owed a great deal to British music hall traditions. This album may be low-key, but that's not to say it doesn't retain a good deal of charm. The humor is extremely dry, subtle, and British, leaning more toward their trad jazz roots than the churning London pop/rock scene. It nonetheless includes a few great moments: the deadpan jazz vamp "The Intro and the Outro" (wherein a smarmy MC introduces a bevy of historical figures in a show band, including Adolf Hitler on vibes), the film noir satire "Mickey's Son and Daughter," and their vicious send-up of "The Sound of Music." It's not recommended as a starting point, but those who already appreciate these wonderful British eccentrics will find this an enjoyable document of the band's more restrained roots.

Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

Band:
Bob Kerr - Horn, Vocals
Vernon Nowell - Banjo, Bass
Rodney Slater - Saxophone, Sax (Alto), Sax (Bass), Sax (Baritone)
Legs Larry Smith - Tuba, Dance (Tap), Drums
Sam Spoons - Percussion, Spoons, String Bass
Neil Innes - Bass, Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Liner Notes, Musical Direction, Vocals, Harpsichord
Roger Ruskin Spear - Saxophone, Prop Design
Vivian Stanshall - Percussion, Tuba, Euphonium, Vocals, Ukulele, Arranger, Trumpet
Gerry Bron – Producer

Band: Bonzo Dog Band
Album: Tadpoles
Year: 1969
Country: UK
Format: Lossless (FLAC+CUE+LOG+COVER)
Time: 54:18
Size: 306 Mb (RAR, 3% recovery)
Genre: Jazz, Avant-garde, Experimental, psychedelic rock


Tracks:
1 "Hunting Tigers Out in Indiah"
2 "Shirt"
3 "Tubas in the Moonlight"
4 "Dr. Jazz"
5 "Monster Mash"
6 "I'm the Urban Spaceman"
7 "Ali-Baba's Camel"
8 "Laughing Blues"
9 "By a Waterfall"
10 "Mr. Apollo"
11 "Canyons of Your Mind"
Bonus tracks:
12 "Boo!"
13 "Readymades"
14 "Look At Me I'm Wonderful"
15 "We Were Wrong"
16 "The Craig Torso Christmas Show" (The Lady Is a Tramp / The Last Waltz / Calling All Workers)

The Bonzos' third album is a bit of a retreat from the cosmic anything-goes atmosphere of their second LP (Doughnuts in Granny's Greenhouse), slanted much more heavily toward their vaudevillian trad jazz roots. Perhaps that's because Viv Stanshall and Neil Innes, who dominated the second album, contribute only three tunes here. Still, it's never less than entertaining and has some stellar moments, like the psychedelic African safari of "Ali Baba's Camel," the skit "Shirt" (another clear forerunner of Monty Python), and the British hit single "I'm the Urban Spaceman," produced by Paul McCartney. [The 2007 expanded reissue of Tadpoles contains five bonus tracks: "Boo!," the B-side "Readymades" (later covered by Yo La Tengo, as pointed out by Innes in his liners), the previously unreleased "Look at Me I'm Wonderful" and "We Were Wrong," plus "The Craig Torso Christmas Show," which interpolates "The Lady Is a Tramp," "The Last Waltz," and "Calling All Workers." As with all the 2007 Bonzo reissues, there are very good liner notes by Neil Innes, whose intro may be recycled through all five discs, but that repetition is redeemed by his fine track-by-track commentary, which covers the bonus cuts as well.

Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide