The Bonzo Dog Band Albums (6)
'Let's Make Up and Be Friendly'
Release Date 1/1/1971
Tracks 13
Label United Artists
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What The Critics Say
While not up to the high standards set by the band's earlier work, this contractual obligation album does offer a few glimpses of the skewed brilliance for which the Bonzos were so rightly famous. Highlighting the LP is "Rawlinson End," and perhaps Viv Stanshall's finest narrative. A spoken word tour de force, this intricately surreal English soap opera is a worthy successor to the earlier "Rhinocratic Oaths," and offers a preview of Stanshall's full-length solo effort, Sir Henry at Rawlinson End. With some exceptions, the rest of the LP replaces the previous Bonzo albums' affectionate throwbacks to the music of earlier eras with broad rock parodies and defiantly tasteless humor. The band lets loose with "The Strain," Stanshall's scatological tribute to constipation (it's funnier than it sounds). "Turkeys," a Neil Innes instrumental, achieves a strange cinematic beauty. Legs Larry Smith's contribution, "Rusty," is a lugubrious lament about the end of a rather kinky relationship. Another clever Stanshall parody, "Bad Blood" presents a Western revenge saga with a surprise ending. Winding up the album and the group's career, the Bonzos literally get the last laugh with the horror comedy of "Slush." ~ Michael Waynick, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The band's second release, while perhaps not as delightful as their debut disc Gorilla, is still an enormously worthy listen. Songs here are still wonderfully bizarre and funny, clearly hinting at such over-the-top parody-minded acts as Monty Python's Flying Circus, R. Stevie Moore, and They Might Be Giants. There are no covers here as there were on their prior album, but many well-recognized styles are successfully burlesqued on this record. "Trouser Press" is an intentionally wimpy soul takeoff. The brief "Kama Sutra" is a funny parody of the Jimmy Jones hit "Handy Man." "Rockalizer," which savages psychedelic-era Beatles and related bands, is also a plausible precursor in spots for Blood, Sweat & Tears' "Spinning Wheel." Television background music provides some of the inspiration for "Rhinocratic Oaths." "We are Normal" begins as a fragmented nonsense number redolent of free jazz and collage-style tape pieces and morphs into a fast garage-psychedelic rock song. "Hello Mabel" hearkens back to the smooth days of Rudy Vallee. "Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?" spoofs 1960s electric blues numbers. "Postcard" is primarily a lounge mood-music selection. And "My Pink Half of the Drain" betrays a cornucopia of influences, including vaudeville and urbane French movie music. Note that the Bonzos album entitled The Doughnuts in Granny's Greenhouse is for all practical purposes the same release as this one, lacking only the track "I'm the Urban Spaceman." ~ David Cleary, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
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. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
'The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse'
Release Date 1/1/1968
Tracks 12
Label Edsel
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What The Critics Say
Taking the "Doo Dah" out of their name for this 1968 LP, the Bonzos' second album was probably their best. Although they were hardly a rock or pop group in the traditional sense, the Bonzos couldn't help absorbing some of the vibes of British psychedelia, and the heady ambience of the era is reflected in the recklessly diverse and outrageous material. Almost all of the songs were penned by the two top dogs, Viv Stanshall and Neil Innes, who deflate British blues, psychedelia, and other pop, jazz, and music hall styles with priceless wit. Star tracks on this saxophone-heavy album include the doo wop ode to a spacegirl ("Beautiful Zelda"), "The Trouser Press" (which gave the late American underground rock magazine its name), the droll series of poker-faced spoken sketches on "Rhinocratic Oaths" (certainly an influence on Monty Python), and the boozy "My Pink Half of the Drainpipe," which ranks as one of the most ridiculous and hysterical songs released by a pop group of any era. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
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
