Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1967
The Intro and the Outro
Buy The Intro and the Outro now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'"The Intro and The Outro"' is a recording by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. It appears on their debut album, 'Gorilla' (1967). It is not so much a song as a comic monologue in which the speaker introduces the musicians who ostensibly appear on the recording. The recording fades out before the emcee completes the introductions and without the "orchestra" being able to play anything more than a vamp. The piece was written by Bonzo member Vivian Stanshall, who also provides the vocal. Stanshall first introduces the seven members of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, who are credited with their actual instruments, over a vamp that resembles Duke Ellingtons "C Jam Blues".
Following that, the imaginary line-up turns toward comedy. Some of the musicians named are actual performers credited with instruments that they did not play or typically were not associated with. Others are actors, politicians and other public figures not generally linked with musical performance in any way. Some of those named will now be unfamiliar to listeners outside mid-20th century Britain, such as Billy Butlin, Val Doonican, Max Jaffa and the comic strip character Lord Snooty from 'The Beano'. Peter Scott, credited as playing the duck call, was a well-known British ornithologist.
Personnel
According to Stanshall's monologue the Bonzos play the following instruments on the recording, although several of the band were multi-instrumentalists and may play other instruments as well.
*"Legs" Larry Smith drums
*Martin "Sam Spoons" Ash rhythm pole
*Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell bass guitar
*Neil Innes piano
*Rodney Slater alto saxophone
*Roger Ruskin Spear tenor saxophone
*Vivian Stanshall trumpet, spoken vocals
As well as being mentioned in Stanshall's patter as playing the ukulele, Eric Clapton actually plays the ukulele on the recording.
Mentioned in the recording
* John Wayne xylophone
* Robert Morley guitar
* Billy Butlin spoons
* Adolf Hitler vibes ("looking very relaxed")
* Princess Anne sousaphone
* Liberace clarinet
* Garner Ted Armstrong vocals
* Lord Snooty and his Pals tap dancing
* Harold Wilson violin
* Franklyn MacCormack harmonica
* Eric Clapton ukulele
* Sir Kenneth Clark bass saxophone
* A sessions gorilla vox humana
* The Incredible Shrinking Man euphonium
* Peter Scott duck call
* Casanova horn
* General Charles de Gaulle accordion
* Roy Rogers on Trigger
* Wild Man of Borneo bongos
* Count Basie Orchestra triangle
* The Rawlinsons trombone
* Dan Druff harp
* Quasimodo bells
* Brainiac banjo
* Val Doonican "as himself"
* Max Jaffa very appealing
* Zebra Kid and Horace Batchelor percussion
* J. Arthur Rank gong
Controversies
The "sessions gorilla" portion of the recording originally ran "And now just arriving, Quintin Hogg on pig grunt". Hogg was a British politician at the time. He learned of the piece prior to its release and objected to his name being used in such a context, namely the pun on his last name as "hog" (with one "g") is also another term for a pig. He managed to get Stanshall back into the studio to record the line about the sessions gorilla that is heard on the final recording. It is not known if any copies of the original version still exist.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3647630 BBC article on the song] Controversy also grew out of the juxtaposition of The Princess Anne with Hitler.
Cultural references
Vivian Stanshall is also known for appearing as the Master of Ceremonies on Mike Oldfields original recording of 'Tubular Bells', a role which involved introducing the instruments featured in the recording, most of which were played by Oldfield.
An excerpt of the song, with an adapted commentary sounding like Stanshall (actually performed by Bob Monkhouse), was used in a 1988 television advertisement, made at Passion Pictures and animated by Chuck Gammage, for the Cadbury Creme Egg.[http://shelf3d.com/sRk_VCaAd2s#Cadbury Creme Eggs animated advert]
References
Buy The Intro and the Outro now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1967