There I was, flipping through vinyl record after vinyl record in search of finding a treasure of sorts. Perhaps, I would come across the melodic Swedish group, ABBA, the groove and funk of Stevie Wonder, or if I’m lucky, the king of pop, Michael Jackson. Alas, vinyl after vinyl, I was losing hope that I could find anything to take home to play on my measly record player that was purchased at Walmart in the time COVID. But then...
"Oh my god,” I gasped; I thought I found a Beatles record, complete with four albums in a singular vinyl! Four in one, I gleefully thought. Lucky me...or so I naively believed. As assumed, I bought it at the discounted price of fifteen dollars. Blissfully holding on to the record, I went to present it to my friends who were also nearby me. Excitedly, I showed it to them as I tried to point out who was who in specific my favorite Beatle of them all, the whimsical George Harrison...except I couldn’t find him.
In fact, I couldn’t find Lennon, McCartney, nor Star.
Instead their faces appeared odd and unfamiliar. Confused, I looked to the left corner of the album and in black print letters it read, The Rutles. Inside the vinyl record, plastered in golden stars on were the names: Nasty, Dirk, Stig, and Barry. This is how, to my dismay, I was introduced to the pre-fab four, who were known as a successful parody group of the Beatles. With titles like “Let it Rot,” “Doubleback Alley,” “Get up and Go,” “Hold My Hand,” and infamously, “Ouch!,” they released innumerable albums parodying Beatles songs. What first began as a parody sketch of The Beatles created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes in the 1970s to air on BB for Rutland Weekend Television, was only meant for Rutland, the smallest county in England. However, it was so well received that the pre-fab four later went on to tour and recorded albums. After the popularity their work, a “mockumentary” was later created and titled, All You Need is Cash.
As for the original fab four, they received the Rutles film with mostly positive reviews, especially George Harrison, who from the start even participated in it.
So, after mistaking a Rutles album for a Beatles one, I was surprised to have enjoyed a few of their songs and to note how similar they were to the original soundtracks. Perhaps, you, too, would enjoy listening to a “re-making” of “Get Back” from the one and only-prefab four who sadly, after Innes death disbanded in 2019.
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