How Sweet to Be an Idiot | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1973 (UK) | |||
Recorded | March – July 1973 | |||
Studio | Chipping Norton Studio, Oxfordshire | |||
Genre | Pop/ rock | |||
Length | 37:56 | |||
Label | United Artists | |||
Producer | Neil Innes | |||
Neil Innes chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues | |
---|---|
Studio album by Neil Innes | |
Released | 1994 (UK) |
Recorded | 1973 |
Genre | Pop/ rock |
Label | EMI |
Producer | Neil Innes |
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
How Sweet to Be an Idiot is the first solo album by Neil Innes, formerly of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, and was released in 1973.
The title track was released as a single (with B-side "The Age of Desperation") but failed to chart. It was a more instrumented version than on the album, arranged by Richard Hewson. [3] Its melody was borrowed by Oasis for their single " Whatever", released in 1994; Innes claimed plagiarism and as a result received royalties and a co-writing credit. [4] [5]
The album was re-released by United Artists in 1980 under the title Neil Innes A-Go-Go [6] and by EMI in 1994 with additional tracks – most of which had been released on singles – under the title Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues. [2] This edition of the album was dedicated to Ollie Halsall, who had died in 1992, and former Bonzo Dog bassist Dennis Cowan, who had died in 1972; [7] it featured a guest appearance by Michael Palin on the title track. [2]
Innes later said of this time the album was recorded,
United Artists had been very kind to me ... In my own way, I wanted to repay them – by making a bunch of silly singles at a time when the music industry still seemed to have a sense of humour. Wrong again. [6]
Innes performed the title song on Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl and on Monty Python Live at Drury Lane. [1] Surviving members of Monty Python performed the song for Terry Jones's funeral at Golders Green Cemetery.
Stewart Mason, reviewing the album for Allmusic, described it as "split between tongue-in-cheek parody and straight pop songs" and containing "solidly melodic Beatlesque pop", but was critical of the "unfortunate sterility to Innes' self-production". [1]
A review of the release by Mark Deming of Allmusic was more appreciative than that of his predecessor, saying that "most [of the tracks] walk a graceful tightrope between sly humor and solid pop-friendly rock & roll" and recommending that "anyone who digs a great hook played with heart should get to know the music of Neil Innes". [2]
How Sweet to Be an Idiot | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1973 (UK) | |||
Recorded | March – July 1973 | |||
Studio | Chipping Norton Studio, Oxfordshire | |||
Genre | Pop/ rock | |||
Length | 37:56 | |||
Label | United Artists | |||
Producer | Neil Innes | |||
Neil Innes chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues | |
---|---|
Studio album by Neil Innes | |
Released | 1994 (UK) |
Recorded | 1973 |
Genre | Pop/ rock |
Label | EMI |
Producer | Neil Innes |
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
How Sweet to Be an Idiot is the first solo album by Neil Innes, formerly of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, and was released in 1973.
The title track was released as a single (with B-side "The Age of Desperation") but failed to chart. It was a more instrumented version than on the album, arranged by Richard Hewson. [3] Its melody was borrowed by Oasis for their single " Whatever", released in 1994; Innes claimed plagiarism and as a result received royalties and a co-writing credit. [4] [5]
The album was re-released by United Artists in 1980 under the title Neil Innes A-Go-Go [6] and by EMI in 1994 with additional tracks – most of which had been released on singles – under the title Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues. [2] This edition of the album was dedicated to Ollie Halsall, who had died in 1992, and former Bonzo Dog bassist Dennis Cowan, who had died in 1972; [7] it featured a guest appearance by Michael Palin on the title track. [2]
Innes later said of this time the album was recorded,
United Artists had been very kind to me ... In my own way, I wanted to repay them – by making a bunch of silly singles at a time when the music industry still seemed to have a sense of humour. Wrong again. [6]
Innes performed the title song on Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl and on Monty Python Live at Drury Lane. [1] Surviving members of Monty Python performed the song for Terry Jones's funeral at Golders Green Cemetery.
Stewart Mason, reviewing the album for Allmusic, described it as "split between tongue-in-cheek parody and straight pop songs" and containing "solidly melodic Beatlesque pop", but was critical of the "unfortunate sterility to Innes' self-production". [1]
A review of the release by Mark Deming of Allmusic was more appreciative than that of his predecessor, saying that "most [of the tracks] walk a graceful tightrope between sly humor and solid pop-friendly rock & roll" and recommending that "anyone who digs a great hook played with heart should get to know the music of Neil Innes". [2]