Remember When: The Rutles Comedically Honor the Fab Four in 1978

George Harrison used to say that the special spirit that sparked The Beatles’ music made its way to the comedy of Monty Python. Perhaps it’s fitting that one of the Pythons helped create one of the finest homages to the Fab Four ever made. Granted, the 1978 movie All You Need Is Cash, featuring Eric Idle of Monty Python as one of the fictional Rutles, pokes more than its fair share of fun at The Beatles’ history. But thanks to some incredibly catchy Beatlesque songs, this faux band possessed a catalog that many real bands would envy.

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Rut Seriously, Folks

Two elements led to the creation of The Rutles. In 1975, Eric Idle was spearheading a British television program called Rutland Weekend Television. An image of a staid British reporter running after a camera that was suddenly pulling away from him flashed in his head.

Meanwhile, Neil Innes, who handled the music for that program, had written a few songs that were indebted to the classic sound of The Beatles. Idle hit upon the idea of a documentary about a band whose history mimicked that of the Fab Four. It led to a sketch called “A Hard Day’s Rut”.

A year later, Idle showed a clip of this sketch when he hosted Saturday Night Live. Seeing the positive reception that it received, Idle decided he’d expand the idea to a television movie. SNL honcho Lorne Michaels convinced Idle to do it for American television on NBC. Idle would direct with Gary Weis, while Michaels helped as a co-producer.

The Faux Four

Idle intended to simply stay behind the scenes. (He had played the George Harrison role in the original sketch.) But he couldn’t find the right actor to play the Dirk McQuickly/Paul McCartney part, so he took it. (Idle mimed the McQuickly singing parts, which were actually performed by Ollie Halsall.)

Innes, with a voice that sounded eerily like John Lennon, took the Ron Nasty role. Ricky Fataar, a drummer by trade, played the George Harrison-ish Stig O’Hara. And John Halsey played Barry Wom, meant to evoke drummer Ringo Starr.

Since Michaels was involved, a group of Saturday Night Live stars, including John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, and Dan Aykroyd, played parts. Meanwhile, some music luminaries also made appearances, most notably George Harrison himself.

Remembering ‘All You Need Is Cash’

All You Need Is Cash was ahead of its time as a mockumentary. The four men playing the Rutles did an incredible job of mimicking the stereotypical personalities of The Beatles, especially Innes as the withering Lennon and Idle as an eager-to-please McCartney. Innes’ songs proved to be the film’s true ace in the hole. (So accurate were they in waking up the echoes of the Fab Four that The Beatles’ publishing company ended up with half the rights.)

Alas, All You Need Is Cash did not grab a big portion of the American audience when it aired in March 1978. It struggled in the ratings against established network shows such as Charlie’s Angels. The soundtrack album offered Innes’ songs in their entirety, meaning that it’s a wonderful curio for Beatles fanatics.

Over the years, various incarnations of this manufactured band performed live. Idle even did a second documentary (subtitled Can’t Buy Me Lunch), although it didn’t include much new footage. The death of Neil Innes in 2019 ended their story. But with wonderful songs like “Cheese And Onions” and “Piggy In The Middle”, the legacy of The Rutles endures.

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