Review: Vinyl Reissues of John Cale's 'The Academy in Peril' and 'Paris 1919'

As the bringer of shuddering waves of viola and a general avant-garde spirit to the first two Velvet Underground records, John Cale may have seemed like the Velvet least likely to be poised for a solo pop career. Cale almost immediately confounded any such expectations with his debut solo album. Despite its disturbing cover shot of Cale in a clear mask fit only for the least convivial serial killer, Vintage Violence was a tribute to The Band's rustic yet tuneful Americana-as-seen-by-an-outsider slant. His subsequent sometimes lovely, sometimes cacophonous collaboration with experimental composer Terry Riley, The Church of Anthrax, reminded those listening to not get too comfortable. 

Farewell, Neil Innes

Comedy and music are both great, but they rarely make great bedfellows (no offense, Weird Al..."Dare to Be Stupid" is a terrific song!). Neil Innes's ability to fuse the two into something genuinely funny and genuinely musically enjoyable was a rare exception. Innes made his first major mark as a member of the uncontested best comedy band, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, singing and writing (though not producing...that honor went to Paul McCartney) the group's one hit "I'm the Urban Spaceman". Innes was responsible for many of the Bonzo's other most tuneful numbers, including "The Equestrian Statue", "Deathcab for Cutie" (co-written with Viv Stanshall and performed in Magical Mystery Tour), "Rockaliser Baby", and "Mr. Apollo" (both ditto the Stanshall part but not the Magical Mystery Tour part). 

Like Carol Cleveland, Neil Innes also became an unofficial member of Monty Python, contributing music to the Flying Circus and several Python LPs, as well as making a very memorable impression as Sir Robin's personal minstrel in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 

Perhaps the biggest showcase for Neil Innes's multi-talents is The Rutles, his and Eric Idle's spot-on Beatles parody-homage (or parmage, which is also a French cheese). Innes and Idle co-wrote the 1978 mockumentary All You Need is Cash, while Innes took over completely for its soundtrack which parodied more than a dozen Beatles classics while also being a very good listen on a purely musical level. Innes's Lennon impersonation as Ron Nasty is uncanny both on screen and on vinyl.

While The Rutles project was arguably the peak of Innes's career, he remained a very active entertainer through the years, reviving his most celebrated project for 1996's Anthology-parody The Rutles: Archaeology and forming The Idiot Bastard Band with fellow British-comedy luminary Adrian Edmondson and some other guys. Sadly, Neil Innes died at the age of 75 this past December 29. His death was reportedly "unexpected." I'll miss the idiot bastard.