Gorilla (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band album)


Gorilla is the debut album by Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, originally released by Liberty Records, LBL 83056, in 1967. In 2007, EMI reissued the album on CD with seven bonus tracks.

Musical style

The album includes "Jazz, " which savagely parodied their early "trad" jazz roots and featured some of the most deliberately inept jazz playing ever recorded—the record company only allowed two hours of studio time per track, so it was completed in a single take to allow for the far more complex "The Intro and the Outro". The band deliberately swapped instruments to increase the degree of incompetence.
In "The Intro and the Outro" every member of the band was introduced and played a solo, starting with genuine band members, before including such improbable members as John Wayne on xylophone, Adolf Hitler on vibes, and J. Arthur Rank on gong. Other 'band members' included Val Doonican, Horace Batchelor and Lord Snooty and His Pals.
The versatility of the band is shown in the wide variety of styles parodied on the album: as well as trad jazz noted above, there is 1920s-style music, Beatles music of the "Penny Lane" era, lounge music, calypso, Elvis Presley, Disney, film noir, Wurlitzer, and bubblegum.

Recording

The album was recorded on a four-track tape recorder, as was typical for the UK in 1967. Due to the limited number of tracks, most of the non-band "personnel" on "The Intro and the Outro" are simply faded in and out, and few notice they are absent in the later stages of the track.

Sleeve notes (Stanshall)

"Dedicated to Kong who must have been a great bloke."

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Cool Britannia" – 1:00
  2. "The Equestrian Statue" – 2:49
  3. "Jollity Farm" – 2:29
  4. "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" – 1:04
  5. "Look Out, There's a Monster Coming" – 2:55
  6. "Jazz " – 3:11
  7. "Death-cab for Cutie" – 2:56
  8. "Narcissus" – 0:27

    Side two

  9. "The Intro and the Outro" – 3:04
  10. "Mickey's Son and Daughter" – 2:43
  11. "Big Shot" – 3:31
  12. "Music for the Head Ballet" – 1:45
  13. "Piggy Bank Love" – 3:04
  14. "I'm Bored" – 3:06
  15. "The Sound of Music" – 1:21

    US version

The album was issued in the US on Imperial as LP-9370 and LP-12370, but minus the track "Big Shot". The original issue of the album had the same booklet issued with the UK album.

Bonus tracks on 2007 CD reissue

  1. "My Brother Makes the Noises for the Talkies"
  2. "I'm Gonna Bring a Watermelon to My Girl Tonight"
  3. "Ali Baba's Camel"
  4. "On Her Doorstep Last Night"
  5. "Alley Oop"
  6. "Button Up Your Overcoat"
  7. "The Craig Torso Show"

    Personnel

Musicians