Personal life

He later attended Thorpe Grammar School and the Norwich School of Art. Because Norwich lacked a particular art curriculum in which he was interested, he transferred to Goldsmiths' College, where he met Yvonne Catherine Hilton, majoring in drama, and they married on 3 March 1966. They have three sons, Miles (b. 1967), Luke (b. 1971), and Barney (b. 1977). They have two grandchildren.

Career

In the late 1960s, Innes appeared with the Bonzo Dog Band on both seasons of the UK children's television series ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' which also featured some future members of the Monty Python comedy team.

After the break-up of the Bonzo Dog Band, Innes joined with former Dog Band bassist Dennis Cowan, drummer Ian Wallace and guitarist Roger McKew to form The World, a band hoping for "more commercial" success with music ranging from rock to pure pop, yet still retaining some Doo-Dah flavour and even some of the humour. Unfortunately for them, by the time their sole album ''Lucky Planet'' was released in 1970, the members had already disbanded and were moving on to other projects.

GRIMMS & Monty Python

thumb|Neil Innes (wearing glasses) with Monty Python members Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, and Terry Jones (l-r) in the 1970s.In the mid-1970s, Innes became closely associated with the TV series ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''. He played a major role in performing and writing songs and sketches for the final series in 1974 (after John Cleese left). He wrote a squib of a song called "George III" (sung by the black American girl group The Flirtations, of "Nothing But A Heartache" fame) which appears in "The Golden Age of Ballooning". He also wrote the song "Where Does a Dream Begin?", used in "Anything Goes: The Light Entertainment War". He co-wrote the "Most Awful Family in Britain" sketch and played a humorous stilted guitar version of the theme song, The Liberty Bell March, during the credits of the last episode, "Party Political Broadcast". He is one of only two non-Pythons to ever be credited writers for the TV series, the other being Douglas Adams (who co-wrote another sketch in "Party Political Broadcast").

He appeared on stage with the Pythons in New York City in 1976, performing the Bob Dylanesque "Protest Song" (complete with harmonica) on the album ''Monty Python Live at City Center''. He was introduced as Raymond Scum. After his introduction he told the audience "I've suffered for my music. Now it's your turn." In 1982 he travelled to the States with the Pythons again, appearing in ''Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl''. He performed the songs "How Sweet to Be an Idiot" and "I'm the Urban Spaceman". He also appeared as one of the singing "Bruces" in the Philosopher Sketch.

Innes wrote the songs for ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. He appeared in the film as a head-bashing monk, the serf crushed by the giant wooden rabbit, and the leader of Sir Robin's minstrels. He also had a small role in Terry Gilliam's ''Jabberwocky''. Because of these long-standing connections, Innes is often referred to as "the Seventh Python".

The Rutles, Rutland and Innes Book of Records

The songs written by Innes so cleverly parodied the original source material that he was taken to court by the owners of The Beatles' catalogue. Innes had to testify under oath that he had not listened to the songs at all while composing The Rutles songs, but had created them completely originally based on what he remembered various songs by The Beatles sounding like at different times. Ironically, Innes himself would go on to sue heavily Beatles-influenced band Oasis over their 1994 song ''Whatever'', as it directly lifted parts of its melody from Innes's 1973 song ''How Sweet to Be an Idiot''. This event was subsequently referenced in The Rutles song ''Shangri-La'' off their 1996 re-union album ''The Rutles Archaeology'', itself a parody of The Beatles Anthology.

After ''Rutland Weekend Television'', Idle relocated to the USA, and Innes went on to make a solo series in 1979 on BBC television, ''The Innes Book of Records,'' which ran for three seasons and contained a few of Innes' previous music compositions along with new ones written for the show.

During the 1980s, Innes delved into children's entertainment. He played the role of the Wizard in the live-action children's television series ''Puddle Lane'', made by Yorkshire Television for the ITV network.

He voiced the 1980s children's cartoon adventures of ''The Raggy Dolls'', a motley collection of "rejects" from a toy factory. The 65 episodes for ''Yorkshire Television'' included the characters Sad Sack, Hi-Fi, Lucy, Dotty, Back-to-Front, Princess and Claude.

He also composed the music for children's television including ''Puddle Lane'', ''The Raggy Dolls'', ''The Riddlers'' and ''Tumbledown Farm''.

In addition, he brought Monty Python's Terry Jones's fairy-tale book ''East of the Moon'' to television. He contributed all the stories and music on this production. He was involved with the enormously popular children's show ''Tiswas''. With its own website, the show's popularity is still demonstrated.

Different reunion concerts

In 1998, Innes hosted a 13-episode UK (Anglia) television show called "Away with Words" on which he travelled to different areas of Britain to explore the origins of well-known words and phrases.

Innes took part, along with the remaining Monty Python members, in the 2002 Concert for George, in memory of George Harrison.

Innes was occasionally heard (often as the butt of jokes) standing in as the pianist for the BBC Radio 4 panel game ''I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue''.

Innes toured the UK in 2006 and produced a new Bonzo CD as part of the Bonzo Dog Band's 40th Anniversary tour.

In 2008 he undertook the Neil Innes and Fatso 30th Anniversary tour, playing predominantly Rutles numbers with a few Bonzos and Python items.

A film about Neil Innes called ''The Seventh Python'' premiered at the Mods & Rockers Film Festival on 26 June 2008.

The Idiot Bastard Band

New concerts were scheduled in 2011. Jupitus was unable to attend due to prior commitments and was replaced by several special guests, including Paul Whitehouse and Nigel Planer.

Discography

Singles

Solo albums

The World

GRIMMS

References

External links

Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:English comedians Category:People from Danbury, Essex Category:English comedy musicians Category:English songwriters Category:Parodists Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Alumni of the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design Category:Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Category:The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band members Category:The Rutles members Category:Monty Python