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You are here: Home / Music / Monty Python Was A Documentary

Monty Python Was A Documentary

by Tom Levenson|  October 31, 201410:32 am| 62 Comments

This post is in: Music, Open Threads

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At least — those bits of mockumentary they’d sneak into the circus (think Kray brothers) may have to be reevaluated in light of the intro to this bit of (astonishing) rock history:

Have to say — I never knew about Clapton’s secret past as a stained glass designer.  But that narrator intro is a thing of beauty and a joy forever.  “The Cream” — priceless.

Chat about whatever.

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62Comments

  1. 1.

    Emily68

    October 31, 2014 at 10:49 am

    About Clapton’s past as a stained glass designer. Back when Eric was school-aged, he enrolled in one of the many art colleges in England at the time. A whole bunch of musicians who made up the “British Invasion” generation had been enrolled in the art colleges–John Lennon, Brian Jones, Pete Townshend, Ray Davies and Eric Clapton. I don’t know if any of them did particularly well in them. John Lennon certainly didn’t. But it must have given them some sort of training in creativity.

  2. 2.

    Karen in GA

    October 31, 2014 at 10:50 am

    Confinement is making Iggy kind of weird.

    I remember learning White Room on bass as a teenager and being proud of myself for playing something Jack Bruce played.

  3. 3.

    raven

    October 31, 2014 at 10:53 am

    Halloween used to be scarier!

  4. 4.

    raven

    October 31, 2014 at 10:54 am

    @Emily68: Sounds like Athens.

  5. 5.

    Linda Featheringill

    October 31, 2014 at 10:54 am

    @Emily68:
    Arrrghhh! You beat me to it!

    Curses!

    :-)

  6. 6.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 31, 2014 at 11:08 am

    OT, but geeze, Noisemax, why would a bunch of men held for years without trial or even charges do this?

    Dozens of Ex-Gitmo Prisoners Joining ISIS

    Odds are very good that they had no ill feelings towards the United States before they were kidnapped and held in cells for years for having the wrong religious and ethnic preferences

    The deserting coward and the Dark Lord: Al Qaeda’s top recruitment agents..

  7. 7.

    MazeDancer

    October 31, 2014 at 11:11 am

    1968 was 46 years ago. That clip proves, once again, that seriously inspired Rock ‘n Roll has no expiration date. And that the most important contribution that computers may have made to Rock ‘n Roll is to make it possible for us to hear the greats 46 years later. It didn’t take computer power for those three guys to make that amazing sound. Just talent.

    Of course, there is little Rock ‘n Roll today because there is no radio money in it. The “ad demo” is all Pop. Which is all computers.

    So, another contribution computers may be making is serving as a resource for the people interested in hearing new Rock ‘n Roll.

  8. 8.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 31, 2014 at 11:14 am

    The Cream?

    Isn’t that like The Batman?

    Tom, you’re quire right…that definitely sounds like something that Eric Idle or John Cleese would narrate…”Layabouts in Lace”!

  9. 9.

    raven

    October 31, 2014 at 11:15 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: When the first album came out when I was in Korea the brothers could not stop laughing! The CREAMS, damn!!!!

  10. 10.

    SatanicPanic

    October 31, 2014 at 11:17 am

    I wonder if it would be possible to make some sort of meta Halloween costume to mock all the dummies wearing offensive costumes. It’s probably not worth the effort.

  11. 11.

    SteveM

    October 31, 2014 at 11:18 am

    They were sometimes billed as “The Cream” at the time — see these vintage U.S. 45 labels.

  12. 12.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 31, 2014 at 11:18 am

    @raven: I’m reminded of David Letterman and Paul Shaffer having an ongoing running gag discussing The Indigo Girls.

  13. 13.

    Karen in GA

    October 31, 2014 at 11:21 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: I’m suddenly remembering Letterman clarifying — it wasn’t The BoDeans, or just BoDeans. It was DA BoDeans.

    Brought it up a few times during the show, IIRC. Why I remember it at all is beyond me.

  14. 14.

    Amir Khalid

    October 31, 2014 at 11:23 am

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    If I’m not mistaken, Bruce Wayne’s alter ego did sometimes have the definite article applied to his name, particularly in the early decades.

  15. 15.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 31, 2014 at 11:26 am

    This morning’s R robocall says their records show I have not yet voted and all my neighbors are voting. I voted in September so they’re just making that part up. I assume there’s social science research showing peer pressure makes people turn out?

  16. 16.

    Emily68

    October 31, 2014 at 11:28 am

    @SteveM: It was “the Ukraine” back in those days, too.

  17. 17.

    Amir Khalid

    October 31, 2014 at 11:33 am

    @Iowa Old Lady:
    What are these records the Republican party supposedly has on who voted, or did they not bother making up that part?

  18. 18.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 31, 2014 at 11:34 am

    OTOH, I have been reliably informed that it is The Ohio State University.

  19. 19.

    MomSense

    October 31, 2014 at 11:35 am

    Can’t wait to listen to this later.

    Yesterday was such a fun day and today–blech. Work is highly overrated.

  20. 20.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 31, 2014 at 11:36 am

    @Amir Khalid: A previous call said who voted is public record, which is true, I think.

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    October 31, 2014 at 11:36 am

    @Amir Khalid

    You’re absolutely correct. Early on, The Batman even carried (and used) a gun.

    Nowadays though, Bruce Wayne is Batman’s alter ego.

  22. 22.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 31, 2014 at 11:37 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Actually, just a reminder to vote, along with the discussion of a “voting plan” is supposed to raise turnout, or so I was briefed before starting a shift at the phone bank doing GOTV calls.

    Right now the Dems in Oregon, at least, are concentrating on GOTV, offering assistance to those who need a ballot pickup, haven’t got their ballot, whatever.

    To my knowledge, the Dems don’t use robo calls…they use live volunteers in the GOTV effort. The Rethugs, being vile assholes, of course use robo-calls.

  23. 23.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 31, 2014 at 11:38 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Yes, the fact that you voted is public record…that’s where they get the lists of voters used in GOTV efforts.

    How you voted is secret. That you voted is not.

  24. 24.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 31, 2014 at 11:39 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Just so it’s not confused with other Ohio State Universities, of course.

  25. 25.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 31, 2014 at 11:41 am

    @Amir Khalid: Might have been operating off of an several weeks (or months) old list, provided by the county election office.

  26. 26.

    Anoniminous

    October 31, 2014 at 11:44 am

    The Entertainment Business Model is under assault. HBO offering direct streaming next year is one example. The StarTrek® inspired Prelude to Axanar and Lord of the Rings inspired Hunt for Gollum are two more. Computers and digital technology have dropped the costs of film production, today the costs to outfit a film studio, from pre- through post-production, are equal to the cost of 35mm film stock for one film. Similar situation in the music recording industry.

  27. 27.

    MomSense

    October 31, 2014 at 11:48 am

    @MazeDancer:

    You know the really sad thing is that Taylor Swift is pretty much keeping the recording industry alive right now.

  28. 28.

    burnspbesq

    October 31, 2014 at 11:52 am

    Apparently, Dronestagram is an actual thing.

    This could be a major threat to mah producktivateh.

  29. 29.

    Shrillhouse

    October 31, 2014 at 11:56 am

    There is no sweeter sound than those Marshalls and Ginger’s kit thundering in the Royal Albert Hall.

  30. 30.

    Anoniminous

    October 31, 2014 at 12:05 pm

    @MomSense:

    The Music Industry? Alive? Only Maybe. And Pop is the bright spot. Classical and Jazz are on life support.

  31. 31.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 31, 2014 at 12:06 pm

    I’m intrigued by this Charlie Baker story— he apparently creatively remembered a story about a fisherman who wept when he recalled how he ruined his sons’ lives by forbidding them to accept full rides to college on football scholarships because he wanted them to join the noble, historic family tradition of commercial fishing, because the ebil federal gumming has ruined said noble, historic, etc. Leaving aside the debate over gov’t regulation of commercial fishing, which I know nothing about, has anyone noticed the dad sounds like a dick? Let’s say this happened, why couldn’t the kids go to college, then decide if they want to be fishermen?

    Also, at least in the video I saw, Baker looks less like a politician having a show of genuine emotion than a drunk about to tell his friends he loves them, man.

    And the question that triggered the incident, during a gubernatorial debate in Massachussetts, was “when was the last time you cried?” Russertism is in many ways worse than Broderism.

  32. 32.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 31, 2014 at 12:10 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Russertism is in many ways worse than Broderism.

    They’re strains of the same debilitating disease.

  33. 33.

    MomSense

    October 31, 2014 at 12:13 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    I know. Those of us who love classical are dying out. I went to a symphony concert last week and the soloist was younger than the youngest in the audience by about 30 years.

  34. 34.

    Anoniminous

    October 31, 2014 at 12:20 pm

    @MomSense:

    Ditto with live theater. The average audience age is 72. When I was a teen the Seattle Repertory Company would preform everything from Sophocles to Beckett. Now it’s essentially out of business. :-(

  35. 35.

    MomSense

    October 31, 2014 at 12:23 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    Yup.

    Have you ever watched the tv series Slings & Arrows?

  36. 36.

    Anoniminous

    October 31, 2014 at 12:26 pm

    @MomSense:

    No. We dumped cable decades ago and the one time I tried Hulu the ad time versus program time drove me nuts.

  37. 37.

    MomSense

    October 31, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    Your library may have it. It’s an older CBC television show about a theater so it is out on DVD.

  38. 38.

    GregB

    October 31, 2014 at 12:37 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Baker was trained at the Republican School of Strategically Timed Public Weeping. Her instructors were John Beohner and Mrs. Samuel Alito.

    He nailed it.

  39. 39.

    SatanicPanic

    October 31, 2014 at 12:42 pm

    @GregB: What’s up with the tough guy party and crying?

    The DNC should make an ad with a montage of them crying, then show a photo of ISIS. “Do you want these baby-men in charge of fighting these guys?”

  40. 40.

    jewelbomb

    October 31, 2014 at 12:48 pm

    Fuck Eric Clapton. Let’s not forget that the guy is an unrepentant white nationalist who made a career off ripping of black musical forms.

  41. 41.

    the Conster

    October 31, 2014 at 12:50 pm

    Speaking of the CBC, has anyone been tracking the Jian Ghomeshi epic FAIL? What a slimy creep, and he involves his big teddy bear when he attacks? The guy is a total whackaloon.

  42. 42.

    beth

    October 31, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    Here’s the opening line from that Newsmax story about Jeb Bush calling Obama untrustworthy:

    Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush directly blamed the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) group and other crises in the Middle East on a widespread lack of trust in President Barack Obama’s statements.

    Think really hard, Jeb. Could there be any other reason the Middle East is a mess??? Maybe ask a few family members if they have any ideas, okay?

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne

    October 31, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    @MomSense:
    @Anoniminous:

    Part of it, unfortunately, is prices. The cheapest balcony seat at the LA Philharmonic is $65. The prices at the Ahmanson to see Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit are a little less — $45 for nosebleeds. It takes money to run a theater, but a lot of younger people just don’t have that kind of money and government support is barely a one-digit percentage of most theaters’ budget.

  44. 44.

    EthylEster

    October 31, 2014 at 1:05 pm

    This week I was reading something and in it I saw the first mention of “The Cream”. Who knew?

  45. 45.

    p

    October 31, 2014 at 1:11 pm

    having flashbacks of hippie nostalgia…Hendrix, Joplin, the Band, Johnny Winter, the Grateful Dead, Vanilla Fudge, Derek and the Dominos, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills & Nash… Woodstock.
    if there is a conspiracy theory to explore, it’s how in 1968 one could trust someone who wore bell bottoms, or had a beard, or was a hitch hiker, or up for sharing a joint, and 4 years later, everyone wore bell bottoms, had beards, and music was quickly moving toward disco and mor.
    I lost all respect for brokaw when he admitted to being a “weekend hippie”.
    “baby boomers” have gotten a bad rap because their children – and history – assumes they were all hippies and reneged on their principles, when, in fact, hippies were a small, but principled and vocal (read, I don’t want to be drafted to die in viet nam) segment of the population.
    their fashion was stolen, their music was strangled, their principles were ignored.
    ah, I guess, given disco, all the baby boomers learned was that they liked to dance differently than Arthur Murray and elvis.

  46. 46.

    Mandalay

    October 31, 2014 at 1:13 pm

    I never knew about Clapton’s secret past as a stained glass designer.

    Did you know about his secret past as an extreme racist?….

    Do we have any foreigners in the audience tonight? If so, please put up your hands. Wogs I mean, I’m looking at you. Where are you? I’m sorry but some fucking wog…Arab grabbed my wife’s bum, you know? Surely got to be said, yeah this is what all the fucking foreigners and wogs over here are like, just disgusting, that’s just the truth, yeah. So where are you? Well wherever you all are, I think you should all just leave. Not just leave the hall, leave our country. You fucking (indecipherable). I don’t want you here, in the room or in my country. Listen to me, man! I think we should vote for Enoch Powell. Enoch’s our man. I think Enoch’s right, I think we should send them all back. Stop Britain from becoming a black colony. Get the foreigners out. Get the wogs out. Get the coons out. Keep Britain white.

    Some serious cognitive dissonance going on in Clapton’s head – idolizing Robert Johnson and Jimi Hendrix, but not so keen on blacks who can’t play the blues.

  47. 47.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 31, 2014 at 1:32 pm

    @beth: I blame his shtstain deserting coward of a brother.

    Entire fucking crime family should be Ceausescu’d..

  48. 48.

    PST

    October 31, 2014 at 1:52 pm

    I was just thinking about Monty Python last night. As I was walking home, a young man with a big bushy beard walked by carrying an ax. He was wearing a plaid shirt and a pink tutu. I told him he was okay.

  49. 49.

    burnspbesq

    October 31, 2014 at 2:00 pm

    @jewelbomb:

    Actually, I think I’d rather forget you.

    And ask yourself the following question, shitforbrains: how many more people know (to cite only one obvious example) Robert Johnson than would know him if It weren’t for the Cream and Clapton covers?

  50. 50.

    Anoniminous

    October 31, 2014 at 2:00 pm

    @MomSense:

    Will do.

  51. 51.

    Tree With Water

    October 31, 2014 at 2:06 pm

    Cream sounded way different, and Sunshine of Your Love got airplay which sold the records. Also, as Clapton told George Harrison after returning from tour, the audiences in America had stopped screaming and started listening. The British Invasion continued but in a different form. Change in popular music was accelerating, and Cream had caught the wave.

  52. 52.

    Anoniminous

    October 31, 2014 at 2:18 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    yeah

    “High Culture” (sic) is caught in a downward spiral of diminishing audience causing a rise in ticket prices causing diminishing audience. Adding to this is the obscene amount of money needed for a production raising ticket prices even more causing a further drop in audience.

    Even “Middle Brow” culture, as exemplified by the Broadway musical, is fading for the same reasons.

  53. 53.

    Tree With Water

    October 31, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Ooops, wrong thread. Easier to note that than delete. Carry on:

    The hell of it is being that serious repercussions of this sort were obviously in the cards as we stampeded to war in 2003. Recall that by 2004 the concept that Iraq could serve as a “flypaper”, wherein America could better smite her enemies, served as a silver lined rationale mouthed by those responsible the unfolding catastrophe. The big lies that unleashed that war, lies which the democratic party or the American people have never honestly confronted, continually perpetuate themselves.

  54. 54.

    jewelbomb

    October 31, 2014 at 3:16 pm

    @burnspbesq: Cool argument, dude! I don’t really give a fuck how many people Clapton exposed to Robert Johnson. I guess in your book having decent taste in music excuses him for being a racist pos. Nice values, bro!

  55. 55.

    Applejinx

    October 31, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    You can still make rock, even make rock music pretty much the way they used to. It’s just that you can’t get anybody to listen to it, so you have to really like it because nobody will ever hear it.

    Well, nobody plus YOU guys :)

    The Dark Gate is rock music ya know. I don’t ONLY make that, I get to experiment around if I like, but it seemed a good place to link it what with all the old Cream and all…

  56. 56.

    patrick II

    October 31, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    And what do they have to go back to? If they had wives do they still? If they had children aren’t they grown? If they had businesses, weren’t they lost in the war? There is nothing like stealing ten years from a man’s life, his livelihood, torturing him, and then letting him loose alone, bitter, and angry and with nowhere to turn.

  57. 57.

    Ridnik Chrome

    October 31, 2014 at 4:59 pm

    @jewelbomb: @Mandalay: One drunken rant at a concert almost forty years ago, for which we have only second-hand accounts of what he said. Sorry, but I’m not about to toss my copy of Disraeli Gears in the trash over that…

  58. 58.

    jewelbomb

    October 31, 2014 at 5:42 pm

    Ridnik Chrome: Like the dude’s crappy, derivative music if you want, but he’s never denied making the rant and, in fact, he basically stood by it in this clip. Just be clear that you’re supporting an unrepentant white nationalist. But, hey, at least he shreds or whatever.

  59. 59.

    rea

    October 31, 2014 at 6:43 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: And of course, the problem isn’t government regulation so much as it is that there aren’t any more fish.

  60. 60.

    Arrik

    October 31, 2014 at 7:11 pm

    RIP John Symon Asher Bruce :-(

  61. 61.

    dopey-o

    November 1, 2014 at 12:21 am

    to be extremely talented does not require that one be a decent person. in fact, there are quite a few geniuses who are obnoxious pricks. narcissism + high level of talent is really a recipe for one kind of success.

    but don’t worry. most of us balloon-juicers aren’t all that smart or talented, and hence we all get along. can’t we all just get along?

  62. 62.

    Death Panel Truck

    November 1, 2014 at 1:40 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: I have an original pressing of Unmagumma. The labels read: The Pink Floyd

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