THE LINER NOTES

By Prof. Harvey J. Satan  

Before the Bonzo's would complete a follow up record to "Keynsham", largely due to their being, sort of dissolved, Liberty Records decided to release a compilation album in 1971.

It is interesting for it's diverse selection of tracks.( Not exactly what everyone considers the band's "best"). This album is also hard to find, and was only released in the U.K.
 *we've confirmed it was released in Canada. The information from Tom - It has "Manufactured in Canada" on the disc as well as Liberty's Canadian address. The reverse of the record sleeve is all in black-and-white with no pink type and the blank space next to the Liberty logo has: "Distributed in Canada by London Records of Canada (1967) LTD."

SIDE ONE: Contains the obvious track, the hit song: "I'm The Urban Spaceman".
But other than that, it is a selection of the Bonzo's more off beat songs.

SIDE TWO: This side has the more down to Earth songs, including their follow up semi-hit "Canyons of Your Mind".

Over all a nice cross section of Bonzo sanity, and insanity, their Traditional Jazz sound, and their Electric sound.

TRIVIAL BITS:
RELEASED: August 1970 as "The Best of the Bonzo's" by The Bonzo Dog Band.
Liberty Records (UK) - LBS-83332

CREDITED BAND MEMBERS: None

UNCREDITED BAND MEMBERS: Everyone who played on "Gorilla", "Donut In Granny's Greenhouse", "Tadpoles" and "Keynsham".

THE SLEEVE: The front cover features a Pop-Art image of a vase full of flowers, with the Bonzos faces pasted on the flowers. ( They are: Top: Dennis Cowan. Middle Row: Rodney Slater, Legs Larry Smith, Roger Ruskin Spear, Vivian Stanshall. Bottom: Neil Innes ). The back sleeve is a collage of newspaper and magazine articles about the Bonzos, and features a prominent photo of Vivian Stanshall, with all his hair shaved off.

SPOT, THE ODD SONG: The version of "Canyons of Your Mind", on this compilation does NOT contain Vivian's intro.

"BEAST OF THE BONZOS"

Meanwhile, over in the U.S..... United Artists obtained the rights to the Bonzos library, and decided to release their own "Best Of" compilation, during the break in Bonzo activity.

This collection of songs is more mainstream, and attempts to capture the more popular sounds, that United Artists hoped American listeners could relate to. ( That is, it's not a TOO British album.)

Side One: Starts with the first popular Bonzo track, "The Intro. and The Outro." and closes with the hit song familiar to U.S. listeners, "I'm The Urban Spaceman".

Side Two: Ventures into the more offbeat sounds of the Bonzos. And interestingly enough, like it's U.K. counterpart, ends with "Canyons of Your Mind".

This compilation is another good cross section of Bonzodom, it also contains some tracks not usually found on compilation albums, like the brilliant "Piggy Bank Loving".

This is also a hard to find album, as it was only released in the U.S.

TRIVIAL BITS:
RELEASED: 1971 as "Beast Of The Bonzos" by The Bonzo Dog Band ( with gatefold sleeve )
United Artists Records-UAS-5517

CREDITED BAND MEMBERS: None

UNCREDITED BAND MEMBERS: Everyone whom appeared on "Gorilla", "Donut In Granny's Greenhouse", "Tadpoles", and "Keynsham".

THE SLEEVE: The artwork for this compilation was done by the very popular underground artist/photographer, John Van Hamersveld. He created many popular album designs for bands like, Blue Cheer, The Jefferson Airplane, and The Rolling Stones.( Most notably, The Rolling Stones "Exile On Mainstreet" ). His artwork is also seen on numerous concert posters, and all forms of media from the 60's to the present day. The style for this album sleeve is a sort of faux-Peter Max. The front cover is a simple fire hydrant, slightly bent. The gatefold itself is a very psychedelic comic strip involving a dog turning a rocketship, a metamorphisizing fire hydrant, and a mysterious woman playing a recorder! The back cover, is a collection of pop art drawings of the Bonzos. (Clockwise from the top, they are: Roger Ruskin Spear, Neil Innes, Vivian Stanshall, Legs Larry Smith, Dennis Cowan, Rodney Slater )

SLEEVE NOTES: The gatefold sleeve also contains liner notes by John Ned Mendelsohn, which basically condenses the history of the band, and brings the American listener up to date.

THE BEATLES(AGAIN): Yes, there is even a Beatles connection in this compilation! John Van Hamersveld, was one of the people whom designed the front cover of "The Magical Mystery Tour"...which you may recall the Bonzo's appeared in, thus proving how truly small the world is, at times.

SPOT THE ODD U.S. SONGS: The version of "Canyons of Your Mind", included here, DOES have Vivian's intro. An oddity on this album, is it gives the running time of this song as 3.01, when all other versions give a running time of 2.45. Be assured, this is a printing error. Vivian's intro, is a voice over, and by no means adds 16 seconds to the song. "Trouser Press" fades out early, on this compilation, right before Joel Druckman says "Raw meat!". And finally, again another running time error, "Look At Me, I'm Wonderful", supposedly runs 5 seconds longer than the original version.( It doesn't ).