Eric Idle’s Beatles Parody Was Once Mistaken for the Real Thing

Disney+ recently released yet another documentary about The Beatles, this time focusing on their 1964 U.S. debut. Look, I love The Beatles as much as anybody, but when we’re already getting documentaries that are so lengthy that even scenes of Ringo proudly farting make the cut, perhaps it’s time to take a break from more Beatles content?

But while there are countless docs about the Fab Four, there’s just one movie about the Prefab Four: The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash. 

Eric Idle’s 1978 Beatles-spoofing mockumentary is pretty great, featuring a number of early Saturday Night Live cast members in supporting roles, not to mention Michael Palin and George Harrison, who was more than willing to poke fun at his old band. 

But arguably what made The Rutles work so well was the music. The Rutles tracks, such as ”Ouch!” and “Get Up and Go,” obviously parodied various Beatles songs, but they also worked as pieces of music independent of their satirical targets. Songs like “Hold My Hand” were actually better than a lot of the real pop hits of the ‘60s. In fact, the soundtrack album was eventually nominated for a Grammy for Best Comedy Recording.

The reason why The Rutles tunes were such bangers is because they were composed by Neil Innes, who plays John Lennon stand-in Ron Nasty. Innes is famous for his collaborations with Monty Python, but he’s also remembered for the uniquely freaky comic rock group the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, which, incidentally, collaborated with Paul McCartney and appeared in The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour.

As noted by Louder Sound, some of the Rutles’ music was so convincing that even die-hard Beatles fans confused it for the real thing. The Beatles bootleg album Indian Rope Trick featured several unreleased tracks, including demo versions of “I Am the Walrus” and “Fool on the Hill.” Among these Beatles obscurities was a little song called “Cheese and Onions.” The only problem was, it was by The Rutles. 

“The NME rang me up, saying: ‘There’s one of your Rutles songs on this Beatles bootleg album,’” Innes recalled. “I got them to play it to me over the phone. I said, ‘That’s me on Saturday Night Live!’” 

Yeah, while someone seemingly believed it to be a genuine John Lennon song, the audio of “Cheese and Onions” was really just taken from a 1977 episode of SNL, in which musical guest Innes sang the ballad, in character, as Ron Nasty.

“Cheese and Onions” is pretty great. Rolling Stone included it in their list of the best songs by fictional artists, writing that “Innes created a bizarrely gorgeous Lennon ballad, in the mode of ‘A Day in the Life’ or ‘Across the Universe.’”

It’s no wonder that Lennon was a fan of The Rutles. And Yoko Ono was a fan, too — despite being portrayed as “Hitler’s daughter.