Did Eric Idle Fuck Over Neil Innes

[Sneelock]

..when he never paid him royalties for "...Holy Grail" songs that were "lovingly ripped off" for Spamalot?

Attachments:

[oh oooh]

Yes.

Not much else to say at this point. I haven't exactly DELVED into it.

CaB probably have 18 40-page threads devoted to this very topic.

[loveless]

He was an absolute mean spirited shit about it as well.

[Charlie O.]

This is the first I've heard of it, but he is credited with "Knights Of The Round Table" and "Sir Robin" on the cast album. I don't know why it would have been up to Eric personally to pay him.

In other words, I would appreciate more information, especially if it doesn't involve me wading through some other site's 40-page thread.

[oh oooh]

OK - so a quick 'Innes Idle' Google search did indeed bring up CaB, and their thread on the feud linked to ANOTHER site that contains a full story (can't say any more than that yet 'cos I haven't read it).

Link to the story follows, followed by a venerable CaBer's comments:

web.archive.org/web/20010531153921/http://home.earthlink.net/~wyuen/rutlesstory.htm

Bit specious, methinx - where, exactly, did this guy get all this information, much of which has never turned up in any article or interview I've ever seen/heard/read (and I've seen/heard/read a lot of them, because life's obviously not short enough)? - but if even a fraction of it is true, it would only intensify the general impression of Idle as a back-stabbing, money-grubbing has-been peddling third-generation photocopies of past glories for the stunted edification of the most slack-jawed, undemanding portion of his fanbase, either unaware or unconcerned that every badly-stitched knockoff of a 35-year-old gag he orders churned out at one of his sweatshops in the ghettos of Malibu only diminishes our appreciation of the hand-stitched originals, and that constantly shafting and denegrating the work of his key collaborators does his pale output without them no favors.

But then, who's to say what the whole truth is? It's quite frustrating to see how hard done-by Innes has been over the years - and it's not all Eric's fault, by any means (I once threw a perfectly fine Galaxie 500 CD against the wall after seeing their "Cheese and Onions" cover credited to Lennon/McCartney) - but he's betrayed only the slightest bitterness publicly and maintains an admirably good-humored front towards it all, which only makes me like him (even) more. And he and Idle seem to have made some kind of peace with one another in the years since that was written. And the messy nature of creative/business/personal kerfuffles guarantees that even the best-researched pieces about them are bound to miss the big picture no matter how many details they capture. And, well, regardless of how arrogantly he's squandered his talent and his legacy, I can't bring myself to hate the fellow responsible for "Angry shouts of 'what about the watermelon, then?' were ordered by the Speaker to be stricken from the record and put into a brown paper bag in the lavvy" and "...Rene Descartes was a drunken fart/'I drink, therefore I am'" and "Ham sandwich, bucket and water plastic duralex rubber Mac Fisheries underwear" and "The Vatican Sex Manual" and the "Galaxy Song" and that sketch with the guy that nudges people. So, much as I'd sometimes like to, I can't bring myself to rescind his lifetime pass. And if he doesn't fuck up the Python reunion shows and gets over himself long enough to give Rutland Weekend Television the home video release it deserves, I'll look into wiping some of those other black marks off his permanent record.

www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=40433.0

[Sneelock]

there's an interview where Innes says that when he approached Idle about not receiving royalties that Idle responded that anybody could have written the music. Innes said he felt he had to point out that he actually DID write the music.

when Innes finally threatened "no more mr. nice guy" then Idle started tweeting that he didn't know what his problem was and that it wasn't his job to see who got paid.

I think he could have MADE it his job but he didn't. to my knowledge Innes never DID actually take legal action. by all accounts he was a pretty swell guy. I'm sure he could  have used the money. I know he had a go fund me or something towards the end. I think it was really his word against Idle's that they had a verbal agreement.

Eric Idle hasn't made me laugh for years and this certainly doesn't help.

[Stacy Heydon]

He should have pursued it legally if he had a case. What more is there to be said?

[Sneelock]

Beware of Dickheads?

[DarknessFish]

Perhaps it's just me, but legal discussions make me long for a post about The Beatles or ELO.

[Sneelock]

Jun 22, 2023 22:39:54 GMT DarknessFish said:

The Beatles or ELO.

...who will henceforth be referred to as the party of the first part & the party of the second part.

[DarknessFish]

Always hated this track, probably their worst.

[loveless]

I found a LOT of paywalled content when I went looking, but I DO remember reading some accounts in real time in which Idle (the man behind Rutles 2) responded very nastily (ha!) to Innes' entreaties with a lot of belittling invective (the main line I remember is "Well, no one laughs at the TUNE of 'Brave Sir Robin', do they?"

If it is true that they reconciled in later years, I'm happy for them both. But...it was ugly.

[Sneelock]

I guess Idle got Innes his Python work. I don't know what the deal was with the Rutland stuff.
still, Neil was a talented guy. Idle made a BUTTLOAD of money off Spamalot. it seems he could have thrown him a bone. I think like a lot of people who make a buttolad of money that he really thought he deserved it all to himself.

[loveless]

That was certainly how he narrated it at the time.

[blue]

I gave up on Idle when he denied he was a Sunderland fan. Twat.