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 An incredible new album has been released,the original recordings that served as inspiration for the Bonzo Dog Band. It is Songs the Bonzo Dog Band Taught Us, quite an impressive collection.
If you aren't familiar with these lunatics, they were a late-sixties English group that would be the result of mixing Spike Jones and the Mothers of Invention with the British Music Hall tradition, and giving them tons of psychedelic drugs. They had origins at the same time as Monty Python, and often did joint projects.
The Bonzos spent many an hour cruising London thrift shops in search of novelty records, many of which they remade into modernized versions that retained the charm of the originals - Jollity Farm, Hunting Tigers Out in India, Mickey's Son and Daughter, etc. They're all here. Leave it to the Brits to make some of the most unusual records ever heard, with absurd humor bordering on surrealism. Perfect material for the Dada-inspired Bonzos.
Aha, thought I, now I can find out what the original lyrics were for
Ali Baba's Camel, as the Bonzo version contains what appears to be a
pretty obvious drug reference.
So I eagerly out on the 1932 version by The Rhythmic Troubadours, and imagine my surprise when I heard:
You've heard of Ali Baba, 40 thieves had he
Out for what we all want; lots of LSD!
After a few double takes, it was off to Google, where I found this simple explanation:
It should be pointed out for the benefit of younger/US/FDA readers that the
"LSD" referred to in Ali-Baba's Camel is the "pounds shillings and pence"
variety, and not any other kind you may know of. It's a scary enough song
without psychedelic side-effefects!
Mystery solved!
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