Cheese and Onions

"We could go anywhere with this song; it was definitely going to go to big places."

-Ron Nasty, The Rutles Archaeology

"Cheese and Onions" is a song written by Ron Nasty and Dirk McQuickly (see Nasty/McQuickly). It was included on the Sgt. Rutter's only Darts Club Band as the album's finale.

About
Dirk McQuickly performed "Cheese and Onions" at a concert in Rutland, with Give Booze a Chance taking the place of the last verse.

Recording
January 19, 1967- 7:30 pm-2:30 am- The first four takes of the song were recorded. Ron sang and played guitar and Dirk played piano. Take 1 used only two of the four available tracks. At this time, they knew that something would go in the center of the song, but they did not yet know what. Take 4 consisted of Ron's vocal overdubs onto two tracks. By the end of the night, three of the four tracks available were replete with Ron's heavily echoed vocal.

January 20, 1967, 7:00 pm-1:10 am- Reduction mixdowns, vacating tracks for more overdubbing. Take 6 was marked "best" and was augmented with another Ron lead vocal, Dirk's bass, and Barry's drums. This day also marked the first appearance of Dirk's vocal in the middle section. (It was a happy coincidence that the section began right after the alarm went off.) Dirk would re-record his vocal on February 3 because this day's work was only a rough guide, and he cursed at the end as he flubbed his line.

February 3, 1967, 7:00 pm-1:15 am- More overdubs onto Take 6. Dirk re-recorded his middle vocal and also his bass part. Barry decided to wipe his original drum track in favor of a new and distinctive tom-tom sound. Archie Macaw commented, "That was entirely his own idea. Barry has a tremendous feel for a song and he always helped us hit the right tempo first time. He was rock solid and this made the recording of all the Rutles' songs so much easier."*

February 10, 1967, This was one of the most auspicious days in Beatle history, the day the orchestra was brought in to play the instrumental buildup to fill the 24-bar gap between the Ron and Dirk sections of the songs. Forty musicians (the Fabs originally wanted ninety) were instructed to play from a preselected low note to the highest note their instrument could reach. Archie Macaw sketched out a chart with a squiggly line to suggest the ascent to the high note, and he was paid 18 pounds for his arrangement. The musicians were given somewhat unusual instructions: Start quietly and end loud; start low in pitch and end high; make your way up the scale independent of the other musicians around you. The orchestra cost EMI 367 pounds, 10 shillings. Macaw and Dirk took turns conducting. The segment was recorded manipulating the acoustics of the room using "ambiophony," a rudimentary precursor of surround sound.

The recording session, which ran from 8:00 pm to 1:00 am, was an event. The musicians all wore formal evening attire, but they also donned novelty items such as clown noses, fake nipples, and gorilla-paw gloves. Recording was filmed with seven handheld cameras and edited, along with stock (non-Rutles) footage, into an early music video, but it was never broadcast. (It can be seen on the Archaeology DVD.) Everyone in the studio broke into spontaneous applause after the last orchestral crescendo. When the orchestra left, the Rutles and friends stayed to record the final chord, a long "hummm," which would remain the song's ending until February 22.

February 13, 1967- Four new mono mixes were prepared.

February 22, 1967- The Rutles decided that the choir of humming voices was not powerful enough to end the song. Ron, Dirk, Barry and Mal Evans, sharing three pianos, simulaneously stuck and E major chord to replace the choir. The recording went nine takes before they all hit the chord at the right time. Take 9 was overdubbed thrice, and then Archie Macaw added a Harmonium until all four tracks were filled. The concluding wall of sound lasted 0.53 seconds, although it faded about 0.10 seconds earlier on the record, because the speakers of the time could not handle the last supersoft sound. (The ending of the 1987 Sgt. Rutter CD also concludes in 0.43 seconds.)

March 1, 1967- A new piano track was added to Take 6. This overdub was never used.

April 21, 1967- Recording of the inner groove chatter. The Pre-fabs recorded them repeatedly saying "Number 2" over and over again with a guitar chord beginning. Even though it only lasted about 2 seconds on the final recording, the actual recording lasted about 20 hours and, as such due to length, the full recording has never been released on anything. (After the album was released, people of course played the chatter backward, and claims surfaced that is says something naughty. This is not true.) They also recorded the high-frequency sound that only dogs can hear.

June 1, 1967- First released on the UK LP Sgt. Rutter's Only Darts Club Band.

Credits

 * Ron Nasty: vocal, acoustic guitar and piano (final E Chord only)
 * Dirk McQuickly: vocal, piano and bass guitar
 * Stig O'Hara: lead vocal, electric guitar
 * Barry Wom: Drums, bongos, maracas and piano (final E Chord only)
 * Mal Evans: Alarm clock and piano (final E Chord only)
 * Archie Macaw: Harmonium (final E Chord only)
 * Session Musicians: Twelve violins, four violas, four cellos, two double basses, a harp, an oboe, two flutes, three trumpets, three trombones, a tuba, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns and a percussionist.

Links

 * Music Video and Lyrics at Songpedia
 * Lyrics at LyricWiki