The band is best known for its 1976 number one hit The Combine Harvester but has a history stretching nearly 40 years, and still performs to this day.
In its heyday the band was very popular despite disdain from "serious" critics.
The band recently released a new single "One for the Bristol City" and were the centre of a campaign to get it into the charts for September 30th 2007. The band also appeared with members of the Bristol City team to sign any singles bought from Virgin Megastores in the Mall Galleries in Bristol on Thursday the 27th September 2007.
The name of the band came from the fodder beet Mangelwurzel. As can be determined from the subject matter of many of their songs, cider is very popular amongst Wurzels and their fans. Their particular "genre" of music has been named "Scrumpy And Western" (scrumpy is a name given to traditional cider).
History
Adge Cutler and The Wurzels
The Wurzels were formed in 1966 as a backing group for singer/songwriter Adge Cutler.
With a thick Somerset accent, Adge played on his West Country roots, singing many folk songs with local themes such as cider making (and drinking), farming, local villages and industrial work songs, often with a comic slant.
During the 1960s, the band became immensely popular regionally, and the release of the single Drink Up Thy Zider led to national fame and number 45 in the UK charts.
A number of live albums were recorded at local pubs and clubs, filled with Adge Cutler penned favourites such as Easton in Gordano, The Champion Dung Spreader, and Thee's Got'n Where Thee Cassn't Back'n, Hassn't? together with songs written by others and some reworkings of popular folk songs of the time.
Adge Cutler was killed in May 1974 after crashing his car in Chepstow following a Wurzels concert in Hereford and is buried in Nailsea.
The Wurzels
Adge's death marked a curious turning point in the history of the Wurzels. Deprived of the main song-writing talent, the remaining Wurzels recorded The Wurzels Are Scrumptious! in 1975, an album containing many favourites from the back catalogue, including a number of previously unrecorded Cutler-written songs
In order to continue the surviving band needed its own songs, and these mostly took the formula of re-written popular pop songs of the time with the lyrics changed to include the usual Wurzel themes (cider, farming, local villages, Cheddar cheese, etc.)
In 1976, the Wurzels released "The Combine Harvester", a re-work of the song "Brand New Key", by Melanie, which became a huge UK hit, topping the charts for 2 weeks.
The band quickly followed its success with the release of a number of similarly-themed novelty songs such as I Am A Cider Drinker (another rework of an existing melody--this time "Una Paloma Blanca" which was written by and been a hit for the George Baker Selection and also covered by Jonathan King the year before) and Farmer Bill's Cowman, but by the turn of the 1980s had largely faded back in to obscurity.
The Wurzels never stopped performing, but record releases during the 1980s and 1990s were limited to even more obscure novelty singles like I Hate JR, Sunny Weston-super-Mare, and I Want To Be An Eddie Stobart Driver. This latter single (1995) from Loose Records.com got in the UK Top 100 and appeared also as a limited edition lorry shaped disc. The interest in this record sparked off renewed interest in The Wurzels.
The late 1990s saw the continuing of this revival of the fortunes for the surviving Wurzels, gaining a cult status amongst students and a resurgence in their popularity in their native West Country Under the new management of Stranglers manager Sil Willcox a number of CD releases followed, largely featuring re-recordings of older works, but also Never Mind The Bullocks, an album of cover versions of contemporary British rock songs. This album was recorded and produced by Louie Nicastro and George Allen manager of The Mission. In 2005, the band released a limited edition split single with British Sea Power. The Wurzel's covered BSP's Remember Me while BSP covered I Am A Cider Drinker. The band also supported BSP at their gig at the London Forum in November.
In 2007 it was announced that The Wurzels and Tony Blackburn would re-release I am a cider drinker again with the royalties from the song going to the BUI Prostate Cancer Care Appeal in Bristol.
The Wurzels continue to gig around the UK,[1] including playing at the Shalbourne Festival for nearly 11 years, although they pulled out of the 2007 Glastonbury Festival, having been scheduled to play the bandstand stage where they could not use their own sound engineers.[2] Although they had played the same stage at the 2000 Glastonbury Festival. They were also one of the headliners at the 2007 Bristol Community Festival.
The Wurzels are also still very popular in parts of the west country, especially with supporters of Bristol City who the band also support. Their song "One For The Bristol City" is the official club anthem. First released in 1976, a newly-recorded version of this song reached number 66 in the UK charts in September 2007. However, most fans recognise another Wurzel song "Drink Up Thy Zider" as their anthem. It is played at the final whistle at Ashton Gate if the home club win and it is constantly sung by fans along with another Wurzel song "I am a cider drinker".
The West Country-born stand-up comedian Bill Bailey occasionally references The Wurzels in his routines. In his Bewilderness show he mentions knowing them "when they were a German techno band, Die WĂ¼rtzels - and then they sold out, went all oo-arr country", as well as performing a pastiche of "Combine Harvester" in the style of Chris de Burgh. In an appearance on BBC2's Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Bailey stood and saluted a playing of the intro to "Combine Harvester".
Bristol-based Portishead list The Wurzels as an influence on their MySpace site - as the only influence, in fact.
Drink Up Thy Zider
The Wurzels Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Drink Up Thy Zider George,Thy Garden's Well Nigh Dug
There's Dung All O'er Thy Tater's And Half Way Up Thy Gater's
And There's Still More Zider In The Jug
CHORUS:-
Drink Up Thy Zider, Drink Up Thy Zider
For Tonight We'll Merry Be
The Corns Half Cut And So Are We
Drink Up Thy Zider George,Thee's Been Going Far
Drink Up Thy Zider George,Thee's Getting Quite A Star
Thy Cheeks Are Getting Redder,From Charterhouse To Cheddar
And There's Still More Zider In The Jar
CHORUS:-
Drink Up Thy Zider George,Get Up Off The Mat
Drink Up Thy Zider George, Put On Thy Gurt Big Hat
We're Going To Ballyverney, To See My Brother Ernie
And There's Still More Zider In The Vat
CHORUS:-
Drink Up Thy Zider George,Get It Off Thy Chest
Drink Up Thy Zider George,It's Time We Had A Rest
There's Nothing Like More Zider To Make Thy Smile Grow Wider
And There's Still More Zider In The West
CHORUS:-
CHORUS:-
The Wurzels's song "Drink Up Thy Zider" is a classic representation of the West Country culture in England. It's a song about drinking cider and enjoying oneself, ignoring responsibilities and letting loose. The song is addressed to George, who is urged to "Drink up thy zider" and "pass us round the jug". As the song progresses, it is revealed that George's garden is dug and there is dung all over his taters and half-way up his gaters, implying that he's not taking care of responsibilities.
The chorus of the song encourages everyone to "drink up thy zider" and be merry. They want to enjoy the night and engage in activities like knocking the milkmaids over, rolling them in the clover, and being half-cut, which means being drunk. The song then continues to describe how George is getting quite a star and his cheeks are getting redder, implying that he's getting quite drunk. The third verse of the song urges George to put on his big hat as they are going to Ballyverney to see Ernie, who is possibly a friend or relative.
Overall, "Drink Up Thy Zider" is a song that celebrates drinking and letting go of responsibilities. It's a song that encourages people to enjoy the moment, have fun, and be merry.
Line by Line Meaning
Drink Up Thy Zider George,Pass Us Round The Jug
Pass the jug of cider to George so we can all drink from it
Drink Up Thy Zider George,Thy Garden's Well Nigh Dug
Your garden is nearly fully plowed, George; you should have some cider
There's Dung All O'er Thy Tater's And Half Way Up Thy Gater's
There is manure all over your potatoes and boots
And There's Still More Zider In The Jug
The jug still has more cider in it
Drink Up Thy Zider, Drink Up Thy Zider
Drink your cider, drink your cider
For Tonight We'll Merry Be
We will have a fun time tonight
We'll Knock The Milkmaids Over And Roll 'em In The Clover
We will playfully tease and flirt with the milkmaids in the fields
The Corns Half Cut And So Are We
The corn is halfway harvested and we are halfway drunk
Drink Up Thy Zider George,Thee's Been Going Far
You have been travelling a lot, George; you should have some cider
Drink Up Thy Zider George,Thee's Getting Quite A Star
You are starting to become famous, George; have some cider
Thy Cheeks Are Getting Redder,From Charterhouse To Cheddar
Your cheeks are getting red from all the places you have been visiting
And There's Still More Zider In The Jar
The jar still has more cider in it
Drink Up Thy Zider George,Get Up Off The Mat
Get off the floor and have some cider, George
Drink Up Thy Zider George, Put On Thy Gurt Big Hat
Put on your big hat, George, and have some cider
We're Going To Ballyverney, To See My Brother Ernie
We are going to Ballyverney to visit my brother Ernie
And There's Still More Zider In The Vat
There is still more cider in the vat
Drink Up Thy Zider George,Get It Off Thy Chest
Let out your worries and have some cider, George
Drink Up Thy Zider George,It's Time We Had A Rest
It's time for you to take a break and have some cider, George
There's Nothing Like More Zider To Make Thy Smile Grow Wider
Having more cider will make you happier
And There's Still More Zider In The West
There is more cider to be found in the west
CHORUS:-
The chorus repeats throughout the song
Contributed by Max T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@matt01506
This fills me with pride.
When i was a young "cider monster" out on pub crawls i had the wurzels on tape and pestered every landlord to play it !
@brownnoise357
Huge soft spot for Adge and the original Wurzles, plus Coates Cider Works in Nailsea, which should never have been shut down by Shoerings and moved to Shepton Mallet. In 1969, a pint of Superb Coates Scrumpy, was 8d (abit over 3p in Fake money)in the Friendship Inn served by Auntie Beattie the Unforgettable Landlady. I'll never forget old Farmer Brock in the Old Oak Pub being asked what he thought about the new decimalised Funny Money, and he replied -"Wellmit might catch on in the Towns, but I don't see it catching on out here" Sadly he was Wrong, the Fake Money caught on everywhere. RIP Farmer Brock, I'll never forget you driving around in your Blue Ford Escort, Always and Only Ever in First Gear. Nailsea was still Full of Great Characters like him and Dear old Adge back Then. Dear God, what have they Done to the place in the years since. đŸ˜³
@olixbob
Love this. Especially the end, cracks me up how they creep back away into the cider
@philbennett5312
I don't know how many times I saw Adge perform this, including at a recording session at the Royal Oak. I never heard the milkmaids version, it should have been though!!
@incargeek
You cant get better colours than you can from film!
@ShinGameDojo
When D said his song was just a tribute to the best song in the world. He meant this song.
@richardhyde6418
JFC! I'm descended form some of the best.......True class at work Uncle Adge! God rest his soul.....
@DarrelCouzens
The old'uns are the best!
@glennmorris371
Loved your Uncle on westward TV, which we could get in Swansea as a child... May he rip.
@johnlagan2160
That be the best cider session having those jolly men sing that song God bless arge