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 Würtzels - 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.
The Blackbird
The Wurzels Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where be it Blackbird to?
I know where he be,
He be up yon Wurzel tree,
And I be after he!
Now I sees he, And he sees I,
Bugger'd if I don't get 'en
Wit a girt big stick I'll knock 'im down
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
'Ow's 'E Fadder?
(Audience Answer) Allright!
All me life I'm on the farm,
Workin' for me keep
Tendin' pigs and chickens,
And they cows and sheep
And then while I'm workin',
there's one who always mocks me
He sittin up 'dere in the trees,
blackbird I'll 'ave thee!
Chorus
Underneath the open sky
in spring we loves to dine.
We likes to 'ear the flappin'
of the missus' washin' line
We listens to a tuneful song,
a blackbird or a tit,
But on me vest and underpants
he scored a direct hit!
Chorus
If I goes out poachin',
a creepin' through the fields,
With me old retriever,
a followin' at me heels.
If I aim me shotgun at a pheasant in the hay
That bloody blackbird starts his row
and frightens him away!
Chorus
No longer can I sleep at night,
get peace of any kind,
That bird'll be the death of me,
he's prayin' on me mind!
If I chase him long enough,
I'll get 'en by and by,
And celebrate me vict'ry
wit a girt big blackbird pie!
Chorus
The Wurzels' song "The Blackbird" is a humorous and lighthearted song that describes the annoyance of a farmer who is constantly tormented by a blackbird. The song begins with a frustrated and determined chorus, where the farmer expresses his desire to catch the blackbird that is perched on top of a tree. He is so dedicated to catching the bird that he is willing to use a "girt big stick" to knock it down. The song also has a call and response feature where the audience is asked how the bird's father is doing, to which they respond that he is doing all right.
The farmer, who is the singer in the song, talks about how he has spent his entire life working on a farm, tending to the animals, including pigs, chickens, cows, and sheep. Despite his hard work, he is constantly mocked by the blackbird that sits in the trees. The bird is described as being a nuisance that leaves droppings on his vest and underpants and stops him from poaching.
The song ultimately concludes with the farmer's frustration growing to the point where he cannot sleep at night, and the blackbird has become a constant presence in his mind. He vows to catch the bird and celebrate with a "girt big blackbird pie."
Overall, the song is a lighthearted and humorous take on the struggles of rural life and the annoyances that farmers face from the animal kingdom.
Line by Line Meaning
Where be it Blackbird to?
Where has the Blackbird gone and hidden this time?
I know where he be,
I have figured out the Blackbird's location.
He be up yon Wurzel tree,
He is on the Wurzel tree over there.
And I be after he!
I am going after him!
Now I sees he, And he sees I,
I see the Blackbird, and he sees me too.
Bugger'd if I don't get 'en
I'll be damned if I don't catch him.
Wit a girt big stick I'll knock 'im down
I'll use a large stick to hit him and knock him down.
Blackbird, I'll 'ave thee!
Blackbird, I'll catch you!
La la la la la la
Singing a happy tune
La la la la la la
Singing a happy tune
'Ow's 'E Fadder?
How is his father doing?
(Audience Answer) Allright!
The audience answers that his father is doing fine.
All me life I'm on the farm,
I have spent my whole life working on the farm.
Workin' for me keep
Working to make a living.
Tendin' pigs and chickens,
Taking care of pigs and chickens.
And they cows and sheep
As well as cows and sheep.
And then while I'm workin',
While I'm working hard,
there's one who always mocks me
the Blackbird always teases me.
He sittin up 'dere in the trees,
He is sitting up there in the trees.
blackbird I'll 'ave thee!
I'll catch that Blackbird!
Underneath the open sky
Beneath the wide open sky,
in spring we loves to dine.
We love to eat our meals in the springtime.
We likes to 'ear the flappin'
We enjoy hearing the sound of
of the missus' washin' line
my wife's laundry flapping in the wind.
We listens to a tuneful song,
We enjoy listening to a beautiful song,
a blackbird or a tit,
whether it is a Blackbird or a tit.
But on me vest and underpants
But he has soiled my vest and my underpants
he scored a direct hit!
with his droppings.
If I goes out poachin',
When I go out to poach,
a creepin' through the fields,
creeping through the fields quietly,
With me old retriever,
accompanied by my old retriever,
a followin' at me heels.
who follows me closely.
If I aim me shotgun at a pheasant in the hay
If I aim my shotgun at a pheasant hiding in the hay,
That bloody blackbird starts his row
That horrible Blackbird starts making noise
and frightens him away!
and scares the pheasant off!
No longer can I sleep at night,
I can no longer sleep at night
get peace of any kind,
or find any kind of peace,
That bird'll be the death of me,
That bird will be the end of me,
he's prayin' on me mind!
It's driving me crazy!
If I chase him long enough,
If I chase him for long enough,
I'll get 'en by and by,
I'll catch him eventually
And celebrate me vict'ry
And I will celebrate my triumph
wit a girt big blackbird pie!
with a big old Blackbird pie!
Chorus
Repeat the chorus
Contributed by Charlotte H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@HardRockMiner
My dad used to sing this to me when I was a tiny boy.. He is on his death bed today with very little time left. For some reason this crossed my mind just now and I figured I'd check to see if YouTube had it. Thank you for posting this!! Pray my dad passes peacefully please
@elroyfudge3683
prayed for his soul,,,I am a Yank married an English Lassie, getting my instructions
@mirelleryan455
Well sorry ik I'm a little bit late hope everything is okay and hope he is safe now :))
@WizzardJC
@@mirelleryan455comments two years old and we both find it about a week apart, mad, yea I hope all is well as it could be too
@lynmatthews8252
Hello hope he passed peacefully. Not sure why I’m here! I do believe he’s gone to somewhere wonderful.
@stuey2ey
9 people disliked because a blackbird has continuously and mercilessly thwarted their efforts.
@darkangelw8472
Lol 😂
@ashleytaylor2513
This made my day
@tobco79
Saw The Wurzels live in 2019 in Frome, UK 🇬🇧🎸🎼😎❤️ Legends
@DRAGN.
Bristolian and proud!!!