History Music / TheWurzels

Everybody's been satisfied in the back of my old car.''

The Wurzels are an English "Scrumpy & Western" band [[note]] the genre is actually named after their 1967 EP of that name[[/note]], hailing from Somerset in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry. Originally known as Adge Cutler & The Wurzels, they are are best known for their two hit singles in 1976, "The Combine Harvester" (which got to #1 in the charts) and "I Am a Cider Drinker" (#3). Their songs, often pastiches of songs from the folk, pop and rock genres, are characterised by many references to farming and cider (especially scrumpy, the strong and cloudy variant), sung with a strong West Country accent while playing up to various regional stereotypes. To this day they retain a strong following in the south-west of England, with people from other parts of the country tending to regard them as something of a novelty act that was briefly big in TheSeventies.

** A temporary example occurred in 2005 when Tommy Banner was unable to perform live due to his having to undergo prostate cancer surgery; Louie Nicastro covered for him by playing the accordion parts on the keyboard.

** "The Combine Harvester" and "I Am a Cider Drinker", their biggest hits (which respectively got to #1 and #3 in the British charts, both in 1976) were re-released together as a double A-side in 1980. In 2001, a remixed version of "The Combine Harvester" got to #39 in the charts. That song was subsequently re-recorded again for the band's 2006 album ''Top of the Crops''.

* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Pete Budd did this after Adge Cutler's death, and has been the lead singer ever since.

* '''Louie "Gribble" Nicastro''' - keyboard (known as the "Wurzelitzer"), sound engineering (2001-present)

!!Principal Members
* Tommy Banner - accordion, sometimes piano (1967-present)

* Pete Budd - lead vocals, banjo, guitar (1972-present)

* Sedge Moore - bass, ukulele (2007-present)

* Louie "Gribble" Nicastro - keyboard (known as the "Wurzelitzer"), sound engineering (2001-present)

* ThePeteBest: Arguably Reg Quantrill, the band's original banjo and guitar player who was replaced by Pete Budd in the early 1970s; Pete subsequently [[StepUpToTheMicrophone became the lead singer]], a role he has fulfilled ever since.

* LongRunnerCastTurnover: They've been going since 1966, during which there have been a lot of band members! The longest-serving ones, Tommy Banner and Pete Budd, have been members since (respectively) 1967 and 1972. The 'classic' chart-topping line-up of Banner, Budd and Tony Baylis lasted from 1974 (when founder Adge Cutler died) to 1981 (when they recruited John Morgan, the group's first permanent drummer).

* DownOnTheFarm: Agriculture features ''a lot''. Most prominently, "The Combine Harvester" is about a farmer who has just bought a brand new one of these machines, and is using it to impress a woman who owns significantly more land than he does. Meanwhile, "Farmer Bill's Cowman" mentions this trope by name:

I feel just like Burlington Bertie.''

The Wurzels are an English "Scrumpy & Western" band [[note]] the genre is actually named after their 1967 EP of that name[[/note]], hailing from Somerset in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry. Originally known as Adge Cutler & The Wurzels, they are are best known for their two hit singles in 1976, "The Combine Harvester" (which got to number one in the charts) and "I Am a Cider Drinker" (number three). Their songs, often pastiches of songs from the folk, pop and rock genres, are characterised by many references to farming and cider (especially scrumpy, the strong and cloudy variant), sung with a strong West Country accent while playing up to various regional stereotypes. To this day they retain a strong following in the south-west of England, with people from other parts of the country tending to regard them as something of a novelty act that was briefly big in TheSeventies.

** What few people realise is that "The Combine Harvester" is actually a cover of a song (written as a pastiche of Melanie Safka's "Brand New Key") by Irish comedian Brendan Grace, who had a number one hit with it in Ireland in 1975, the year before it became the Wurzels' only number one hit in Britain.
* DoubleEntendre: Frequently. "Theshing Machine", "The Market Gardener" and "The Marrow Song" are perhaps the most blatant examples.
-->''Oh, what a beauty! I've never seen one as big as that before!\\
Oh, what a beauty! It must be two foot long, or even more!\\
It's such a lovely colour, and nice and round and fat,\\
I never thought a marrow could grow as big as that!''

* MyLocal: Various real-life pubs in Somerset are name-checked in some of the songs.

** "The Combine Harvester" and "I Am a Cider Drinker", their biggest hits (which respectively got to numbers one and three in the charts, both in 1976) were re-released together as a double A-side in 1980. In 2001, a remixed version of "The Combine Harvester" got to 39 in the charts. That song was subsequently re-recorded again for the band's 2006 album ''Top of the Crops''.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: During TheEighties, the Wurzels recorded songs about [[Series/{{Dallas}} J.R.]] and even dabbled with ''rap'' music.
* RollInTheHay: Often invoked, usually after some cider drinking.

** "The Combine Harvester" and "I Am a Cider Drinker", their big hits in 1976 (which respectively got to numbers one and three in the charts) were re-released together as a double A-side in 1980. In 2001, a remixed version of "The Combine Harvester" got to 39 in the charts. That song was subsequently re-recorded again for the band's 2006 album ''Top of the Crops''.

* DoubleEntendre: Frequently. "Theshing Machine" and "The Market Gardener" are perhaps the most blatant examples.

* CoverVersion: While most of their songs are affectionate parodies of other songs, some of their later material does consist of straight cover versions, notably Music/{{Oasis}}'s "Don't Look Back in Anger" and the Music/KaiserChiefs' "Ruby" -- the only difference in the case of the latter being the fact that the "ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah" refrain is replaced with "ooh-arr, ooh-arr, ooh-arr"!

* MyLocal: Various real-life pubs in Somerset are name-checked.

** "The Combine Harvester" and "I Am a Cider Drinker", their big hits in 1976 (which respectively got to numbers one and three in the charts) were re-released together as a double A-side in 1980. In 2001, a remixed version of "The Combine Harvester" got to 39 in the charts. That song was subsequently re-recorded again for the band's 2006 album ''Top of the Crops'', while the original version was used as the B-side to a re-recording of "I Am a Cider Drinker" (with Radio/TonyBlackburn) in 2007.
** "One for the Bristol City", a song written in honour of their favourite [[UsefulNotes/BritishFootyTeams football team]], was released as a single in 1977 and again in 2007.

** "The Combine Harvester" and "I Am a Cider Drinker", their big hits in 1976 (which respectively got to numbers one and three in the charts) were re-released together as a double A-side in 1980. In 2001, a remixed version of "The Combine Harvester" got to 39 in the charts.

!!Tropes

* ExplicitContent: A downplayed example; although it contains no overt sexual references or bad language, "Twice Daily", the B-side of the band's 1967 song "Drink Up Thy Zyder", was deemed too raunchy to be played on Creator/TheBBC. It tells the story of a farm labourer who begins a sexual relationship with a female co-worker, resulting in her getting pregnant and a ShotgunWedding being arranged by her father.

* BirdPoopGag: One of the reasons why the narrator of "The Blackbird" has it in for said bird is that it pooped on his laundry while it was hanging on the washing line.

* HaveAGayOldTime: The word 'gaily' is used in its non-homosexual sense (meaning, "cheerfully" or "nonchalantly") in "Twice Daily", purely because it rhymes with the second word of the title.
* LeaveMeAlone: "Don't Tell I, Tell 'Ee" is all about not wanting to be burdened with the troubles of others.

I happen to know 'twere old Fred Snow\\

* HaveAGayOldTime: The word 'gaily' is used in its non-homosexual sense (meaning, "cheerfully" or "nonchalantly") in "Twice Daily", presumably because it rhymes with the second word of the title.

* HaveAGayOldTime: The word 'gaily' is used in its original (ie. non-homosexual) sense in "Twice Daily", presumably because it rhymes with the second word of the title.

* ExplicitContent: "Twice Daily", the B-side of the band's 1967 song "Drink Up Thy Zyder", was deemed too raunchy to be played on Creator/TheBBC. It tells the story of a farm labourer who begins a sexual relationship with a female co-worker, resulting in her getting pregnant and a ShotgunWedding being arranged by her father.