Formed 60 years ago, a so-called ‘scrumpy & western’ band from Somerset, this year they’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of their No.1 single The Combine Harvester
Not many bands can boast being knocked back by Princess Anne when they offered her a cider – but The Wurzels can. Formed 60 years ago, a so-called ‘scrumpy & western’ band from Somerset, producing ‘ciderdelic’ music, this year they’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of their No.1 single The Combine Harvester and their No.3 – I Am A Cider Drinker. Dressed as West Country bumpkins, they delivered their catchy songs in ‘Ooh Arr’ ‘accents, fuelled by lashings of cider or its rougher, stronger, local equivalent, scrumpy.
Still touring and recording today, with two of their original hit-making line-up – accordionist and pianist Tommy Banner, 86, who’s actually Scottish, and banjo player, guitarist and lead vocalist Pete Budd, 85, from Bristol. Looking back at their 1976 chart-topping triumph, Pete tells The Mirror: “That was the greatest feeling ever. We had a party til 10am the next morning. We were drinking everything that night. Someone had to come and pick me up off the floor and take me home.
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“People used to supply us with barrels of cider free at gigs. We once took five gallons to Top Of The Pops and dished it out to everyone in paper cups. They kept coming back for more, not realising how strong it was. The Bay City Rollers and Demis Roussos had a drop. We got asked to not take it there anymore. We met Paul McCartney at EMI when he was with Wings. He was great. Paul sent out for some cider and he paid for it. So we had a few drinks together. Very pleasant. We did three Royal shows: two at Windsor and one in Buckingham Palace. We met Princess Anne, and Tommy asked her if she’d like some cider and she said ‘No, I’ve got a bad throat but it’s not that bad!’”
Performing everywhere from The Middle East to Canada, where they had a hit, The Wurzels have had royalties from America and The Seychelles. Pete, the only child of Fry’s chocolate factory workers George and Doris, says his dad disapproved of his musical leanings, that also saw him play with Pete Budd & The Rebels, Rainbow People, and The Eddie King Band.
He says: “My father had been a sergeant and instructor in the Army, and he always used to say ‘You don’t wanna mess around with that music stuff; that’s not gonna bring you any money!’ But, after The Wurzels went to No.1, he said to me ‘against all my wishes, you stuck by your guns and did what you wanted to do, and I’m very proud of you’. That brought tears to my eyes.”
Pete joined The Wurzels as a musician in 1972. Two years later, becoming lead singer following the death of the band’s founder and frontman Adge Cutler in a car crash, aged 43. He says: “I think Adge fell asleep at the wheel of his sports car, which overturned on a roundabout approaching the Severn Bridge. I was upset about that because Adge was our leader and a really nice fella. Sod’s Law he died two years before we had hits. We still do a lot of his songs, including Drink Up Thy Cyder.”
Pete says of The Combine Harvester, which was a parody of Melanie Safka’s 1971 hit Brand New Key: “Going to No.1 changed my life completely. At the time, I was living in a council house with my wife. From then on, we got well treated everywhere. They say you’ve got to earn respect and we felt we had by then. Being lead singer of The Wurzels has made me very comfortable and happy. I ran a pub – The Star Inn at Liverton – in Devon for nine years and that was difficult, but I was still working for The Wurzels then.”
The Wurzels also pride themselves on keeping spotless reputations – never getting into tricky situations with female fans. Pete says: “Nothing like that, no. We tried to keep away from that sort of thing because Tommy and I were married and we didn’t want any aggravation. Our manager warned us ‘you’ve got to keep the Wurzel image squeaky clean’.”
Famous fans of the band include Bill Bailey, who admitted on TV to having The Combine Harvester as his doorbell tune, and The Stranglers, who’d play Wurzels’ songs at soundchecks. One For The Bristol City is the official club anthem of Bristol City FC, whose supporters sing other Wurzels songs, too. More recent releases by The Wurzels have included Ooh Arr…Just A Little Bit, a cover of Gina G’s Eurovision classic, and a version of Ruby by Kaiser Chiefs with its original backing chorus refrain of aah aah aah replaced by ooh arr ooh arr ooh arr.
“We like to Wurzelise songs” Pete explains. “When we were last on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, the Kaiser Chiefs’ lead singer Ricky Wilson put his arms around us and thanked us, which was nice. When we did Fairytale Of New York, The Pogues sent us a message saying we had made the second best version of it. To do a parody of someone’s song, you have to ask them. They can say no and stop us doing it. We wanted to do the guitar riff from (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, but The Rolling Stones wouldn’t let us. Our manager wrote to tell them he was sorry, and he would have to decline if they ever asked to do anything of ours!”
Once described as appealing to people aged from 9 to 90, The Wurzels continue to bring great joy. But Pete’s had some tough times, which include losing his wife-of-61-years, Pauline, who a Wurzels fan, in 2022. He says: “She had dementia. Last year our younger daughter, Yona, died in her sleep, aged 40, having had diabetes. I now live in the Chew Valley with our elder daughter, Julie, who looks after young people who are ill. I’ve got seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. They all like Wurzel music, but none of them are musicians.
“I get recognised out and about but I never get bothered, which is fantastic. I go to the pub [The Crown Inn in West Harptree] where they’ve got all our records on the jukebox.” Despite their advanced years, The Wurzels have 22 gigs lined up for the rest of this year. And Pete says “sheer enjoyment” keeps them going. Of being in the band, he says: “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.
“There’s going to come a time when we won’t be able to do it. But we still get a good turnout. We’ve proved we’re not a joke. ‘One-off Wurzels’ they used to say, but you don’t go all these years on luck alone. It would be nice if we had another hit song, and who knows what’s round the corner.”
*For more information, see www.thewurzels.com
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