''The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse'' is the second album by the British comedy rock group

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as The Bonzo Dog Band or The Bonzos) was created by a group of British art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelia with surreal humour and avant-garde a ...

. In the United States, it was released as ''Urban Spaceman'' and added their U.K. hit single " I'm the Urban Spaceman" to the track listing.

Background

By 1968, the group's sound had expanded beyond their music hall and jazz roots, drawing inspiration from the blues and psychedelic rock movements that had grown in popularity at the time. They recorded the album at the newly-established

Morgan Studios Morgan Studios (founded as Morgan Sound Studios) was an independent recording studio in Willesden in northwest London. Founded in 1967, the studio was the location for recordings by such notable artists as Jethro Tull, the Kinks, Paul McCartney, ...

in London. The phrase "the doughnut in granny's greenhouse" is obscure British slang for the lavatory. The band first heard it when

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...

told them a joke featuring it. The chorus of "We Are Normal" features the lyric "We are normal and we want our freedom", a reference to a line from the 1963 play ''The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade'' or ''

Marat/Sade ''The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade'' (german: Die Verfolgung und Ermordung Jean Paul Marats dargestellt durch die Schauspielgrupp ...

'' a line also quoted in "The Red Telephone", a song by the American band

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

from their 1967 album '' Forever Changes''. The track also features the playful rhyming interjection "We are normal and we dig*

Bert Weedon Herbert Maurice William Weedon, OBE (10 May 1920 – 20 April 2012) was an English guitarist whose style of playing was popular and influential during the 1950s and 1960s. He was the first British guitarist to have a hit record in the UK S ...

" in which Stanshall pays fleeting tribute to one of the most influential guitarists of his day. _Note:_the_ _Note:_the_African-American_English_homonym">African-American_English.html"_;"title="_Note:_the_African-American_English">_Note:_the_African-American_English_homonym_of_the_English_word_'dig',_used_here,_may_derive_either_from_the_ _Note:_the_African-American_English_homonym">African-American_English.html"_;"title="_Note:_the_African-American_English">_Note:_the_African-American_English_homonym_of_the_English_word_'dig',_used_here,_may_derive_either_from_the_Wolof_language">Wolof_''dëgg''_or_''dëgga''_or_the_Irish_language.html" ;"title="Wolof_language.html" ;"title="African-American_English_homonym.html" ;"title="African-American_English.html" ;"title=" Note: the African-American English"> Note: the African-American English homonym">African-American_English.html" ;"title=" Note: the African-American English"> Note: the African-American English homonym of the English word 'dig', used here, may derive either from the Wolof language">Wolof ''dëgg'' or ''dëgga'' or the Irish language">Irish ''tuig'' - both meaning "to understand/appreciate"] The track ''11 Moustachioed Daughters'' is a Black comedy, darkly comic (and remarkably detailed) evocation of the traditional Witches' SabbathÉmile-Jules Grillot de Givry, Grillot de Givry, Émile-Jules, ''Musée des sorciers, mages et alchimistes'', Imp. De Compiègne, Librairie de France, 1929, 1st edition, English translation by J. Courtenay Locke published by Causeway Books New York 1973 under the title ''Illustrated Anthology of Sorcery, Magic and Alchemy'' . Book 1 ''Sorcerers'' Chapter VI ''The Sabbath'' (pps. 72-89). and features lyrics referencing the traditional hallucinogenic flying ointment prepared from ''

Atropa belladonna ''Atropa belladonna'', commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a toxic perennial herbaceous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae, which also includes tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant (aubergine). It is native to Europe, ...

'' (and other Solanaceous plants - including the fabled mandrake, said to shriek when uprooted).Harner, Michael J., Hallucinogens and Shamanism, pub. Oxford University Press 1973, reprinted U.S.A.1978 Chapter 8 : pps. 125-150 : The Role of Hallucinogenic Plants in European Witchcraft. Stylistically, the track is also a heartfelt homage to the original 1963 recording "The Feast of the Mau-Mau", by one of Vivian Stanshall's favourite musical artists

Screamin' Jay Hawkins Jalacy J. "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of ...

("Feast of the Mau Mau" is a number which Hawkins himself would later re-release in a more widely known 'live' version on his 1969 LP ''...What That Is!''). In 2007 the U.K. version of "Doughnut" was re-issued by EMI on CD with 5 bonus rare and/or unreleased tracks.

Sleeve notes

The instruction that ''"The noises of your bodies are a part of this record."'' can be found on the booklet that came with the gatefold edition.

Track listing

References

External links

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse 1968 albums Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band albums Albums produced by Gus Dudgeon Albums produced by Gerry Bron Liberty Records albums Imperial Records albums Albums recorded at Morgan Sound Studios