Topo D. Bil - Witchi Tai To

[theshapecool]

keith moon on drums

[LShackley]

The bass playing sounds very much like Cowan's work on the Bonzo albums. I can spot exact licks that he used on the Keynsham album.

[Dadio0001]

Truly a gem .

[izgoblin]

So if it's Dennis Cowan on bass, what's with the long-believed rumor and published info about it being members of Yes on the track, with Chris Squire's bass seemingly the most recognizable of all instruments? I'd love to know precisely who did play on this track then.

[addictedtoplaice]

the bonzo dog band????

[LShackley]

This was the first single released on Charisma records.

[wailin1967]

@LShackley Not certain of that - cat no is CB116 which suggests it's probably the 16th !

[LShackley]

@wailin1967 I got the info on this being the "first Charisma single" from an online article about the label. YouTube won't let me post the URL but Google "famous charisma label discography" to find it

[gemear2]

Great bass work on this track, Dennis Cowan is a bass god!

[MrSirMrSirMr]

I'm glad it's not just me who thinks this! :)

[brockydockydoo]

Many thanks, Jimmy the Ferrett!! I bought this when it first came out with a picture sleeve but it got lost many moves and moons ago. A total gem!

[locog7]

i remember this song done by the gruo.p Everything is Everything

[IncurableNostalgic]

OHMIGOD! I can't believe I found this! I remember it from early 1970 and I distinctly remember Tony Blackburn playing it, but it's not in the Guinness Book of Hit Singles. Couldn't remember the band name, so just googled the lyrics I knew how to spell, then from there to YouTube, and when I saw Topo D Bil, I knew that was it! Thanx Jimmytheferret!

[StChiara]

This version slaps the shit out of all the rest

[lockateard17]

best version

[theSkYkAlEiDoScOpE]

wow , had not heard this version before . it s up there !!!

[angrydonny]

You should watch "Sleepers"

[langevin16]

Great movie its the reason how I found this song

[godluckyhoward]

OMG. been searching for this song for 30 yrs, i was staring to believe it was a figment of my imagination as a child, thank for uploading this, my sister had this 45, wore it out as an 8 yr old kid.

Makes me feel glad, that im not dead!

[LadyMoondancer]

@godluckyhoward

same here. I knew it wasn't from my imagination because I had a snippet of it recorded off the radio to my old reel-to-reel tape recorder, which I transferred to cassette. Never knew the name of the song or who sang it. my recording was bad, I thought they were singing Witchie Na Na. But the line "makes me feel glad that I'm not dead" was clear. I googled the lyrics and found Brewer and Shipley's version. But I think this is the one I recorded so long ago.

[snugfit2002]

It isn't Legs Larry singing, according to the notes on the reissued 'Keynsham' album. According to the man himself, he produced it, Roger Ruskin Spear is in there 'somewhere', and some guy called Scotty did the vocal at a 'very drunk' session at Trident.

Great to hear this again; I have had it in my head since hearing it on the radio at the age of 7, and it took me 38 years to rediscover it! The song has also led me to explore and discover the awesome talents of the late Jim Pepper

[MrSirMrSirMr]

The bass on this record is also by a Bonzo, the late Dennis Cowan. I can't think of a bass player whose work is quite as distinctive as Dennis's (compare this to his playing on the Keynsham album).

[johnnymambo]

I've been trying to track this version down since I read Rolling Stone's singles review by Ed Ward (in 1969!): "A nice sax break early on, and a superlative trumpet line that reminds me of the Royal Brass Music of King James I ..." Wow, I just had to hear that! And I did -- once, on college radio, 1970. Now here it is, 40 years on. Thanks ... It was this mysteriously unavailable single that made me forever a Bonzos fan. Now the big question: is it members of Yes, or The Who, with Legs Larry?

[MrSirMrSirMr]

You can pick up a copy of the single on the bonus tracks of the 2007 reissue of the Bonzo album Keynsham. As for personnel, I know for sure that the bass player is the Bonzo's own Dennis Cowan.

[smelgy]

Its also as well to remember that this is the ONLY song that was "pick of the week" on Tony Blackburn's breakfast show on Radio 1 in 1969 for TWO weeks running. Tony loved it and played it constantly - unfortunately it never charted, but given the intricases and inadequases of today's music maybe one day it will. It certainly certainly deserves to.

[smelgy]

I've been waiting years for this to appear on Youtube. I remember buying this back in 1969 and walking past the house of a girl I fancied like crazy - Hazel Hedges - although she probably didn't know I fancied her. This is a classic cover of the song, I still have the original 45 and thank you from the bottom of my heart for putting this on here. I promise you this will be one of the most listened to videos on "youtube" over the coming years. Thanks once again.

[cpu42]

Love it. Love it.