Pre-fab! Barry Wom in The Seventh Python

"I played the part of Ron Nasty, it’s the John Lennon character... Eric wanted to play Sir Dirk McQuickly, the Paul character. He wasn’t 'sir' then, of course, just Dirk McQuickly. Stig O’Hara, a guitarist of no fixed hairstyle, was played by Ricky Fataar and... Stig O’Hara, a guitarist of no fixed hairstyle, was played by Ricky Fataar. John Halsey, was the drummer. He’s one of the world’s funniest men. He’s got this sort of like dour face. He was Barrington Womble, whose name was shortened to Barry Wom..."

That's Neil Innes, talking about the Rutles in our nonfiction musical film, The Seventh Python.

But does this look like a dour face to you?


It's John Halsey, the legendary, influential rock drummer who's been in bands from Patto to Fatso, who beat the skins with artists from Joan Armatrading to Joe Cocker-- but is best known as the man who kept the backbeat for the Rutles. We met John today at the Castle Inn, the pub he runs in Cambridge, England.

Surprisingly there was not a single Rutles artifact on the walls. But John spoke at length about his dear fried, Rutles guitarist Ron Nasty, also known as Neil Innes, subject of The Seventh Python.