The Wurzels

Adge Cutler and The Wurzels, renamed The Wurzels after Cutler's death, are a British Scrumpy and Western band.

History

Adge Cutler and The Wurzels

The Wurzels were formed in 1966 as a backing group for singer/songwriter Adge Cutler.

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With a thick Somerset accent, Adge played on his West Country roots, singing many folk songs with local themes such as cider making (and drinking!), farming, local villages, and industrial work songs, often with a comic slant.

Related Topics:
Somerset accent - West Country - Cider

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During the 1960s, the band became immensely popular regionally, and the release of the single Drink Up Thy Zider led to national fame and number 45 in the UK charts.

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A number of live albums were recorded at local pubs and clubs, filled with Adge Cutler penned favourites such as Easton in Gordano, The Champion Dung Spreader, and Thee's Got'n Where Thee Cassn't Back'n, Hassn't? together with songs written by others and some reworkings of popular folk songs of the time.

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Adge Cutler was killed in May 1974 after crashing his car in Chepstow following a Wurzels concert and is buried in Nailsea.

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The Wurzels

Adge's death marked a curious turning point in the history of the Wurzels. Deprived of the main song-writing talent, the remaining Wurzels recorded The Wurzels Are Scrumptious! in 1975, an album containing many favourites from the back catalogue, including a number of previously unrecorded Cutler-written songs

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In order to continue the surviving band needed its own songs, and these mostly took the formula of re-written popular pop songs of the time with the lyrics changed to include the usual Wurzel themes (cider, farming, local villages, Cheddar cheese, etc.)

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In 1976, the Wurzels released The Combine Harvester, a re-work of the song Brand New Key, by Melanie, which became a huge UK hit, topping the charts for 2 weeks.

Related Topics:
The Combine Harvester - Melanie - Topping the charts

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The band quickly followed its success with the release of several a number of similarly-themed novelty songs such as I Am A Cider Drinker and Farmer Bill's Cowman, but by the turn of the 1980s had largely faded back in to obscurity.

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The Wurzels never stopped performing, but record releases during the 1980s and 1990s were limited to even more obscure novelty singles like I Shot JR, Sunny Weston-super-Mare, and I Want To Be An Eddie Stobart Driver.

Related Topics:
Weston-super-Mare - Eddie Stobart

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The late 1990s saw the beginning of a revival of the fortunes for the surviving Wurzels, gaining a cult status amongst students and a resurgence in their popularity in their native West Country. A number of CD releases followed, largely featuring re-recordings of older works, but also Never Mind The Bullocks, an album of cover versions of contemporary British rock songs.

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Wurzels continue to perform regular gigs.

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