Ludo

by Stewart MasonCredited to the Ivor Cutler Trio, 1967's Ludo was produced by George Martin and recorded shortly after longtime fan John Lennon cast Cutler as Buster Bloodvessel in the Beatles' ill-fated Magical Mystery Tour film. Backed by bassist Gill Lyons and percussionist Trevor Tompkins, Cutler indulges his taste for trad jazz on tunes like the boogie-woogie "Mud" and the Goon Show-like "Good Morning! How Are You? Shut Up!" and "A Great Grey Grasshopper." Since Martin had produced records by Peter Sellers and the other Goons prior to the Beatles' success, his sensibility matches Cutler's perfectly, making Ludo one of Cutler's very best albums. It's certainly his funniest; the brief "I'm Happy," which continues "and I'll punch the man who says I'm not," and the outstandingly bizarre "A Suck of My Thumb" are probably the goofiest songs the artist ever wrote. Ludo is light on his usual poems and recitations, but the two short stories, "Mary's Drawer" and "The Shapely Balloon," are as funny and clever as any of Cutler's spoken works.