Various Artists - At Last The 1948 Show

Echoes of Monty Python and their adventures in the world of long-playing vinyl abound throughout this miscellaneous collection of sketches from the TV show that, in many ways, prefaced the explosion of Monty Python’s Flying Circus in 1969. Originally broadcast in February 1967 on selected regions of ITV, At Last The 1948 Show showcased the performing and writing talents of Pythons-in-waiting John Cleese and Graham Chapman, Goodie-to-be Tim Brooke-Taylor, plus Marty Feldman (then making his television debut as a comedy performer, having previously earned his spurs as a gag writer) and the lovely Aimi MacDonald. This long-deleted compilation of sketches from the show’s first series was originally released as a Pye LP in 1967, with the label also releasing the unlikely combination of The Ferret Song and The Rhubarb Tart Song as a 45. Not only do the sketches anticipate the manic energy and the collision of the absurd and the surreal Python would later make their own, the Bookshop sketch would actually reappear in recycled form on Python’s Contractual Obligation album, while the aforementioned Ferret and Rhubarb Tart ditties are essentially the prototypes for what would later become Python’s unique way with words and music.