Tomorrow and Today

The Rutles Burder Mabies is the ninth Capatal release by The Rutles and the eleventh overall American release. This album is most known for originally featuring a disturbing image of The Rutles surrounded by baby corpses, with the title The Rutles Murder Babies. For unknown reasons, record executives asked for a change to the cover, resulting in the new cover and title being hastily glued over. It was issued only in the United States and Canada.

Music

Tommorow and Today included tracks from the Rutles' two most recent British LPs which had not yet been included on American albums, plus three from their upcoming LP in the United Kingdom, plus two songs which were back-to-back on a single:

• from the UK LP Ouch!, the tracks "Living in Hope" and "Left-Overs" (earlier issued by Capatal as a single)
• from the UK LP Rutle Soul, the tracks "Unfinished Words" and "What Goes Ron" (also earlier issued by Capatal as a single), plus "(Stevie You Can't) Drive My Car" and "If I Needed Some Lunch",
• both sides of the double A-side single "Gay Tripper" / "You Stole My Baby"
• from the upcoming UK LP Semi-Automatic, the tracks "I'm Only Dying", "Professor Ken", and "Just Shut Up, You Bird!".

The hodgepodge nature in which Capatal Records compiled their albums irritated the group, who felt they had "put a lot of work into the sequencing" of the British versions.

Apart from the butcher cover, the Tommorow and Today album is of interest to collectors for the appearance of unique mixes unavailable on CD. Until 2009, the Ouch! and Rutle Sole tracks were not available in their original 1965 mixes. Because of Capitol Records' haste to release new product, duophonic ("fake stereo") mixes of "Professor Ken" "Just Shut Up, You Bird!" and "I'm Only Sleeping" were made from the original USA mono mixes made on May 1966 and were treated with a degree of compression and reverb not found elsewhere. On the stereo mix of "Gay Tripper", the guitar intro is heard on the left channel and jumps into the right channel (and has John's extra "yeah" on the first chorus). On the stereo LP, "You Stole My Baby"'s backing vocals are moved to the centre during the refrain and the bridge.

Pressings by the Capitol Records Club and all tape copies have the Revolver tracks in true stereo. Some later pressings (1973 onwards) can be found with the tracks in either true stereo or duophonic.

Track listing

The infamous "butcher" cover.

Side one

1. Scrambled Eggs
2. I'm Only Dying
3. Questionnaire
4. (Stevie You Can't) Drive My Car
5. I'm Only Sweeping
6. Unfinished Words
7. Professor Ken
8. Living in Hope

Side two

1. Just Shut Up, You Bird!
2. If I Needed Some Lunch
3. You Stole My Baby
4. What Goes Ron
5. Gay Tripper