Free Record Given Away with the Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief, later shortened to simply The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief, is the fourth album by the comedy group Monty Python

Monty Python

Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...

, released in 1973.

Cover and Packaging

The initial pressings were packaged with a real tie and handkerchief and distributed to menswear stores, the concept being that the record was merely a 'free gift' in the manner of plastic dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

s with breakfast cereals. It is also notable for its inner sleeve art, which is visible through a cutaway hole in the album's outer sleeve. It appears to be a simple Terry Gilliam

Terry Gilliam

Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...

 artwork of a tie and handkerchief, but when the inner sleeve is pulled out, it reveals that the tie and handkerchief are actually on a dead man hanging rather graphically from a gallows

Gallows

A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...

. Later releases of the album would just have the picture of the clothing on the front cover, and removed the inner sleeve and the unusual hidden artwork.

Double Grooves

The album's original LP edition (on Charisma Records

Charisma Records

Charisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...

 in the U.K., catalog no. CAS 1080, released 1973, and on Arista Records

Arista Records

Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...

 in the U.S., catalog no. AL 4039, released 1975) is particularly notable in that it was mastered with two concentric grooves on side two, so that different material would be played depending on where the stylus

Stylus

A stylus is a writing utensil, or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. The word is also used for a computer accessory . It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styli are heavily curved to be held more easily...

 was put down on the record's surface. For this reason it is sometimes referred to as a "three-sided" record. The cutting was carried out by George "Porky" Peckham

George Peckham

George "Porky" Peckham is an English record cutting engineer, widely recognised as among the most accomplished in the business. He has been responsible for producing the master discs from which countless vinyl records have been pressed over the last 40 years....

. To further confuse the listener, both sides of the LP are labelled "FREE RECORD Given away with the Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief - Side 2" - only the matrix numbers

Matrix numbers

Matrix numbers are alphanumeric codes stamped or hand written into the run-out groove area of a gramophone record...

 identify which are the first and second sides.

The album did not have a track listing, so that this feature would come as a complete surprise to the listener, who might on a second listening hear material he or she had never heard before, creating genuine confusion.

Track listing

The following sketches are from the TV series: "Church Police

Dead Bishop

The Dead Bishop sketch, also known as the Church Police or Salvation Fuzz, is a comedic sketch appearing in Episode 29 of Monty Python's Flying Circus, "The Money Programme"...

", "Bruces

Bruces sketch

The Bruces sketch is a famous sketch from the TV show Monty Python's Flying Circus, and appears in episode 22, 'How to recognise different parts of the body'...

/Philosopher's Song (minus The Philosophers Song)", "Cheese Shop

Cheese Shop sketch

The Cheese Shop is a well-known sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus.It appears in episode 33, "Salad Days". The script for the sketch is included in the book The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus : All the Words, Volume 2.-Origins:...

", "Mrs. Niggerbaiter Explodes", "Boxing Tonight", "Oscar Wilde", and "Buying a Cat". The remainder are exclusive to this album.

Side One: Single-Groove

1. "Church Police
   Dead Bishop
   The Dead Bishop sketch, also known as the Church Police or Salvation Fuzz, is a comedic sketch appearing in Episode 29 of Monty Python's Flying Circus, "The Money Programme"...
   
   "
2. "Elephantoplasty"
3. "Novel Writing"
4. "Word Association"
5. "Bruces
   Bruces sketch
   The Bruces sketch is a famous sketch from the TV show Monty Python's Flying Circus, and appears in episode 22, 'How to recognise different parts of the body'...
   
   /Philosopher's Song"
6. "The Adventures of Ralph Mellish/Hot Dogs and Knickers"
7. "Cheese Shop sketch
   Cheese Shop sketch
   The Cheese Shop is a well-known sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus.It appears in episode 33, "Salad Days". The script for the sketch is included in the book The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus : All the Words, Volume 2.-Origins:...
   
   "
8. "Wasp Club/Tiger Talk"
9. "Great Actors"

Side Two: Groove One

One or the other of these two series of tracks will play, depending on which groove the stylus is cued on.

1. "The Background to History"
2. "First World War Noises"
3. "Boxing Tonight (Fight Of The Century)"

Side Two: Groove Two

The second series of tracks is referred to as "Side 3":

1. "Minister for Overseas Development (aka Mrs. Niggerbaiter explodes)"
2. "Oscar Wilde and Friends"
3. "Buying A Cat (aka Taking in the Terrier)"
4. "Phone-In"

2006 Bonus Tracks

1. Psychopath
2. TelePrompter Football Results
3. Radio Tuning Radio 4: Announcer Graham Chapman / Radio Time Announcer Terry Jones
4. Radio Shop