Vivian Stanshall

Vivian Stanshall (March 21 1943 – March 5 1995) was an English musician, writer, wit, and raconteur, probably best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, but also known for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End.

Rawlinson End

Viv's next big success came with 'Rawlinson End'. In the 1970s Stanshall recorded numerous sessions for BBC Radio 1's John Peel show which elaborated, with a fine mixture of eloquence and irreverence, on the weird and wonderful adventures of the inebriate and blimpish Sir Henry Rawlinson, his dotty wife Great Aunt Florrie, his "unusual" brother Hubert (who, for speed, stature and far-seeing, habitually goes on stilts), old Scrotum the wrinkled retainer, Mrs E, the rambling and unhygienic cook, and many other inhabitants of the crumbling stately home Rawlinson End and its environs. In fact, the Rawlinson family had been populating Vivian's imagination for quite a while, their very first appearance (in name, at least) being on the Bonzos' 1967 number "The Intro & The Outro": "Great to hear the Rawlinsons on trombone" .

Related Topics:
1970s - BBC Radio 1 - John Peel - Blimpish

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An LP, Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, which reworked some of the material from the Peel sessions, appeared in 1978. A sepia-tinted black and white film version, starring Trevor Howard as Sir Henry and Stanshall himself as Hubert, followed in 1980. It was also based on the Peel recordings, with many variations from the LP. Some of the film's music was provided by Stanshall's friend Steve Winwood. A book of the same name by Stanshall, illustrated with stills from the film, was published in 1980. Nominally a film novelization, it was actually distilled from all the various versions of the story, including a good deal of material that was not used in the film.

Related Topics:
1978 - Black and white - Film - Trevor Howard - 1980 - Steve Winwood

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A projected second book, The Eating at Rawlinson End, sadly never appeared. It was to have started:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:In the blue wardrobe of heaven are many unused clothes, too tight fitting yet too beautiful to throw away. And in that wardrobe we hang our likenesses, yellow diaries yellowed with yesterday, thumb smeared with tomorrow. But the now, the present, like the hollow screech of ancient flamingos in search of shrimps, is still vibrantly shocking pink.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A second Rawlinson album, Sir Henry at Ndidi's Kraal (1983), recounts Sir Henry's disastrous African expedition, but disappointingly omits the rest of the Rawlinson clan. It is debatable whether this album should ever have been put out at all. It was recorded on portable equipment at Vivian's home, at a time when he was at his most depressed, drugged-up and drunk. The results were, at best, a bit of a mess. Then, while his wife Ki was away organising the purchase of the boat Thekla (see below), the record company (convinced that Vivian was on the verge of death and determined to capitalise on the grief of his fans) grabbed the tapes, cobbled them together and released them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At Christmas 1996 BBC Radio 4 fished some of the Peel show recordings out of the vault for a very late-night repeat, but there seems to be little chance of a commercial release.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sir Henry's final appearance was in a TV commercial for Ruddle's Real Ale (c. 1994), where he is played by a cross-dressing Dawn French, presiding over a family banquet at a long table. Stanshall reprises the role of Hubert, reciting a weird poem loosely based on Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat, at the end of which all the diners produce oars and row the table offscreen.

Related Topics:
1994 - Dawn French - Edward Lear

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~