| Sir Henry at Rawlinson End | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Vivian Stanshall | ||||
| Released | 1978 | |||
| Genre | Spoken word Comedy Comedy music |
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| Label | Charisma Records | |||
| Producer | Vivian Stanshall | |||
| Vivian Stanshall chronology | ||||
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Sir Henry at Rawlinson End is a largely spoken-word, solo comedy recording by Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band member Vivian Stanshall. It had its origin in Vivian Stanshall's recordings for the John Peel Show on BBC Radio One in the mid 1970s, and a track on the Bonzo's 1972 album Let's Make Up and Be Friendly (United Artists UAS29288/Sunset SLS50418) by Neil Innes and Vivian Stanshall (which was also previewed on Peel's show in 1971, with Innes & Stanshall appearing under the name Freaks).[1]
Contents |
In 1970, Stanshall took over John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show, while Peel enjoyed a holiday. Contributing to Peel programmes over a number of years, Stanshall played many new and old songs, and also piloted and previewed many different musical and spoken word comedy sketches and songs. Ultimately, several of these formed a vaguely cohesive whole around Sir Henry Rawlinson and his country seat, Rawlinson End, which were then compiled and edited by Stanshall for release.[1]
Released as an LP in 1978, Sir Henry at Rawlinson End by Vivian Stanstall was released on the Charisma Records label (CAS 1139), and featured Stanshall talking and singing (as multiple characters) about the fictional history of Sir Henry Rawlinson. Puns, double-entendres, pop-cultural references and all manner of clever wordplay abound, as Stanshall initially takes the role of an un-named narrator, then drifts between character and narrator thereafter. The recording features many musical interludes, and all sorts of odd and esoterically-credited musical instruments. Guest performers include Steve Winwood and two of Stanshall's children - his biological son Rupert Stanshall, and Sydney Longfellow (Stanshall's stepdaughter via his second wife Ki Longfellow-Stanshall).
The tracks are named after their prominent musical piece, and most feature at least one vocal number, intermingled with spoken word performances by Stanshall as both narrator and the many and various Rawlinson-related characters. These characters including: Sir Henry Rawlinson himself, his wife Lady Florrie Rawlinson (née Maynard), Ralph (`Raif') Rawlinson and Candice Rawlinson (their children) and Henry's brothers Hubert (the younger brother) & Humbert (dead older brother, deceased, and now a ghost).
During the course of the recording, other characters both appear and are mentioned in passing. They include the staff of Rawlinson End: Mr. Cumberpatch (former gardener), Old Scrotum the Wrinkled Retainer (butler) and Mrs. E (housekeeper); various relatives Florrie's brother Lord Tarquin Portly of Staines and his wife the Lady Phillipa of Staines. Other characters include the landlord of the local pub (The Fool & Bladder) Seth One-Tooth, Reg Smeeton, a walking encyclopedia and "contract house clean[ers]" and "resting theatrical artistes" Teddy Tidy and Nigel Nice.[2]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [3] |
Allmusic's retrospective review was laudatory, commenting, "Stanshall is superbly entertaining, a wordsmith who can trip from the sublime to the louche in the wink of an eye, from wicked puns to appalling jokes in a tale (of sorts) set in a country estate, and told in more accents than you can shake a stick at." They argued that though the concept of the album is complete nonsense, this doesn't take away at all from its entertainment value.[3]
The fifteen tracks are essentially one long performance piece, but are divided as follows:
Tracks (songs)
The story as described on the lp (as well as most of the script) was used as the basis for the 1980 film version Sir Henry at Rawlinson End starring Trevor Howard as Sir Henry, and Vivian Stanshall as Hubert (and voiceover narration). To tie in with the film, Eel Pie Publishing released the script/transcription as Sir Henry at Rawlinson End And Other Spots, a 112pg script book. (ISBN 0-906-00821-2)
In 1983, a semi-sequel entitled Sir Henry at N'didi’s Kraal was released by Demon Verbals, with the catalogue number "VERB 1".
In 1994, Stanshall joined Mel Smith and Dawn French (both playing Sir Henry in different adverts) in a series of television advertisements for real ale purveyor Ruddles Beer.[4]
In 1995, Virgin released Sir Henry at Rawlinson End on CD and cassette under their "Virgin Chattering Classics" label. The sequel Sir Henry at N'didi’s Kraal was released on CD by Edsel in 1999.
In June 2010 Guilty Dog Productions, with the full support of the Stanshall family, resurrected the 1978 LP and re-imagined it as a one man show starring Mike Livesley as the narrator and all characters, backed by a 6 piece band replicating the instrumentation of the original. The show won rave reviews, Liverpool Echo Review, Daily Post Review and Liverpool 7 Streets Review. The show received it's London Premiere on October 14th 2011. The Premiere was a huge success and the show drew praise from Neil Innes and Adrian Edmondson who were in the audience. The show also received another rave review, this time from MOJO Magazine's Andrew Male. After this success a London run is now in the preparation stages.
Liverpool Echo Review, accessed October 1st 2011
Daily Post Review, accessed October 1st 2011
Liverpool 7 Streets Review, accessed October 1st 2011
MOJO Magazine Review, accessed October 19th 2011