{"title":"Vivian Stanshall","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and wit. He rose to fame as a member of the Bonzo Dog Band in the late 1960's before embarking on a solo career. Known for his idiosyncratic style and creativity, Stanshall's most famous creation was the saga of Rawlinson End, featuring spoken-word pieces and original songs. Despite struggles with alcoholism and depression, he collaborated with various artists and created two solo albums showcasing his love for rhyming slang and absurdist puns. Stanshall left behind a legacy of comic and musical originality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePerhaps Vivian Stanshall's most notable work was his involvement in the Bonzo Dog Band during the late 1960's. After their split in 1970, he pursued a solo career characterized by its variety and fertility but also interrupted by periods of inactivity due to personal challenges.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eStanshall gained recognition for his creation of Rawlinson End, which started as a short track on a Bonzo Dog Band album but evolved into sprawling spoken-word pieces accompanied by original songs. These stories depicted an eccentric world of English aristocracy filled with intricate wordplay and surreal imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"rawlinsons-end","title":"Rawlinson's End","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1978, Charisma Records released the \u003ci\u003eSir Henry At Rawlinson End\u003c\/i\u003e album, a forty-minute introduction to the eccentric custodian of the crumbling British country estate, which incorporated characters and music from the various episodes of the Sir Henry saga, originally broadcast on the BBC's John Peel show from October 1975 up until 1991. The BBC regular re-broadcast Sir Henry even today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1980, Sir Henry was also unleashed on the public as a film, starring the great Trevor Howard and was also issued as book published by Eel Pie Publishing, owned at the time by The Who's Pete Townshend.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 1990's found Sir Henry used as the concept for a now legendary series of 'Ruddles Beer' adverts that cemented 'Rawlinson's End' in the National consciousness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStanshall was a major Influence on the cream of the new wave of British comedy in the 1980's including Stephen Fry, Adrian Edmondson, Phil Jupitus \u0026amp; Paul Merton and he remains much loved nearly thirty years after his death. In the years just before his untimely death in 1995, Vivian intended to generate a new album based around the content of three of the final episodes broadcast by John Peel on the BBC; 'Crackpot At The End Of The Rainbow' recorded in February 1988, 'The Eating At Rawlinson End', from August 1988 and 'The Thing At Rawlinson End', from April 1991. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor decades it has been rumoured that a new Sir Henry album would be released and now finally Madfish \/ Snapper Music in collaboration with the Stanshall Family have made that rumour a reality.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsing all the remaining tapes from Vivian's archive, Stanshall expert and performance artist the magnificent Michael Livesley has managed to put back together the intended release, a process that he has described as like \"putting back together a smashed vase\". The results are a revelation with the final album now a double LP containing some of Vivian's finest work. Fans of Sir Henry, Old Scrotum, Mrs E and the various bizarre and evocative characters that inhabit the musty \u003ci\u003eRawlinson's End\u003c\/i\u003e will be thrilled at the imagined adventures that await them.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Madfish","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50481907990859,"sku":"2026200","price":42.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50481907302731,"sku":"2026199","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Stanshall_2_50d4ec88_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727546481"},{"product_id":"dog-howl-in-tune","title":"Dog Howl In Tune","description":"\u003cp\u003eDuring the last five years of his life, ex-Bonzo Dog Band solo artist Vivian Stanshall, was working on a final album of music to follow up his much-loved 1981 album \u003ci\u003eTeddy Boys Don't Knit,\u003c\/i\u003e which featured classics such as 'Terry Keeps His Clips On', 'The Cracks Are Showing' and 'Ginger Geezer'. Stanshall had spent his time in the 1980's working on his 'English Comic Opera in the Grand Tradition' Stinkfoot, which first ran at the Old Profanity Showboat in Bristol Harbour in 1985, with a later revival in London. He had also found success writing material with his friend Steve Winwood, co-writing the title track to 'Arc Of A Diver', working on Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells 2' (he had been an integral part to the original 'Tubular Bells' as the narrator) and various advertising campaigns including 'Lemsip', 'Cadburys' \u0026amp; most famously 'Ruddles Beer'.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor a considerable period, Vivian had wanted to record and release another rock album and had been collecting songs as far back as the 1970's. With money he earned from his advertising work, he funded various recording sessions and had interest from a major record label, but sadly he tragically died in a fire before an album could be completed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe twelve tracks on this album are taken from a selection of sixty or so finished or nearly completed recordings on the tapes left by Vivian Stanshall, as his hitherto unpublished legacy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAndy Frizell (The Wizards of Twiddly, The Coral and Kevin Ayers) is a musician and producer who worked with Vivian briefly in 1994. Using the surviving recordings, he has pieced back together Vivian's final album adding where required, the missing instrumentation but, at all times, paying reverence to the original vision. The collection includes the Beefheartian monster mash blues of 'Dog Howl In Tune' - also the title track - as well as the wistfully melancholic 'No Time Like The Future' on an album that wears its heart fully on its sleeve. It is by far the most biographical album Vivian ever made and draws on songs from 'Stinkfoot' and other projects. 'Goodbye Mother' is the poignant last song from the project 'Shackleton', based around the exploits of the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, which never saw the light of day whilst 'Boy In Darkness' was written by Vivian for a project with Steve Winwood - Winwood's version yet to be released.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMusicians include Jack Bruce (Cream), Ollie Halsall (Pato), Susie Honeyman (The Mekons), Neil Innes and Rodney Slater (The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band), Mike Kellie (Spooky Tooth) \u0026amp; others.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Madfish","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50482727354699,"sku":"2026202","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50482724536651,"sku":"2026201","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Stanshall_Jpeg_a7800aef_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727555341"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_73cc123b_thumbnail_4096_39667cbb-9761-4e25-ab7b-0ddfbb9eb335.jpg?v=1727546451","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/vivian-stanshall.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}