| Sir Henry at N'didi's Kraal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1984 | |||
| Genre | Spoken word Comedy Comedy music | |||
| Label | Diablo | |||
| Producer | Glen Colson | |||
| Vivian Stanshall chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
Sir Henry at N'didi's Kraal is the fourth and final solo album by Vivian Stanshall. It is a return to the largely spoken-word, solo comedy format of Stanshall's second album Sir Henry at Rawlinson End and is a sequel to the same work.
Sir Henry at N'didi's Kraal continues the story of the dissolute aristocrat and explorer Sir Henry Rawlinson, this time dealing with his attempts on behalf of the "Geographic Society" to locate a lost tribe of Zulus in South Africa. In contrast to Sir Henry at Rawlinson End , it is almost entirely spoken word, with only one song included. The album is predominantly a parody of the colonial manners and attitudes of the British Empire, using Sir Henry as a mouthpiece for various ridiculous and sometimes racist philosophies which Stanshall could spoof. It has been described as "a contradictory mix of Sir Henry's belief in racial superiority and (Stanshall's) genuine affection for African culture." [1]
The album was recorded at a low point in Stanshall's life following his separation from his second wife Ki Longfellow and their young family, during which he was suffering from severe alcohol and prescription medicine abuse. Stanshall was unhappy with the album's unpolished content, editing and low production values and subsequently disowned it. The producer, Glen Colson, has defended the release and his own work on it by protesting that Stanshall's depressed and intoxicated state diminished his creative input and that Colson himself was obliged to finish the album as best he could. [1]
Although Stanshall would continue to produce one-off recordings, advertisements and the comic opera Stinkfoot , Sir Henry at N'didi's Kraal is his final album.
Stanshall later recorded music and narration intended to form an album by linking together material from his final three John Peel BBC sessions, recorded in 1988-1991. However, this project was not completed at the time of his death. It was not until 2023 that Michael Livesley, with the assistance of Andy Frizell, did so under the title Rawlinson's End.
Vivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for acting as Master of Ceremonies on Mike Oldfield's album Tubular Bells.
John Walters was a British radio producer, presenter and musician. Initially a schoolteacher and a jazz enthusiast, he played trumpet in The Mighty Joe Young Jazz Men and the 1960s pop group The Alan Price Set before joining BBC Radio 1 in 1967, where he was John Peel's producer from 1969 to 1991.
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Ki Longfellow was an American novelist, playwright, theatrical producer, theater director and entrepreneur with dual citizenship in Britain. She is best known in the United States for her novel The Secret Magdalene (2005). This is the first of her works exploring the divine feminine. In England, she is likely best known as the widow of Vivian Stanshall, the late musician, lead singer of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, songwriter, author, radio broadcaster and wit.
Henry Rawlinson may refer to:
Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, released in 1978, is a largely spoken-word, solo comedy recording by British musician Vivian Stanshall, formerly of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. It originated in his Rawlinson End sessions for the John Peel Show on BBC Radio 1 beginning in 1975, and a similarly-named track on the Bonzo Dog Band's 1972 album Let's Make Up and Be Friendly.
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Sir Henry at Rawlinson End is a 1980 British film based on the eponymous character created by Vivian Stanshall. It stars Trevor Howard as Sir Henry and Stanshall himself as Henry's brother Hubert. Unusually, the film was released in sepia-toned monochrome. After a long wait, while the film obtained cult status, it was finally released on DVD in 2006. The bonuses include a commentary track with the director, Steve Roberts, as well as Sheila Reid and Jeremy Child, as well as a picture gallery, synopsis, the script of unfilmed scenes, and actor biographies.
The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band was created by a group of British art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelia with surreal humour and avant-garde art, the Bonzos came to public attention through a 1968 ITV comedy show Do Not Adjust Your Set.
Bruce Neal Smith is an American musician best known as the drummer for post-punk band The Pop Group. He has also been a member of The Slits and the New Age Steppers and is currently performing with Public Image Ltd. He was raised and educated in Bristol, England and was once married to Neneh Cherry.
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"The Intro and The Outro" is a recording by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. It appears on their debut album, Gorilla (1967). It is not so much a song as a comic monologue in which the speaker introduces the musicians who ostensibly appear on the recording. The recording fades out before the emcee completes the introductions and without the "orchestra" being able to play anything more than a vamp. The piece was written by Bonzo member Vivian Stanshall, who also provides the vocal. Stanshall first introduces the seven members of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, who are credited with their actual instruments, over a vamp that resembles Duke Ellington’s "C Jam Blues".
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Rawlinson End was a series of thirteen 15-20 minute radio broadcasts, created and performed by Vivian Stanshall for BBC Radio 1 between 1975 and 1991. The early sessions formed the template for Stanshall's 1978 album Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, as well as the 1980 film of the same name. Material from the three final episodes, recorded between 1988 and 1991, together with previously-unreleased linking narration and music recorded by Stanshall in the 1990s, were compiled posthumously as the 2023 album Rawlinson's End.
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