Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (recording)

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Sir Henry at Rawlinson End
Sir Henry at Rawlinson End.jpg
Studio album by
Released1978
RecordedJune 1978
StudioNetherturkdonic Studios, Gloucestershire
Genre Spoken word
Comedy
Comedy music
Label Charisma Records
Producer Vivian Stanshall
Vivian Stanshall chronology
Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead
(1974)
Sir Henry at Rawlinson End
(1978)
Teddy Boys Don't Knit
(1981)

Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, released in 1978, is a largely spoken-word, solo comedy recording by Vivian Stanshall, a British musician with 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 . [1]

Contents

Description

In 1971, Stanshall took over John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show, while the presenter was on holiday. Contributing to Peel programmes over several years, Stanshall played many new and old songs. He piloted and previewed many different musical and spoken-word comedy sketches and songs. Peel would later broadcast recordings made especially by Stanshall as parts of a sporadic "Rawlinson End" saga, such as, "Aunt Florrie Remembers (from Giant Whelks at Rawlinson End, Part 21)," recorded on 16 October and broadcast on 27 October 1975. [2] Ultimately, Stanshall re-recorded several of these turns for release, all of which related to Sir Henry Rawlinson and his country seat, Rawlinson End. [1]

The album Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (1978) was released on the Charisma Records label (CAS 1139), featuring Stanshall as multiple characters, talking and singing, in a portrayal of the fictional history of Sir Henry Rawlinson. It is filled with puns, double-entendres, pop-cultural references and clever wordplay. Stanshall initially takes the role of an unnamed narrator, then shifts between character and narrator. The recording features many musical interludes, performed on a variety of odd musical instruments. Guest performers include Steve Winwood and two of Stanshall's children: his son Rupert Stanshall and his stepdaughter, Sydney Longfellow (the child of his second wife Ki Longfellow-Stanshall).

Characters

The tracks are named after musical pieces, and most feature at least one vocal number, intermingled with spoken-word performances. Stanshall's characters include Sir Henry Rawlinson, his wife Lady Florrie Rawlinson (née Maynard), their children Ralph ('Raif') and Candice Rawlinson, and Henry's brothers Hubert (the younger brother) and Humbert (late older brother, deceased, and now a ghost).

Additional characters 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 Lady Phillipa of Staines. Other characters include the landlord of the local pub Seth One-Tooth, Reg Smeeton, a walking encyclopedia; and "contract house clean[ers]" and "resting theatrical artistes," Teddy Tidy and Nigel Nice. [3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

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."

AllMusic argues that, though the concept of the album is complete nonsense, this doesn't detract from its entertainment value. [4]

Track listing

The fifteen tracks are essentially one long performance piece, but are divided as follows:

Tracks(songs)

Personnel

Other media

The story as described on the album (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. [5]

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 album and re-imagined it as a one-man show starring Mike Livesley as the narrator and all characters, backed by a six-piece band replicating the instrumentation of the original. The show won rave reviews from the Liverpool Echo, [6] the Liverpool Daily Post, [7] and Liverpool 7 Streets. [8] The show received its London premiere on 14 October 2011. [9] 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, this time from MOJO Magazine's Andrew Male. [10] After this success preparation began for a London run.

Related Research Articles

Vivian Stanshall English musician, artist and author

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.

Neil Innes British writer, comedian and musician

Neil James Innes was an English writer, comedian and musician. He collaborated with Monty Python and played in the Rutles and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

John Walters (broadcaster) British radio producer

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Roger Ruskin Spear British musician

Roger Ruskin Spear is a sculptor, multimedia artist and multi-instrumentalist who was a member of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Ruddles Brewery was a brewery in Rutland, England. The brand is now owned by Greene King who still brew beers under the Ruddles name in Suffolk, although the current recipes are not those used at the original brewery.

The Thekla originally a cargo ship, now a music venue in Bristol, England

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Tony Stratton-Smith British music executive

Tony Stratton-Smith was an English rock music manager, and entrepreneur. He founded the London-based record label Charisma Records in 1969 and managed rock groups such as the Nice, Van der Graaf Generator and Genesis.

<i>Lets Make Up and Be Friendly</i> 1972 studio album by Bonzo Dog Band

Let's Make Up And Be Friendly was the fifth and, until 2007, final original album by the Bonzo Dog Band. The group had already disbanded when United Artists Records informed band members that the group owed the label one more album. This 1972 farewell album was the result. In 2007 the album was re-issued on CD by EMI with six bonus tracks, some of which were solo recordings by the members of the group.

Ki Longfellow American writer

Ki Longfellow is 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:

Eel Pie Publishing is a publishing house founded by musician and author Pete Townshend in 1977, and named after Eel Pie Island. It is part of the Eelpie Group of Companies including Eel Pie Recording Production Ltd which was set up in 1970 by Pete Townshend.

<i>Sir Henry at Rawlinson End</i> (film) 1980 film

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.

Rawlinson may refer to:

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band British band

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 psychedelic pop with surreal humour and avant-garde art, the Bonzos came to the public attention through a 1968 ITV comedy show, Do Not Adjust Your Set.

<i>Stinkfoot, a Comic Opera</i> musical

Stinkfoot, a Comic Opera is an English musical with book, music, and lyrics by Vivian Stanshall and Ki Longfellow-Stanshall written for the Crackpot Theatre Company aboard the Old Profanity Showboat in Bristol, England. The show is based on a series of tales written by Longfellow about Stinkfoot, a New York City alley cat, a bit of a rogue and more than a bit of a rake. It had been intended for children, but when told by a New York City literary agent that "No mother in America would want her child identifying with Stinkfoot the alley cat, never mind its name," the story went into a drawer for many years. It came out with the meeting in 1977 of Vivian and Ki, at which point the story became bedtime reading for Vivian's son Rupert Stanshall, and later for his daughter with Ki, Silky Longfellow-Stanshall. In 1985 it “grew up” when Vivian and Ki decided to base a musical on its lead character, Stinkfoot. At that point, it became a melding of two very different visions and two very different musical traditions: Vivian's days as frontman for the Bonzo Dog Band and his childhood in Leigh-on-Sea with Ki's love of America’s Broadway.

"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".

<i>Teddy Boys Dont Knit</i> 1981 studio album by Vivian Stanshall

Teddy Boys Don't Knit is the third solo album by Vivian Stanshall. As with his 1974 debut solo album Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead it consists entirely of songs, rather than the comedy-narrative-with-integral-songs of its immediate predecessor Sir Henry at Rawlinson End.

<i>Sir Henry at Ndidis Kraal</i> 1984 studio album by Vivian Stanshall

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.

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, recorded between 1977 and 1978, formed the template for Stanshall's LP record album, Sir Henry at Rawlinson End in 1978.

<i>Unpeeled</i> (Bonzo Dog Band album) 1995 compilation album by The Bonzo Dog Band

Unpeeled is a 1995 compilation of sessions recorded by The Bonzo Dog Band for the John Peel show on the BBC during the late sixties.

References