Search - Vivian Stanshall :: Sir Henry At Rawlinson End

Limp hand squids... prepare for whacks...

Steven Cain | Temporal Quantum Pocket | 03/08/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is almost inconceivable that one person could have crafted this work of genius, yet Stanshall did. Rawlinson is one of the few recorded pieces in which virtually every line is indispensible. Even Sir Henry's throw away expressions such as "Filth Hounds of Hades", "God's teeth and trousers" and "God's turban and tutu" carry with them all the weight of the hekau or Power Words of the ancient cultures.I had the good fortune to catch the Bonzos farewell tour, and even for a battle-hardened Bonzo Dog nut such as myself, Rawlinson was a revelation. The richness and uniqueness of the many colourful characters gives tremendous depth to this hilarious creation from the mind of the late and truly great Viv Stanshall.No review, however detailed, could possibly do justice to this complex masterpiece, although George Thomas Parsons came dang close. I shall merely humbly beseech you to buy it on trust. One word of caution, however... If you are an asthmatic, you MUST have a Salbutamol inhaler at the ready!Blast this leg, by cracky..."

Viv Stanshall's weird mind spin

Musicalia | United Kingdom | 09/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This little gem is really the former Bonzo's very own 'Under Milk Wood', a versatile, hilarious, and hugely inventive gallop through the happenings in the village of Rawlinson, where Sir Henry drinks and roars his way oblivious to terrorise his family and acquaintances. Indeed, by 1980 Sir Henry had much of Viv himself in his make-up - there are other characters here though just as memorably drawn (Florrie, the long-suffering lady wife of Sir H, who dreams of England and pretends she's Boadicia; Philippa, with her Scots brogue and her dentures; Hubert, in his forties and still unusual; Old S, the wrinkled retainer from the West Country; and the camp interior designers, Nice and Tidy; not to mention Reg the most boring man in the village and on and on, dot dot dot ..). My favourite lines? I quite like 'Mummy, my teddy bear's stopped breathing!' and Sir Henry's disparaging opinion of Lady Staines' 'Gorgonzola legs' ('I wouldn't have even liked to have been the *first* man ...').



Steve Winwood helps out in the musical bits alongside a small gaggle of others, although the vast majority of the musical accompaniments you hear are Vivian alone, and all the vocals are his. A garbled plot from a scrambled brain this CD may be, but it is truly excellent and highly recommended."