Vivian Stanshall

Stanshall on the banks of the Thames at Shepperton , 1979/80

Vivian "Viv" Stanshall [ ˈstænʃəl ] (born March 21, 1943 in Shillingford as Victor Anthony Stanshall, † March 5, 1995 in London ) was an English rock musician and founding member of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band , which became the 1968 Bonzo Dog Band called.

solo

After the Bonzo Dog Band broke up in the spring of 1970, it looked like a promising solo career for singer and frontman Vivian Stanshall. He initially founded short-lived bands and was able to win Keith Moon from The Who (as producers) and Eric Clapton to work.

After a nervous breakdown and months of hospitalization, he was not able to record a solo album until 1974. However, in the meantime he worked as a guest musician on albums by John Entwistle , Grimms and as "Master of Ceremonies" on the LP Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield - in this role he announced the instruments in the first piece.

His first solo album Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead , on which he was accompanied by Neil Innes and Traffic musicians, was released in 1974. Stanshall appeared in January 1976 in the opening act for Procol Harum in England and played songs he had written with Keith Reid . A single, The Young Ones , was released later that year . Around 1977 there were press releases that he had formed a band with Steve Winwood , BJ Wilson and musicians from the Traffic environment. Nothing was released except Vacant Chair on Steve Winwood's first album (1977). Stanshall wrote the text for his friend and Bonzo colleague Dennis Cowan, who died in 1972.

In the fall of 1978, Stanshall published Sir Henry at Rawlinson End , on which he almost exclusively performs texts with occasional music. In 1980 Tony Stratton-Smith, head of Charisma Records , gave him the opportunity to film the story. Stanshall plays a supporting role in the film, the title role was cast by the English theater actor Trevor Howard .

In 1981 Stanshall released another album, Teddy Boys Don't Knit , this time with the support of some ex-bonzos, Steve Winwood, Rick Wakeman and others. In the same year he wrote lyrics for Steve Winwood's album Arc of a Diver , the cover is a painting by him.

In 1983 another voice record was released, Sir Henry at N'didi's Kraal .

His work The Eating at Rawlinson End has remained unpublished to this day.

Until the 1990s, he occasionally toured the small clubs with his program of music, verbal contributions and slapstick, often accompanied by ex-Bonzo colleague Rodney Slater, and now and then by Roger Ruskin Spear.

In 1993, Stanshall's voice was heard in a single release of The Bell from Mike Oldfield's 1992 album Tubular Bells II . In a second English version, Stanshall lists the individual instruments instead of Alan Rickman .

Stanshall was found dead in his home on March 6, 1995, after a fire broke out in his home the day before. Investigations revealed that a burning lamp must have fallen over and ignited his numerous loose notes.

His widow Ki Longfellow- Stanshall maintains a website about Vivian's work.

Bands

• Vivian Stanshall & Big Grunt
• Vivian Stanshall & The Garantuan Chums
• Vivian Stanshall & The Sean Head Showband
• Vivian Stanshall & Kilgaroon
• Vivian Stanshall & Vivarium

Discography

Albums

• Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead (1974)
• Sir Henry At Rawlinson End (1978)
• Teddy Boys Don't Knit (1981)
• Sir Henry At N'didi's Kraal (1983)

Singles

• Suspicion / Blind Date (1970)
• Labio-Dental Fricative / Paper-Round (1970)
• Lakonga / Baba Tunde (1974)
• The Young Ones / Are You Having Any Fun / The Question (1976)
• Terry Keeps His Clips On / King Kripple (1980)
• Calypso to Colapso / Smoke Signals at Night (1981)
• The Bell (with Mike Oldfield) (1993)

Works

photos

• Keynsham - Bonzo Dog Band (1969)
• Arc of a Diver - Steve Winwood (1981)
• Teddy Boys Don't Knit - Vivian Stanshall (1981)
• Lay The Ghost - The Creation (1993)
• Terry Keeps His Clips On - Vivian Stanshall (single 1981)

Books

• Sir Henry at Rawlinson End. Eel Pie, London 1980, ISBN 978-0-906008-21-8 .

literature

• Lucian Randall, Chris Welch: Ginger Geezer: The Life of Vivian Stanshall Fourth Estate, London 2001. ISBN 978-1-84115-678-1 .

Web links

• Website of Ginger Geezer (English)
• Fansite - The Vivian Stanshall Appreciation Society & Archives (English)