Editing Vivian Stanshall (section)

==''Rawlinson End''==
Stanshall had developed what many consider to be his seminal work, ''[[Rawlinson End]]'', as a [[spoken word]] performance piece during the first few years of the 1970s, recording an early version as part of The Bonzo Dog Band's reunion project ''[[Let's Make Up And Be Friendly]]''. Beginning in 1975, he expanded upon the concept as an episodic surrealist radio serial for [[BBC Radio 1]]'s John Peel slot, elaborating further upon the weird and wonderful adventures of the inebriated and [[Colonel Blimp|blimpish]] Sir Henry Rawlinson, his wife, the distanced and ethereal Florrie, his "unusual" brother Hubert, loyal manservant Old Scrotum 'the wrinkled [[Bastard feudalism|retainer]]', the rambling and unhygienic cook Mrs E.; and many other inhabitants of the crumbling Rawlinson End and its environs. Stanshall had been playing around with the Rawlinson characters for some time, and they were first referred to on the Bonzos' 1967 number, "[[The Intro and the Outro]]": 'Great to hear the Rawlinsons on trombone.'

In 1978, Stanshall released an album, ''[[Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (album)|Sir Henry at Rawlinson End]]'', that reworked some material from the Peel sessions. This in turn was adapted into a [[Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (film)|film version]] in 1980, which was produced in a sepia-tinted black-and-white. It starred [[Trevor Howard]] as Sir Henry, and Stanshall as Hubert.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sir Henry at Rawlinson End |url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6bf37864 |url-status=dead |publisher=BFI |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720045617/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6bf37864 |archive-date=20 July 2012}}</ref> Some of the film's music was provided in collaboration with Stanshall's friend [[Steve Winwood]]. A book of the same title – by Stanshall, illustrated with stills from the film – was published by [[Eel Pie Publishing]] in 1980. Nominally a film novelisation, it was distilled from the various versions and included considerable material that did not make it to the film. A projected second book, ''The Eating at Rawlinson End'', was never completed.

A second Rawlinson album, ''[[Sir Henry at N'didi’s Kraal]]'' (1984), recounts Sir Henry's disastrous African expedition, omitting the rest of the Rawlinson clan. At the time, Stanshall was living on ''The Searchlight'', a [[houseboat]] that he had bought from [[Denny Laine]] and kept moored near [[Shepperton]] on the [[River Thames]]. He lived on ''The Searchlight'' from 1977 to 1983, and recorded and produced the second 'Sir Henry' album on it during a period of debilitating physical illness. The album was disowned by Stanshall after its release, as he said it was both unfinished and unsatisfactory, and that the record label had rush-released it without his permission in an attempt to profit from his potentially imminent demise.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mustard comedy mag: Vivian Stanshall |url=http://www.mustardweb.org/vivianstanshall/ |website=Mustardweb.org |access-date=16 June 2019}}</ref>

However, the noticeably superior BBC radio broadcasts continued sporadically until late 1991. In the same year, a temporarily rejuvenated Stanshall embarked upon a nationwide concert tour, titled 'Rawlinson Dog Ends', with support from former Bonzos and centred around a performance of new Rawlinson End material.

'Sir Henry' was last seen in a television commercial for [[Ruddles Brewery|Ruddles Real Ale]] (c. 1994), where he was portrayed by a [[Transvestism|cross-dressing]] [[Dawn French]], presiding over a family banquet at a long table; shortly afterwards, Stanshall himself reprised the role of Hubert, reciting a poem loosely based on [[Edward Lear]]'s "The Owl and the Pussycat".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Morden |first=Karen |title=The odd boy: a celebration of Vivian Stanshall |url=https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/cost/2010/00000001/00000002/art00010?crawler=true |journal=Comedy Studies |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=209–218 |date=1 September 2010 |access-date=16 June 2019 |s2cid=191509863 |doi=10.1386/cost.1.2.209_1}}</ref>

During this same period, Stanshall embarked upon the recording of a proposed new Rawlinson End album, but this activity was curtailed in its early stages by its creator's untimely death in March 1995. After this, [[BBC Radio 4]] retrieved some of the original Peel show recordings from the vaults for late-night repeat during Christmas 1996.