Ginger Geezer: The Life of Vivian Stanshall eBook: Chris Welch, Lucian Randall: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

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Vivian Stanshall, artist, musician, comic, broadcaster and all-round oddball, was a genuine English eccentric. Lucian Welsh and Chris Randall's Ginger Geezer: The Life of Vivian Stanshall is an attempt to unravel the tragic story of this enigmatic and idiosyncratic man. Stanshall, blessed with a forest of red hair, an excess of energy and an urge to shock, formed the Bonzo Dog Band just after art school. The band, who began life as a humorous trad jazz combo, evolved into the perfect vehicle for his many talents. Combining the best elements of cabaret, jazz, rock, performance art and musical hall comedy, the Bonzos gained critical acclaim and commercial success. The pressures of touring and the usual personal differences caused the band to implode at the end of the 1960s. Although they reformed intermittently, Stanshall never produced a consistent body of work again. Flashes of brilliance did occur: solo albums, a comic radio masterpiece Sir Henry at Rawlinson's End (later unsuccessfully filmed) and several songs co-written with Stevie Winwood all bear witness to this. Unfortunately alcohol, valium and his own mercurial nature prevented him from realising his full potential. Much of the 1970s were spent in a haze, often creating questionable drunken mayhem with fellow boozer Keith Moon of the Who--the pair once paraded through Soho dressed as Nazis.

His dulcet tones however, were much in demand. Eloquently described here by friend and admirer Stephen Fry as "a Dundee Cake of a voice, astoundingly deep, rich and fruity", Stanshall graced Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and the Damned's Lovely Money. In later life voiceover and advertising work provided him (briefly) with a lucrative income. Vivian was never able to stay of the bottle for long and the offers slowly dried up. With friends and family alarmed by his drinking, Stanshall sought the company of street drinkers near his Muswell Hill flat. These new friends robbed him of many of his prize possessions and enjoyed drinking at his expense. In 1995, after one such session he died in a fire at his home. Randall and Welsh clearly love Stanshall but their book never quite gets to grip with their flamboyant subject. It is shoddily arranged--details are confused and there are many infuriating repetitions. Much of the writing is workmanlike at best. They seem torn between creating an oral history from the reminiscences of his many friends and writing a proper "authorial" biography. Despite this, in celebrating his unique genius they do succeed in reminding us what a sorry loss his premature departure was. --Travis Elborough

Review

A unique and inspired comic genius' Stephen Fry

‘The one great comic talent British pop music has produced’ Observer

‘I'm whatever you like, just don't expect me to join in.’ Vivian Stanshall

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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

inspired insanity 30 Jan 2002

By Kentish Sir Byng

Format:Hardcover

This is not so much a biography as a chronologically organised selection of Vivian Stanshall anecdotes - and nothing wrong with that, when all the anecdotes are as inspired, manic and hilarious as this.

I can't remember a book which has made me laugh out loud so many times before. As well as the Stanshall stories there are also scattered comments from friends and admirers, and sharp criticism of his body of recorded work, as well as a lot of piranha stories.

All in all, it adds up to an affectionate but not biased look at this man who came up with so much inspired nonsense and, in the end, only wanted to live like a civilised human bean.

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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

affectionate tribute to the last great English oddball 13 Oct 2004

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Curious to see that many of the reviews here think that this book tries to diminish Viv Stanshall by presenting him as the eventual alcoholic, shambling, mentally squished tragedy that he became. This facet of the man can't be washed over or ignored, and perhaps forms the cornerstone on which to hang everything else - great creativity and an incredible talent for both making fun songs and projects, and for self-destruction; an incredible capacity to care for the person most of interest to him (himself) at the expense of everyone else; and the contradiction of wanting to be admired and loved, while not being 'famous'. We do get a linear narrative which I thought was well-written - laugh out loud in places, heartbreaking in others. Vivian was a mess for most of his life but left us with an incredible amount of music, art, and concepts which boomeranged away from the rest of us. How can you not love someone like that?

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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

last great english eccentric 30 Sep 2003

By marc imig

Fabulous book written about this brilliant/tragic man. From the brilliance of the bonzos through to comic opera. If it is sad to think about his untimely end, as you learn from this book the stories prove that he is one of the last great british eccentrics of the kind sorely missed today better to live life to the full then to fade away.