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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
After the Bonzos Stanshall's career stuttered from disc to disc .
Sometimes - as with " Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead " - you marvel that the disc ever made to the market . Brilliant in parts but thrown away .
Teddy Boys Don't Knit shows what he could do with a great producer and great musical support .
The disc has its downbeat side " Calypso to Collapso " but features some truly original masterpieces , Slave Valse , for example , which are quite ignored in comparison with the Bonzo hits .
If only he could have done more like this . He was truly inimitable
Sometimes - as with " Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead " - you marvel that the disc ever made to the market . Brilliant in parts but thrown away .
Teddy Boys Don't Knit shows what he could do with a great producer and great musical support .
The disc has its downbeat side " Calypso to Collapso " but features some truly original masterpieces , Slave Valse , for example , which are quite ignored in comparison with the Bonzo hits .
If only he could have done more like this . He was truly inimitable
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
No getting away from it; in the field of popular music you'll be hard pushed to find much like this. This album came close to the time of Sir Henry at Rawlinson's End and this shows. Vivian Stanshall was not yet forty years old but his voice is very weathered indeed and Sir Henry's voice appears on several tracks. So Vivian Stanshall's voice isn't the sweetest singing instrument but in several tracks he gives a virtuoso acting display. On occasions, the tobacco stained baritone is a psoitive advantage. Slave Valse is quite incredible - apart from Emperor Claudius, the british and sea sickness the poetic density is almost impossible to follow but his acting and the shanty music carry everything along brilliantly.
There are several autobiographical tracks - sometimes downbeat but the Tube and Armchair sound positively sentimental. Nouveau Riffes a is bitter but easy to follow damning of the music industry. The music throughout, with a fair amount of instrumentals by Stanshall himself sounds quite folksy at times. Other tracks employ a variety of styles evn with "Terry Keeps His Clips On" offering Klezmer clarinets.
So it inhabits the "green nowhere" of Rawlinson's End but with some of the densest poetry. With impeccable annunciation and the wordiness of the songs there is more than a hint of a bygone age. I'm even reminded of Noel Coward. The closest thing to it that I can think of is William Walton's "Facade", with Edith Sitwell's surreal "abstract" poems inhabiting a world of the bored rich, "Daisy and Lily, Lazy and Silly" sums it up. Vivian Stanshall's dense poetry inhabits a similar world but his work is more personal and the servants get a verse or two.
To add to these there are the surreally nerdy characters such as Terry sounding like a re entactment of Michael Palin's adventures as Reg Pither in the Monty Python episode titled "The Cycle Tour of North Cornwall". Add to him the Sir Henry like father figure in "Armchair" defending his own piece of "Bauhaus" sculpture - absolutely bizarre and hilarious.
I've knocked a star off not because I don't like it myself but because this eccentric mix will not be to everyones taste. Make no mistake, after the Bonzo's this is Vivian Stanshall unleashed. His poetry or lyrics are amazing, though perhaps Neil Innes has more of a talent for melody and immitation. That's the point though, Vivian Stanshall, in popular music at least, is like no one else: a true original. Even at its darkest, outrageous humour is never far away. Highly recommended.
There are several autobiographical tracks - sometimes downbeat but the Tube and Armchair sound positively sentimental. Nouveau Riffes a is bitter but easy to follow damning of the music industry. The music throughout, with a fair amount of instrumentals by Stanshall himself sounds quite folksy at times. Other tracks employ a variety of styles evn with "Terry Keeps His Clips On" offering Klezmer clarinets.
So it inhabits the "green nowhere" of Rawlinson's End but with some of the densest poetry. With impeccable annunciation and the wordiness of the songs there is more than a hint of a bygone age. I'm even reminded of Noel Coward. The closest thing to it that I can think of is William Walton's "Facade", with Edith Sitwell's surreal "abstract" poems inhabiting a world of the bored rich, "Daisy and Lily, Lazy and Silly" sums it up. Vivian Stanshall's dense poetry inhabits a similar world but his work is more personal and the servants get a verse or two.
To add to these there are the surreally nerdy characters such as Terry sounding like a re entactment of Michael Palin's adventures as Reg Pither in the Monty Python episode titled "The Cycle Tour of North Cornwall". Add to him the Sir Henry like father figure in "Armchair" defending his own piece of "Bauhaus" sculpture - absolutely bizarre and hilarious.
I've knocked a star off not because I don't like it myself but because this eccentric mix will not be to everyones taste. Make no mistake, after the Bonzo's this is Vivian Stanshall unleashed. His poetry or lyrics are amazing, though perhaps Neil Innes has more of a talent for melody and immitation. That's the point though, Vivian Stanshall, in popular music at least, is like no one else: a true original. Even at its darkest, outrageous humour is never far away. Highly recommended.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Vivian Stanshall was a genius. A true British eccentric his music echoed his life, chaotic and verging on self destructive but always with a touch of brilliance. Some of of the songs are autobiographical but presented without self pity and with a wicked sense of humour. His genius is shown in songs that are deceptively simple or uproariously chaotic.
He is still remembered fondly, Neil Innes, a fellow member of The Bonzo Dog Doo Da Band, still tells audiences stories of Viv's escapades.
He is still remembered fondly, Neil Innes, a fellow member of The Bonzo Dog Doo Da Band, still tells audiences stories of Viv's escapades.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
OFFICIAL REMASTERED GORGEOUS VINYL VERSION OF MEN OPENING UMBRELLAS...
It's finally here, after all these years. Vivian Stanshall's real Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead just as it was, only better. It's remastered and official. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Horridhat
When music didn't take itself too seriously
Before this CD came out, the only time I ever heard the ludicrously wonderful "Terry Keeps His Clips On" was on Noel Edmonds' show, when he was a BBC Radio 1 DJ, I guess at the... Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2009 by Lady Legionary
Brilliantly bonkers
If you're a fan of the Bonzo Dog Band......or even if you're not - by this damn album, it's brilliant! Read more
Published on 8 May 2004
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