Customer Reviews

Ginger Geezer: The Life of Vivian Stanshall

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a strange and weird yet hilarious book about the lead singer of the greatest 60's/70's band (besides the Beatles and Pink Floyd) that ever blared a note. Ladies and gentlement, it's Vivian Stanshall of the Bonzo Dog Dooh-Dah Band. I literally laughed out loud a number of times while reading this book, which I rarely do. (It's ultimately a tragic bio, with the hero descending into the usual hell of drugs and alcohol! Almost a cliche' ending. Why didn't so many members of the 60's love generation do a better job of managing the latter half of their lives?) My only beef with this book is that the author got lazy researching the material covering the Bonzos relationship with the Beatles. In the book it is mentioned that Vivan Stanshall said that he helped the Beatles write some of their songs. Which ones? (My guess is Lucy in the Sky--but who really knows?) There are also no descriptions of what happened when Lennon met Vivian Stanshall! That kind of omission is unforgivable. In the Magical Mystery Tour movie, John, George and the Bonzos are in a strip club. John and George are drinking. John looks slightly demented and crazed. What happened off camera? There's got to be a fantastic story there. In that recent bio of Jim Morrison the same thing happens. We learn that Jim visited the Beatles during one of their recording sessions? So what happened? Who said what? Was it a mutual admiration love-fest? Did they sit and smoke a Jazz-herbal cigarette and play "The End" together? It's criminal not to give out any details. Anyway. This book is still great! And if you've never heard the Bonzos, buy a double CD called, "The History of the Bonzos" and you will be very, very happy.

I gave this book four stars because there aren't any others to compare it to. Who said something like: lucky is the man or woman who attracts a gifted biographer? Vivian has yet to attract someone gifted, so until then, this pop bio by pop writers will have to do. I note the other reviewer laughed like mad. I can understand that. Vivian was a funny man. But this is about his life, and Stanshall's life wasn't funny at all. Nor was Lennon's or Keith Moon's. These two were close friends of Vivian, but getting the truth about their relationship with Vivian into a pop bio is asking too much of what is basically a skim over a deep man's deep life. No one who wrote the lyrics Vivian wrote (especially in his rare, brilliant, tragic, and terribly strange Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead) was a jokester, or a comedian. Vivian was a rennaissance man living in a time of style without substance. He railed against his contemporaries and he wailed about the pain of human existance. I bought this book just to have it. But I wish, dear god, I wish a "real" biographer would come along to do justice to this towering unfulfilled talent.

Chris Welch's bio of Bonzo frontman Vivian Stanshall is well-researched, well-written and provides a pretty straightforward chronological account of Viv's life. Stanshall was extravagant in all dimensions (except weight) with an oversize ego, an oversize talent and a life which often strained credulity. His "ups" were higher than most normal human beings are allowed to go, and his "downs" were lower. Welch covers both with equal gravity. Where opinions about him are stated -- and Viv was nothing if not "love-him-or-hate-him" -- Welch is careful to balance both pro and con. What emerges is a portrait of an artist who fought self-doubt with wit and outrageousness, a man who tried but was never quite of this world, a rare peacock among the pigeons. With such a mercurial and flighty subject, the book is remarkably civil and accommodating.

The revelation that Warner Brothers is sitting on 88 completed Stanshall tracks, over 3-1/2 hours of unreleased material, is heartbreaking.

I am still only halfway through this tome, and am thoroughly enjoying it. My only complaint is that there is a sad lack of photo document. Don't get me wrong, there is a little, but I can't help feeling there could be considerably more. I am confident that Innes and the boys, and the various music press have considerable document available. I would love to see more. For example, it is great to know that he built an 8 foot tall pot smoking gnome for his garden, but I would love to see it