Sir Henry at N'didi’s Kraal is the fourth and final solo album by Vivian Stanshall

Vivian Stanshall

Vivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, painter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for narrating Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.-The great...

. It is a return to the largely spoken-word, solo comedy format of Stanshall's second album Sir Henry at Rawlinson End and is a sequel to the same work.

Background

Sir Henry at N'didi’s Kraal continues the story of the dissolute aristocrat and explorer Sir Henry Rawlinson, this time dealing with his attempts on behalf of the "Geographic Society" to locate a lost tribe of Zulus in South Africa. In contrast to Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, it is almost entirely spoken word, with only one song included. The album is predominantly a parody of the colonial manners and attitudes of the British Empire, using Sir Henry as a mouthpiece for various ridiculous and sometimes racist philosophies which Stanshall could spoof. It has been described as "a contradictory mix of Sir Henry's belief in racial superiority and (Stanshall's) genuine affection for African culture."

The album was recorded at a low point in Stanshall's life following his separation from his second wife Ki Longfellow

Ki Longfellow

Ki Longfellow is an American novelist, playwright, theatrical producer, theater director and entrepreneur. In Britain, as the widow of Vivian Stanshall, she is well known as the guardian of his artistic heritage, but elsewhere she is best known for her own work, especially the novel The Secret...

 and their young family, during which he was suffering from severe alcohol and prescription medicine abuse. Stanshall was unhappy with the album's unpolished content, editing and low production values and subsequently disowned it. The producer, Glen Colson, has defended the release and his own work on it by protesting that Stanshall's depressed and intoxicated state diminished his creative input and that Colson himself was obliged to finish the album as best he could.

Although Stanshall would continue to produce one-off recordings, advertisements and the comic opera Stinkfoot, Sir Henry at N'didi’s Kraal would be his final album.

Personnel

• Vivian Stanshall - vocals and narration, trumpet, percussion
• Suzie Honeyman - violin
• Sean Oliver - bass guitar
• John Scott - footsteps
• Bruce Smith - drums
• Simon The Lodger - unexplained contribution