Ginger Geezer: The Life of Vivian Stanshall by Chris Welch

Ginger Geezer: The Life of Vivian Stanshall Reviews

• 
  Pete daPixie

  I found this book extremely difficult to read. It was hard going all the way through, but particularly the parts covering Viv's youth and throughout the Bonzo days.
  Why? Well, it's so hard to read a book whilst convulsing with laughter and with tears streaming down your face. There were so many occasions when I had to regain some composure to continue the read.
  I may be biased here. The Bonzo Dog Band remain in my memory as the best concert I've attended in my life. I saw them twice in 1969.
  Of course this book is also tragic and sad as well as hilariously funny. Steven Fry reviews the book on the back sleeve: 'One of the most talented,profligate,bizarre,absurd,infuriating,unfathomable and magnificent Englishmen ever to have drawn breath.'
• 
  Andy

  The Bonzo Dog Band were a British group that performed during the Psychedelic Sixties and were a mad amalgamation of old English Music Hall, trad jazz, psych pop with heavy Dada and Surrealism influences. At its heart was a die-hard eccentric named Vivian Stanshall, a sort of rock version of Gully Jimson, who lived on a houseboat and feverishly created an endless stream of outrageous songs, plays, poetry and graphics. “Ginger Geezer” is his story and reads like some great unknown Alec Guinness comedy. Now if I can only find his version of the Elvis Presley song “There’s No Room To Rhumba In A Sports Car”. RIP Vivian.
• 
  Libby

  I'll give it another go, but why-oh-why is this such a boring read? I imagined just the opposite and am a huge fan. Fascinating guy, Vivian--must have been painful being that much of a genius. I know there is a story there, and I really hope somebody else tackles the subject.
• 
  Peter Humphreys

  I read it in a few days and enjoyed it but agree that another biography needs to be written on him by maybe his second wife who it would seem has written a few novels.
• 
  dale

  Echoing other reviews for this book - it is almost remarkable how ambling a journey through Stanshall's exotic life this transpired to be. The anecdotes are funny but suffer from a bloated repetition where a punchier distillation would better suffice.
  
  In all, I enjoyed the novel because it is the sole book about Stanshall at present. I hope to read a more fitting tribute in the future. One that does not read like Robert Sellers' patchwork pub-talk biogs ('Hellraisers' - great for a light read but ultimately thin on the ground and slim on fact).
  
  However, it was somewhat enjoyable enough to follow Stanshalls' life through a muddy lens, if only due to his force of personality carrying the book. He deserves a little better than this.
• 
  Robert J.E. Simpson

  Ginger Geezer frames the late Vivian Stanshall as a tortured genius - a brilliant creative fraught with self-doubt, insecurity and addiction. While it serves to provide a fair summary of Stanshall's creative output, this is also the sad, tragic tale of alcholism and the effects it has not just on the individual but the wider circle of friends, relatives and professional contacts.
  
  I've come away with a craving to explore the work that has previously passed me by, but also a frustration and an anger at the individual.
  
• 
  Googoogjoob

  Good but not great. This is a workmanlike pop biography. It retells Vivian Stanshall's life from cradle to grave, but doesn't really use his life to illustrate any bigger themes, or the context of the times and places he lived and worked in- the focus is relentlessly on Stanshall himself. What interpretations or analysis it presents are generally contained in quotes from interviewees, while the text itself strives for a bland neutrality. The material is generally sensically presented, but, in some places (mainly the first few chapters) is in frustrating disarray- a better editor could've helped the volume.
  
  Stanshall's life story is not ultimately a very happy one, and as a person, it's sometimes easier to feel sympathy for him than to like him when he's presented "up close" like this. His personal and professional lives were ultimately fatally undermined by alcoholism, a Valium addiction, agoraphobia, a panic disorder, and depression (and perhaps other mental or developmental problems), not necessarily in that order, and he died at age 51 in an apartment fire- burning to death in his cluttered bedroom as he dozed in a drunken stupor. He was both egotistical and hypersensitive in a way that made it impossible for anyone to remain very close to him for long. He was always capable of being extremely offbeat and funny, often outrageously creative, and sometimes demonstrated great compassion and support for others; but he was also self-sabotaging, and capable of extreme recklessness and disregard for himself and for other people. Despite the goodwill and affection of a wide swath of rock stars and media producers, he struggled to consistently produce work, and constantly pushed away the help he needed; he produced, or at least released, no major work at all in his last decade of life. He ultimately proved incapable of or unwilling to either learn from his mistakes or accept help, and died terribly alone and unhappy.
  
  All that considered, this is very much a book for people who are already devoted Stanshall fans. If you don't already love Stanshall's characteristic surreal wit, this book will do nothing to convince you, and it doesn't really try to. The book is very thorough, though, covering all of Stanshall's work, major and minor; and they interviewed almost every relevant individual- from Stanshall's surviving mother and his estranged brother to his two wives, his son, his stepdaughter, his Bonzo bandmates, and many other personal and professional acquaintances. (The only notable omissions are his daughter, Silky, and recurring collaborator Steve Winwood.) Another Stanshall bio, let alone one with the resources and access of this one, is vanishingly unlikely, so I guess this is authoritative by default.
• 
  Paul Cowdell

  'I fear that a single one of Viv's thoughts would blow my damn brains out' - John Peel
  
  The English often don't deal well with their geniuses. 'Genius' triggers the English resistance to theory, so it's much easier to marginalise and belittle by smearing them as 'eccentric'. It's wonderful, therefore, to read a biography of a bona fide genius which strains hard against any such tendency right from the off.
  
  Others have complained here that it's 'just a rock bio', which seems a little harsh. The authors, whatever their shortcomings, are sensitive and sympathetic (without being idolatrous or hagiographic), and determined to accept Vivian on his own terms, which involves embracing his own driving vision and convictions as far as they are able. (Of course, the other side of the English dismissal of its geniuses is that they don't get asked about such things often enough, so there's often only a partial record, which seems to have been a bit the case here).
  
  So, probably a 4 for the book, but at least a 6 for the life itself.
  
  'Do have an unusual day - toodle-oo' - Vivian Stanshall
• 
  Michael

  I am an enthusiast of the Bonzo's , the Rutles and Sir Henry- until this book I was largely unaware of Vivian's later work, his collaborations with Steve Winwood, and the propdigious kaleidoscope of creativity that marked his life. The scope and range of his work makes fascinating and comes to an abrupt end with his unfortunate death,
• 
  Hewitt

  With his wonderful songs and stories Vivian Stanshall made the world a funnier and brighter place. So it was sad to discover, in this often unsettling biography, that his own life was far from a barrel of laughs. An unflinching yet sympathetic portrait of a wayward genius.
• 
  RA

  Their (Bonzo Dog Band) attitude merged my interests of music, satire and Mad magazine into a way of looking at the world as an art form. A brilliant thoroughly engaging and improvisational musician/thinker, as the front man for the band. A true tortured genius!!
  
  To quote British writer Stephen Fry, "One of the most talented, profligate, bizarre, absurd, infuriating,, unfathomable and magnificent Englishmen ever to have drawn breath."
  
  Steve Winwood: "He was a one-off.He found a route that brought together elements of the intellectual with rock 'n' roll and comedy and poetry, and it was a unique contribution."
  
  John Peel: "The Bonzos were a chaotic mixture of music hall, rock parody and dada nonsense, in short the quintessential art school band. Absolutely English, Stanshall & Co. brought an absurd sense of humor to a scene that was already beginning to take itself too seriously."
• 
  Transgender

  If you'd like to know what I thought of this book, please contact me directly and I'd be happy to discuss it with you.
  
  All the best,
  
  - TB
• 
  Stephen Adams

  funny book,i wish vivian was still about, i would also recommend the book dear boy
  by tony fletcher which also has more about the friendship
  between vivian stanshall and keith moon