Rick Wakeman, Neil Innes in Vivian Stanshall soundtrack album

Rick Wakeman and Neil Innes are among the guests who appear alongside comedy actor Michael Livesley on the soundtrack album for Vivian Stanshall play Sir Henry At Rawlinson End.

Livesley has been performing the show for six years to positive responses, with Stephen Fry calling him an “outrageous talent” who “embodies to perfection the spirit and brilliance of Stanshall.”

The album is to be released via RRAW Records, co-founded by Wakeman. They say: “Originally created for John Peel’s Radio 1 show in the 1970s, Sir Henry At Rawlinson End – the meandering gin-soaked saga of a crumbling English stately home and the grotesques who inhabit it headed by the heroically drunk Sir Henry – perfectly distilled and encapsulated Viv’s absurdly hilarious wordplay and songwriting, which first hit the public consciousness during the 1960s via the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

“The recording features Rick guesting on piano, and also Viv’s Bonzo bandmate and sometime Rutle and Monty Python member Neil Innes, plus Viv’s favourite violinist, Susie Honeyman of The Mekons.”

Vivian Stanshall’s Sir Henry At Rawlinson End arrives on April 22 and it’s available for pre-order now.

Vivian Stanshall’s Sir Henry At Rawlinson End tracklist

Aunt Florrie’s Waltz
Interlewd
Wheelbarrow
Socks
The Rub
Nice ‘N’ Tidy
Pigs ‘Ere Purse
⁶⁄₈ Hoodoo
Smeeton
Fool & Bladder
Endroar
The Beasht Inshide
Junglebunny
Aunt Florrie Remembers
Rawlinsons & Maynards
Papadumb

Artists

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.