Original_To:  BITNET%"allmusic@auvm"
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Thu, 8 Oct 1992 15:13:00 EST
From:         MCINTYRE@MSUPA.BITNET
Subject:      re: potted Strawbs

>From:         "Michael H. Bloom" <MHB@MITVMA.BITNET>

>On Wed, 7 Oct 1992 16:09:23 MEZ Paul Hosken said:
>>Reading the recent mail concerning the Strawbs I get the impression
>>that not much is known about them. Well, here's a very brief summary:
>>
>>- The original Strawbs were a folk band and included Sandy Denny.
>>  One album of early material has been released, but isn't too hot.

>Dave Cousins, singer/songwriter and the main dude, assembled a bluegrassy
>band called the Strawberry Hill Boys. They never recorded, and eventually
>their personnel whittled down to a trio (Cousins, Tony Hooper, and a bass
>player) and their name whittled down to "Strawbs." Denny did a tour and an
>album with them, the album lately having been re-released on Hannibal/Ryko,
>and yeah, it's weak, but it does have a nice early "Who Knows Where the Time
>Goes."

>>- The Sandy left to help form Fairport. The rest of the band continued
>>  in the folky vain and release two notable albums: 'Dragonfly' and
>>  'Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios'. The later being part live.

>Fairport was already a going concern when Sandy joined, replacing Judy Dyble.
>_Antiques and Curios_ was (I thought) entirely live, and was not intended to
>be folky: Wakeman was already in the band with his multiple keyboards, as well
>as a drummer (either Hudson or Ford, I can no longer remember) who'd just had
>to pawn his kit to pay the rent so played that tour with just hand drums!

_Dragonfly_ and _Antiques and Curios_ are both from 1970.  The band for
_Antiques and Curios_ was Dave Cousins, Tony Hooper, Rick Wakeman,
Richard Hudson (the drummer), and John Ford.

>>- It was at this time that Rick Wakeman joined them and the excellent
>>  'From the Witchwood' was released.

_From the Witchwood_ was released in 1971.

>>- Wakeman then left to join Yes and was replaced by Blue Weaver. The
>>  group released 'Grave New World', which many consider to be their
>>  best album. By now the Strawbs are a fully fledged rock band and
>>  consisted of: Dave Cousins, Tony Hooper, John Ford, Richard Hudson
>>  and Blue Weaver.

_Grave New World_ was recorded in November 1971.  They were so full
fledged a rock band that friends were referring to them as Grand Strawb
Railroad.

>>- They then had a Top Ten (in UK) single with 'Part of the Union'.

>"Part of the Union" was written by someone other than Cousins, I think Ford,
>and Cousins repudiated it, refused to have it appear on the eventual greatest
>hits type record, which was entitled _Strawbs By Choice_.

"Part of the Union" was written by Hudson and Ford.  It appears on the
1972 _Bursting At The Seams_.  I personally hate the song because it
was the only Strawbs the radio would play so I passed up the chance to
go see them at a local bar, thinking that all their music sounded like
that.  Sigh, now _Bursting At The Seams_ is my favorite Strawbs album.
Thank heavens my CD player remembers its programs.

> The group started to
>fragment: Hooper left, replaced by a loud lead guitarist named Dave Lambert;
>Then Hudson and Ford left to work as a studio-enhanced duo a la Steely Dan,
>Blue Weaver split to join Mott the Hoople (for one tour) and some other group,
>and the Strawbs became Cousins and a bunch of non-entities. (Bassist Chas Cronk
>was pretty good, actually, and later played in Steve Hackett's band.)

The other non-entities were Dave Lambert on guitar, Rod Coombes on drums,
and John Hawken on keyboards.  Hawken also played with Renaissance.

>>- Now the group had reached their peak and started to go down hill.
>>  'Hero and Heroine' was released, and was carried by their recent
>>  chart success.

_Hero and Heroine_ was 1973 and is the favorite Strawbs album of a
friend of mine.  The same personnel recorded _Ghosts_ in 1974.  By
1975 Hawken has left and that was when I think the rot set in.  The
last three albums were very weak: _Nomadness_ (1975), _Burning For
You_ (1977), and _Deadlines_ (1978).

Then in 1988 came a surprise: a reformed Strawbs and a new album
_Don't Say Goodbye_.  The familiar names were Cousins, Hooper, and
Hudson.  The opening track "A Boy and His Dog" was a real surprise
with its sequenced bass line and heavy synth horn hits; it just
doesn't sound like Strawbs.  The rest of the album does sound much
more like Strawbs although there aren't any real standout songs.

John McIntyre
Physics - Astronomy Dept
Michigan State University
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