Really like the live LP, it’s got a great balance of material. ‘Sad Little Girl’ is just beautiful. I also like the none-album 45 ‘Forever’ from early 1970. The production is obviously trying to sound like S&G, but it’s a nice song.
I waited years to hear this LP (it was unavailable until a reissue on CD in the early naughties). I do find it rather underwhelming. Both surrounding records are much better.
Yes, that's the best version I've ever heard of Sad Little Girl. Forever is more like the 60s Bee Gees, according to Dave Cousins.
Recollection - 2006. This album, offered briefly by Witchwood Media (Dave Cousins' label), features performances that sound identical to some found on Antiques and Curios as well along with tracks not issued on that album. There is no mention of where this concert is recorded except that the year was 1970. It was remastered from the original tapes and sounds fantastic. I don't know if this was a slight of hand that was found out and the CD was pulled or what. But if you can find it in any medium, grab it! The track listing from Wiki, who claims that the CD was culled from various concerts in 1970. That was not stated on the CD and the sound quality is top shelf, not a clumsy sound board tape. So: "We'll Meet Again Sometime" – 4:12 "Or Am I Dreaming" – 2:29 "Song of a Sad Little Girl" – 5:29 "That Which Once was Mine" – 3:33 "Fingertips" –6:10 "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus 4:35 "Temperament of Mind" (Rick Wakeman) – 5:28 "Josephine, for Better or for Worse" – 3:27 "The Antique Suite" – 12:15 "The Reaper" "We Must Cross the River" "Antiques and Curios" "Hey It's Been a Long Time" "The Battle" – 5:52 "Where is This Dream of Your Youth?" – 9:31 "Dance On" (Valerie Murtagh, Elaine Murtagh, Ray Adams) – 2:22
Nice surprise today! In anticipation of this thread, I sent for Dragonfly hoping to be able to discus it, only to be informed that the expected date of delivery was April 30. Happily though it dropped onto my doormat this morning! Just given it a couple of spins so these are very early thoughts but I'm enjoying it. The's nothing that strikes me as quite as strong as The Battle or Jesusfrom the debut but the overall quality of the writing and arrangements seem a little more even. There's still a Cat Stevens plays The Incredible String Band songbook vibe about it all but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The songs to have hit home so far are the title track, which has the feel of a lost Gryphon track, I Turned My Face To The Wind, with its wonderfully evocative lyrics, Another Day which is a very successful stab at a pop song, Tony Hooper's rather charming Young Again and of course, the epic The Vision Of The Lady Of The Lake which zips along and feels far shorter than its ten and a half minutes would suggest. Nice to finally hear it, having known and loved its sequel for a while. Some great playing throughout. A special tip of the hat to Claire Deniz and her cello which gives so many of the songs such an elegiac tone and, of course, Dave's world weary, old before their time vocals. Hard to believe he was barely in his mid twenties at the time.
And by discus, I mean discuss, that is talk about as opposed to lobbing it as far as I can across an athletics field.
From The Witchwood - 1971. I'm going to try to keep this thread going as I don't have much time to post right now. At least up until Ghosts. Witchwood is an enigmatic gem to me as it's so unique from the albums that followed. Wakeman is firmly in piano and organ mode on most tracks, saving his excursions into aural landscapes with synths and mellotrons for Yes. And that suits me fine. There's not a weak song on the album with the title track, Glimpse Of Heaven, The Hangman And The Papist, Sheep, and The Shepard's Song being my favorites but they're all great. Even the CD bonus track titled Keep The Devil Outside is good! Again the line up is Cousins, Hooper, Ford, Hudson and Wakeman.
It's a really nice, consistent, LP. I particularily love 'Glimpse Of Heaven' as Cousins wrote it about Devon, and I very much feel the same way about the place.
A great album that has many standout songs. The Shepherd Song is my favorite on this album. I suspect it’s the song that got Jon Anderson of YES to stand up and take notice of Rick Wakeman. The Mellotron is tastefully done and the other keys are exceptional. David Cousins was on roll here.
This is the Strawbs album I return to most often, for the reasons you've mentioned, but also because of the spectacular arrangements that Wakeman must have had a hand in.
A fine album, with the songs you mention the clear highlights for me as well. I really like them in folky-prog mode--when they stray to far into conventional rock is when they get less interesting, IMHO. Cousins's voice is a wonder, and the atmospheres he creates are a perfect match for Wakeman's talents. I, too, prefer his style on piano and organ to his style on synths and mellotrons, though I love those instruments in other hands.
From The Witchwood At last a studio album that sounds from beginnig to end like The Strawbs. I like the first two and I had no problems with Ron Chesterman's playing on the them but the addition of Hudson & Ford seemed to help crystallize the band's sound. Rick Wakeman, for all his obvious talent, is occasionally too busy here (I'm aware many, if not most, will disagree ), once or twice getting in the way rather than enhancing the songs however, never so badly as to completely kibosh proceedings. A Glimpse Of Heaven is a lovely opener. Dave Cousins is a remarkable lyricist generally but as he'd he'd already shown us on Dragonfly's I Turn And Face The Wind, he's particularly good at evoking landscape. The title track harks back to the hymnal early sound of Steeleye Span while DC's last song on side one, The Hangman & The Papist is a masterclass of lyrical storytelling. I can't help but think though, that those wonderful words might have been better served with less of a kitchen sink arrangement and taken a less of a clip. It's a wonderful song but I hanker to hear a slower, simpler version. Hudson & Ford's side one contributions both show their expertise in turning basic bubblegum pop music into something much more interesting a skill that would be their trademark in most of their work together. Side two begins with the mind blowing Sheep. Apart from some of the utterly bonkers singles put out by The Enid in the late Seventies, I've never heard anything like it. Lyrically and musically it is so far over the top that it's almost impossible to keep a handle on it, yet its curiously, rubber neckingly addictive. Phew! How to follow that? Well, with Richard Husdon's delightful Cannondale, a psychedelic folk gem that I can imagine the Fleet Foxes boys listening to intently. The Shepherd's Song is another DC classic. A simple tune, memorable words and a fantastic arrangement. I might have dissed Mr Wakeman earlier but he's magnificent here. The album winds down with two excellent folk songs, the latter, I'll Carry On Beside You, beautifully sung by Tony Hooper and utilising the traditional tune Loch Lomond/Red Is The Rose. A gentle but fitting way to end the album.
If you find yourself without much Strawbs in the digital realm, I have some advice. Beware the late 90s AM remasters, because they are compressed and hard on the ears. Antiques and Curios is not bad, but Grave New World is painful to hear. My advice is to either splurge on the Japanese SHN mini-disks (too expensive for me, but others may not mind the cost), or do what I did and buy the two Halcyon Days collections (UK and US versions). The mastering on these sets IS NOT the same as what was released around the same time on the individual album CDs. Far more dynamic range, particularly the US release (10-13db vs 6-9 db on the individual releases). Thats 4 disks of prime Strawbs (1969-1975) in good sound quality. Unfortunately there is some overlap (around 25%, see below), but it still totals 3 disks worth of songs, including a few David Cousins and Hudson-Ford solo tracks. It's obviusly not the perfect solution as these albums have very little filler to start with, but with the exception of the Ghosts and Just A Collection...albums, you get mostly the best tracks selected (Ghosts is particularly under-represented in these sets). With the combined Halcyon Days collections (52 unique tracks total) you get the following number of tracks off these albums: S/T = 3 Dragonfly = 4 (including contemporary single) Just A Collection... = 2 Witchwood = 6 (including contemporary b-side) Grave New World =6 (including contemporary b-side) Bursting At The Seams = 8 (including contemporary b-side) Hero and Heroine = 7 (including contemporary b-side) Ghosts = 3 Nomadness = 6 David Cousins solo (all from his '72 album) = 3 Hudson/Ford = 2 singles post-1975 track =1 b-side from 1991 Benedictus single edit = 1 Halcyon Days Disk 1 (UK version) "Ghosts" (Dave Cousins) – 8:30 "Sweet Dreams" "Night Light" "Guardian Angel" "Night Light" "On Growing Older" (Cousins) – 1:56 "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus" (Cousins) – 3:50 "Stormy Down" (Cousins) – 2:44 "I Turned My Face into the Wind" (Cousins) – 2:35 "Queen of Dreams" (Cousins) – 5:31 "Witchwood" (Cousins) – 3:22 "Keep the Devil Outside" (John Ford) – 3:01 "The Hangman and the Papist" (Cousins) – 4:11 "Benedictus" Single edit (Cousins) – 3:38 "Golden Salamander" (Cousins) – 4:54 "Tokyo Rosie" (Cousins) – 2:49 "Hero and Heroine" (Cousins) – 3:22 "Pick up the Pieces" (Richard Hudson, Ford) – 2:35 Hudson Ford track "Lay Down" (Cousins) – 4:32 "Backside" (Cousins) – 3:50 "Out in the Cold" (Cousins) – 3:19 "Round and Round" (Cousins) – 4:44 "Oh How She Changed" (Cousins, Tony Hooper) – 2:53 Disk 2 "The Battle" (Cousins) – 6:25 "Grace Darling" (Cousins) – 3:54 "Blue Angel" (Cousins) – 9:46 Dave Cousins solo track "Divided" "Half Worlds Apart" "At Rest" "Here It Comes" (Cousins) – 2:42 "The Shepherd's Song" (Cousins) – 4:33 "We'll Meet Again Sometime" (Cousins) – 3:12 "Martin Luther King's Dream" (Cousins) – 2:53 "Burn Baby Burn" (Hudson, Ford) – 3:02 Hudson Ford track "Shine on Silver Sun" (Cousins) – 2:46 "Why and Wherefore" (Cousins, Dave Lambert, Chas Cronk, John Hawken, Rod Coombes) – 5:31 "Floating in the Wind" (Hudson, Ford) – 4:13 Hudson Ford track "Absent Friend" (Cousins) – 4:35 "Part of the Union" (Hudson, Ford) – 2:56 "Will Ye Go" (Francis McPeake) – 3:54 "The River" (Cousins) – 2:23 "Down by the Sea" (Cousins) – 6:19 "Tell Me What You See in Me" (Cousins) – 6:11 US Version trackless Disk 1 "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus" (Cousins) – 3:50 "Where Is This Dream of Your Youth" (Cousins) "The Battle" (Cousins) – 6:25 "The Weary Song" (Cousins) – 3:50 "I Turned My Face into the Wind" (Cousins) – 2:35 "Forever" (Cousins, Hooper) – 3:32 "Song of a Sad Little Girl" (Cousins) – 5:28 "A Glimpse of Heaven" (Cousins) – 3:50 "Witchwood" (Cousins) – 3:22 "Sheep" (Cousins) – 4:14 "The Shepherd's Song" (Cousins) – 4:33 "The Hangman and the Papist" (Cousins) – 4:11 "Benedictus" (Cousins) – 4:24 "Queen of Dreams" (Cousins) – 5:31 "Heavy Disguise" (Ford) – 2:53 "New World" (Cousins) – 4:11 "Two Weeks Last Summer" (Cousins) – 3:07 Dave Cousins solo track "Blue Angel" (Cousins) – 9:46 Dave Cousins solo track "Divided" "Half Worlds Apart" "At Rest" Disk 2 "Here It Comes" (Cousins) – 2:42 "Part of the Union" (Hudson, Ford) – 2:56 "Tears and Pavan" – 6:35 "Tears" (Cousins) "Pavan" (Cousins, Hudson, Ford) "The River" (Cousins) – 2:23 "Down by the Sea" (Cousins) – 6:19 "Lay Down" (Cousins) – 4:32 "Autumn" – 8:27 "Heroine's Theme" (Hawken) "Deep Summer Sleep" (Cousins) "The Winter Long" (Cousins) "Hero and Heroine" (Cousins) – 3:22 "Midnight Sun" (Cronk, Cousins) – 3:06 "Out in the Cold" (Cousins) – 3:19 "Round and Round" (Cousins) – 4:44 "Ghosts" (Cousins) – 8:30 "Sweet Dreams" "Night Light" "Guardian Angel" "Night Light" "Grace Darling" (Cousins) – 3:54 "Lemon Pie" (Cousins) – 4:03 "To Be Free" (Cousins) – 4:17 "Hanging in the Gallery" (Cousins) – 4:32 "The Promised Land" (Cronk) – 4:07
Great album! This and "Grave New World" are in my all-time top 20. I also love the gatefold cover, with the monochrome outside and the colourful inside. I really like "The Hangman ...", but one detail has always bothered me a little: Throughout the song, I get the impression that the hangman is very young ("young man, served but a year...") while the papist seems much more experienced and mature, but in the end he's supposed to be the hangman's younger brother. I know it makes the situation even more dramatic, but still ... The Top of the Pops clip to the song was famously introduced by Steve Wright as being by "Yes"!
Met Richard Wilson at a meet & greet a few years back. Got him to sign the album. Also collared Tony Visconti to autograph it too when he passed through Sheffield on a Holy Holy tour. Only people who haven’t signed it are any Strawbs.
On both occasions I was just one of many people waiting my turn for a natter. Wilson smiled and looked over the LP sleeve but couldn’t recall when he’d done his part. Visconti said he’d enjoyed his time working with the band. He also grinned when I offered that, should that be the case, he should give Cousins a ring.
A church background against an army one possibly, with an imbued sense of gravitas of a sort you don't necessarily get soldiers, well at least the rank and file.
Grave New World - 1972. With Wakeman gone, Blue Weaver brought his mellotron and for this ultra dramatic music, that's just what the doctor order. A stupendous album with Benedictus and New World being two of Cousin's finest compositions and the band really works well on these as well as all of the songs on this album. Compare them with versions done by the Hero And Herorine lineup and something is greatly missing. I love the psychedelia of Queen Of Dreams, and the acoustic strum and horn accompaniment of John Ford's Heavy Disguise. And Tomorrow is a great heavy prog song with great organ supported by wonderful bass and drums at it's coda. As far as the 90's CD's sound, the compression doesn't bother me as much as the dirty muddy transfer that lacks detail. But it's still a blast! The band is Cousins, Hooper, Ford, Hudson and the new boy Weaver. Until the next album posting, cheers.
My copy of Antiques and Curios arrived this morning. Haven't had a chance to listen yet but I'll post a few initial thoughts in a while.
This is one of my favorite Strawbs albums. Really like Benedictus and New World as well. I have the Japanese original release, D18Y A&M cd which sounds pretty good. I haven't compared it to any other versions though. Probably bought it when I just assumed Japanese releases were the best. Sometimes I have to remind myself the music is the priority, and the mastering secondary. I have heard a few positive things about the recent SHM cd's and would love to hear more opinions before I make the investment.
Again a favourite, and the first Strawbs album I bought when it came out. I was impressed enough that I picked up the whole back catalogue over the following couple of years. For me this is sort of Abbey Road with the sides swapped. The A-side flows really well, and with the two "Hey Little Man ..." interludes, there's even a whiff of concept. The B-side by contrast is a seemingly random assortment of tracks, and in "Ah Me, Ah My" (which I have always liked) even has its very own "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" (which I really liked as an eleven-year old, but not so much now).
Grave New World is my favorite Strawbs album. Wakeman is out and Blue Weaver is in -thus continues the 2 albums per keyboardist trend that prevails from 1970-1975. My individual song ratings: Benedictus -5/5, probably my all-time favorite Strawbs song, the lyrics, the melody, the mellotron! Wow Hey Little Man (2 interludes) 3/5 nice moments for catching your breath after the preceding great songs Queen of Dreams -5/5, a lyrical tour-de-force with amazing production -70s psych is alive! Heavy Disguises -4/5, John Ford contibutes this nice acoustic with brass accompaniment, well-produced and nice New World -5/5, dark as they come, just an intense and great tune The Flower And The Young Man -4/5, another winner from the opening harmony through the mellotron-tinged bridge and harmonium outro Tomorrow -3.5/5, a hard rocker, perhaps the hardest they have ever rocked? Certainly to this point in their history On Growing Older -4.5/5 another winner from Cousins, acoustic and smartly written Ah Me, Ah My -0/5, a terrible novelty song that has no business on this great album. It's loud, stupid and annoying -auto skip Is It Today Lord? -4/5, raga rock returns! Who else was doing this in '72? The Journey's End -2/5, not too engaging for me, but as an album coda I guess it's o.k. The bonus tracks on the remaster are not too interesting, if you don't have 'em you are not missing much.