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Strawbs | |
|---|---|
 Strawbs performing in 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Strawbs Acoustic Strawbs |
| Origin | England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1964–1980, 1983–2023 |
| Labels | A&M,Virgin,EMI, Witchwood Media |
| Members | Dave Lambert Chas Cronk Tony Fernandez Dave Bainbridge |
| Past members | Dave Cousins Rick Wakeman |
| Website | strawbsweb |
The Strawbs were an Englishrock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys.[1] The band started out as abluegrass group,[1] but eventually moved on to other styles such asfolk rock andprogressive rock.
They are best known for their hit "Part of the Union", which reached number two in theUK Singles Chart in February 1973, as well as for "Lay Down", a popular progressive rock hit from thesame LP. Strawbs toured withSupertramp in theirCrime of the Century tour, doing their ownHero and Heroine tour, which drew musical similarities and themes.
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The Strawbs formed in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys while the founder members were atSt Mary's Teacher Training College, Strawberry Hill, London. The name was shortened to 'the Strawbs' for a June 1967 concert in which they wanted to display the band name on stage.[1] Their long-time leader and most active songwriter was guitarist and singerDave Cousins (guitar,dulcimer,banjo,vocals) (born David Joseph Hindson, 7 January 1940, Hounslow, Middlesex). In the early days, Strawbs played withSandy Denny (later lead singer ofFairport Convention andFotheringay).[1]
Although they started in the 1960s as a bluegrass band,[1] the band's repertoire shifted to favour their own (mainly Cousins') material. While in Denmark in 1967, the Strawbs (Cousins,Tony Hooper andRon Chesterman) with Sandy Denny recorded 13 songs for a proposed first album,All Our Own Work.[1] It was apparently not issued in Denmark and the fledgling band could not get a UK record deal. (Meanwhile, Denny left to joinFairport Convention and the album was forgotten until it was issued on Pickwick Hallmark in the UK in the mid-1970s.)
They were the first UK group signing toHerb Alpert'sA&M Records and recorded their first single, "Oh How She Changed", in 1968.[2] This was produced and arranged byGus Dudgeon andTony Visconti, who also worked on their critically acclaimed first album,Strawbs (1969). Between the first and second A&M albums, in 1969, a sampler,Strawberry Music Sampler No. 1, was recorded. According to the 2001 CD reissue, only 99 copies of the original vinyl LP were pressed.
After the folk-tingedDragonfly, Cousins and Hooper addedRick Wakeman on keyboards,Richard Hudson on drums, andJohn Ford on bass.[1] The new line-up had their London debut at theQueen Elizabeth Hall, where they recorded their third album,Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios;[1] theMelody Maker reported on the concert with the headline "Tomorrow's superstar" in reference to Wakeman.[3][4] Wakeman stayed with them for one further album,From the Witchwood, then departed to joinYes,[1] remarking to the press that "I'm sure we'll all benefit from the split because we were beginning to compromise a lot on ideas – like we'd use half of my ideas and half of theirs – and I don't think it was helping what was eventually coming out. We ended up lacking challenge. Complacency set in, and for the last couple of months we just weren't working."[5]
He was replaced byBlue Weaver, who had previously been withAmen Corner andFair Weather.[1] This line-up produced what many feel to be the archetypal Strawbs albumGrave New World, before yet another change, the departure of founding member Hooper, who was replaced by electric guitaristDave Lambert, formerly of Fire and the King Earl Boogie Band.[1]
Lambert's arrival in 1972 coincided with a move towards a harder rock style on the next album,Bursting at the Seams. The first single from the album with Lambert on board, "Lay Down," hit theUK Singles Chart at number 12, followed by a further single from the album, "Part of the Union," which went up to number 2.[1] The album also reached number 2 in theUK Albums Chart and the band undertook a 52-date UK tour to packed houses. The harder rock style was also evidenced by Cousins' solo album,Two Weeks Last Summer,[6] recorded that summer, with guests such asRoger Glover fromDeep Purple andJon Hiseman fromColosseum.
Following a US tour, the group split, with Hudson and Ford deciding to record their own material, firstly asHudson Ford, later asThe Monks andHigh Society.[7] Weaver also left the band, eventually finding a gig with theBee Gees; he also played withMott the Hoople.[citation needed]
Cousins and Lambert rebuilt the band, addingJohn Hawken (formerly ofthe Nashville Teens andRenaissance) on keyboards,Rod Coombes formerly withStealers Wheel andChas Cronk on bass. This line-up recorded the 1974Hero and Heroine andGhosts, and tended to concentrate on the North American market with relatively little touring in the UK.[1] Strawbs still retain a fan base today in the US and Canada.Hero And Heroine went platinum in Canada, and both albums sold extremely well in the US too. A further album,Nomadness, recorded without Hawken, was less successful, and was their last for A&M Records.
In a review inRolling Stone in 1974, Ken Barnes wrote:"Strawbs moved from folkier days to a lush, stately and mellotron-dominated sound, with similarities to Yes,King Crimson andthe Moody Blues. They wrote more compelling songs than the former two, and possessed more lyrical/musical substance than the latter."[8]
Signed to theDeep Purple–owned Oyster label, they recorded two more albums with two keyboardists replacing Hawken –Robert Kirby, also known for his string arrangements (notablyNick Drake) andJohn Mealing of jazz-rock groupIf. Coombes was replaced byTony Fernandez (known for working on Rick Wakeman's solo albums) for a further album,Deadlines, this time on the Arista label. Although recording was complete on a further album,Heartbreak Hill, featuringAndy Richards on keyboards, Cousins' decision in 1980 to leave the band to work in radio effectively signalled the band's demise, and the album remained in the vaults for many years.
A reunion on Rick Wakeman's TV showGas Tank in 1983 resulted in an invitation to re-form to headline 1983'sCambridge Folk Festival. TheGrave New World line-up plusBrian Willoughby (who had replaced Lambert when he left in 1978 during the making ofHeartbreak Hill, and had also begun a partnership with Dave Cousins as an acoustic duo from 1979 onwards) went on from there to perform occasionally in the UK, the US and Europe over the next few years, replacing Weaver with Chris Parren from the Hudson Ford band and Ford himself (when he relocated to the US) with bass playerRod Demick.
1993 saw the band touring in the UK for their 25th anniversary, but the next few years saw little activity. In the summer of 1998 Cousins staged a 30th-anniversary event in Chiswick Park in London, which saw several different line-ups of the band perform. The final of these – theBursting at the Seams line-up plus Willoughby – became the ongoing version of the band, with annual tours in subsequent years.
An injury to Cousins' wrist coinciding with a Cousins & Willoughby commitment brought Dave Lambert in to work with Cousins & Willoughby, which soon became Acoustic Strawbs, recording an album,Baroque & Roll, in 2001. That trio began to tour on a regular basis – first in the UK, then the US and Canada, and on into Europe, the three guitars of Acoustic Strawbs effortlessly reproducing much of the majesty and depth of the "big" Strawbs keyboard-laden instrumentation.
Willoughby was replaced by Chas Cronk when Willoughby left in 2004 to spend more time working with his partner, Cathryn Craig. Cronk has brought bass and bass pedals, which further add to the depth of the Acoustic Strawbs sound. 2004 also saw the return of theHero And Heroine line-up of the electric band, touring in tandem with the acoustic line-up, and recording their first new album for 25 years,Deja Fou, on the Strawbs' own label, Witchwood Records.
In 1973, Hudson and Ford quit to formHudson Ford, with the line-up of Chris Parren (keyboards), Mickey Keen (guitar and sound engineer), and Ken Laws (drums). They produced four albums, three for A&M (Nickelodeon,Free Spirit,Worlds Collide) and a fourth for CBS (Daylight). They also had hit singles with "Pick Up the Pieces" and "Burn Baby Burn", and toured extensively in the UK, the US and Canada.
Switching genres in the late '70s, Hudson, Ford and Terry Cassidy combined with Clive Pearce on drums (Hudson was then playing guitar, having switched from drums) to produce the punk-flavoured 1979album,Bad Habits, asthe Monks (not to be confused with the 1960sgarage/beat group ofthe same name). The album spawned a number 19 hit in theUK singles chart, "Nice Legs, Shame About the Face", which featured a mildly risquė cover. They dabbled with 1930s-style music in 1980 as High Society before returning to the pseudo-punk format of the Monks for a follow-up album released in Canada only,Suspended Animation, with the addition of Brian Willoughby on guitar and Chris Parren on keyboards.
While the album failed to produce further UK chart success, the band were huge in Canada particularly, playing stadium gigs;Suspended Animation went platinum in Canada too. The CD re-release ofSuspended Animation includes six bonus tracks, recorded for a third album but never before released, by Hudson, Ford and Cassidy —Huw Gower guests on one track on lead guitar.
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Since 2006, the Strawbs have been recording and touring in two formats: the acoustic format with Cousins, Lambert and Cronk; and the entirely originalHero and Heroine/Ghosts line-up of the electric band from 1974: Cousins, Lambert, Cronk, Coombes and Hawken. The line-up undertook two tours in 2006.
For that particular recording, and other concerts on the same tour, vocalist and bass player John Ford (member of an earlier Strawbs line-up) flew over from New York to perform with members of theHero and Heroine line-up. TheHero and Heroine line-up toured again in 2007 in the UK, including gigs at the Robin 2 (Bilston),The Stables (Wavendon), and several locations in Southern and Southwestern England. This line-up also toured the UK and US in May–June 2008. Following the US tour, John Hawken announced his intention to leave the group. The remaining four members (theNomadness line-up) continued as the core of the electric band. In January 2009, it was announced thatOliver Wakeman would be playing keyboards with the band on tours of Canada, the UK and Italy.
In 2006, the Strawbs released a four-disc boxed set calledA Taste of Strawbs. TheHero and Heroine/Ghosts line-up recorded a new studio album,The Broken Hearted Bride, released in September 2008.
Dave Cousins recorded a new solo album,The Boy in the Sailor Suit, with The Blue Angel Orchestra. In 2008, he released his third solo album,Secret Paths, with steel guitarist Melvin Duffy. Along with the album, he toured the US in spring 2008 (joined by Ian Cutler for the early part of the tour). A concert album from this tour, entitledDuochrome, was released in September 2008.
Lambert Cronk also released an album in April 2007 entitledTouch the Earth, on which former Strawbs drummer Tony Fernandez and former Strawbs keyboard playerAndy Richards both play. The Strawbs' website announced that neither Rod Coombes nor Oliver Wakeman were available for the October/November 2010 tours of Canada and the UK. (Coombes has educational commitments, and Wakeman was committed to recording a newYes album.) For these tours, Tony Fernandez (who played with Strawbs onDeadlines andHeartbreak Hill) was employed on drums, and John Young on keyboards.
The November 2012 tour featured a line-up of Cousins, Lambert, Cronk,Adam Wakeman and Adam Falkner. In February 2014 the band gigged with a line-up of Cousins, Lambert, Cronk, Wakeman and Fernandez. Their albumPrognostic was issued in October 2014.[9]
In 2017, the band releasedThe Ferryman's Curse with a line-up of Cousins, Lambert, Cronk, Fernandez andDave Bainbridge.
The band toured the US in 2019 as part of their 50th-anniversary celebration. The tour included a three-day event inLakewood, New Jersey, featuring former members along with special guests/friends appearing (Annie Haslam,Larry Fast, Tony Visconti,Wesley Stace, and others).[10]
The band releasedSettlement on 26 February 2021.[11]
On 14 July 2023, the Strawbs released a new album,The Magic Of It All, recorded in Cape Town in 2022. It features David Cousins, Blue Weaver and John Ford.
South African documentary filmmaker Niel van Deventer approached singer David Cousins with the idea of producing a documentary about the Strawbs and the group's influence around the world. Niel wanted to film while new songs were being recorded at a studio in Cape Town. David Cousins came with a bunch of his best songs, keyboardist and producer Blue Weaver flew to Cape Town to produce the sessions and co-write some of the songs, while John Ford joined to collaborate on the songs from a studio in New York.
The Magic Of It All album was released simultaneously on vinyl, CD and download viaCherry Red on 14 July. The documentaryThe Magic Of It All will be released later.
On 11 August 2023, the Strawbs gave their final live show and farewell gig at Fairport's Cropredy Convention 2023.[12]
Dave Cousins died at the Pilgrims Hospice inCanterbury, on 13 July 2025, at the age of 85.[13]
Last album members
Current members
Acoustic Strawbs
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