The Strawbs have taken a bit of a back seat in the history of British rock, but not only are they important in developing folky progressive rock, they played a central role in the first half of the 70s in providing musicians for other hit acts.
I first got on board with them when I was very young, maybe 11 or so, enjoying their accessible melodies and folkiness on the 1971 album From The Witchwood. It was a hit in the UK getting to #39. I came to them around 1972 or so because of The Yes album and tracing Rick Wakeman from that. He’d been in the Strawbs since the album Dragonfly (a lovely record that would appeal to anyone who’s taste extends to a modern version of English folk) and Witchwood was his last album.
Around 1973, I became a bit preoccupied with Dave Cousin’s guitar. I was already a 6-string obsessive and the track ‘Lay Down’ (UK #12) which was a hit single with a great second guitar from Dave Lambert ( who is on the very good psychedelic bluesy rock band King Earl Boogie Band 1972 album, Trouble At Mill) really sent me down a Strawbs rabbit hole. I went back and got the part live Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios which I loved and got to #27. It had long suites and seemed to be very ambitious.
Imagine my dismay when they went and had what I wrongly thought was a ‘novelty’ #2 single with the annoying Part Of The Union. Apparently it was a genuine appreciation of unionism, but Dave Cousins didn’t write it, so I assumed that was why it was no good.
Both are on the stellar album ‘Bursting At The Seams’ which is them at their very best and made #2 in the UK. If you don’t have any of their records, or are new to them, get this record.
I next got the previous year’s Grave World Record which is a lavishly packaged record which as a boy seemed to be almost a religious document. It got to #11 but I think I was too young to really appreciate it. Much more enjoyable was the mellotron heavy Hero And Heroine, 1974’s album, which saw Cousins and Lambert rebuild the band after a split. This was much more proggy, in the spirit of the times and it's a rather forgotten example. They were sometimes spoken of in the same breath of the Moody Blues and Barclay James Harvest at the time.
And that was where, as puberty kicked in and I favoured harder, heavier, riffy records, I left them. You remember how you’d glom on to a band for 18 months and then drop them, well that was me with the Strawbs. Naturally I collected every subsequent 6 vinyl releases anyway.
But when you think they birthed Sandy Denny in 1967 (not released to 1973) Rick Wakeman, Hudson Ford (who had hits), Blue Weaver and even at one time, the great Miller Anderson and Jo Partridge amongst their ranks and even The Monks formed by Hudson and Ford later in the 70s had a #19 hit with ‘Nice Legs, Shame About the Face’, they were really quite important artists for a time.
The first half of the 70s is the golden period, including Cousins 1972 solo release Two Weeks Last Summer, recorded that summer, with guests such as Roger Glover from Deep Purple and Jon Hiseman from Colosseum. They don’t deserve to be forgotten. Once upon a time, around 1973 they did a big UK tour and were one of the most popular bands in the land.
Bursting Over The Strawbs
