Search - Strawbs :: Strawbs

Wonderful late 60's folky sound.

sleepyhollowband | Bridgewater, NJ | 03/04/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The second Strawbs CD (following the Sandy Denny & the Strawbs album) doesn't yet have the prog leanings of the early 70's Strawbs, but for those of us who can't get enough of their early folk influences, this album is brilliant. Lots of acoustic instruments, including some lovely recorder accompaniment. Anyone who likes the late 60's folk sound, or is a fan of Dave Cousin's songwriting should treasure this."

Really great proper debut album

BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 05/27/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Strawbs were obviously well-known in the prog rock community for bringing in Rick Wakeman for a short time, and a string of Mellotron-laden albums from 1972-75 (after Wakeman split for Yes). Most of the stuff they did prior to Grave New World isn't looked upon fondly upon the prog rock community. Admittedly this early stuff is folk-rock, so maybe that's what bugs many progheads, but even their early folk-rock albums are packed with lots of great and worthwhile material. In 1969, they released their proper debut album (they previously recorded a bunch of stuff with Sandy Denny that got released later after Sandy made it big with Fairport Convention, and the Strawbs themselves also making the big time). Though released on A&M, which is an American label (A&M standing for Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the co-founders of the label), it never received an American release, only in the UK (A&M started operation in the UK by this point through Pye Records).



This is early Strawbs, Richard Hudson and John Ford aren't even in this band. At this point it was just Dave Cousins, Tony Hooper, and Ron Chesterman. They were largely an acoustic band, although this album has its share of electric numbers, and several cuts with drums and even keyboards. Which meant they did get some outside help. From my understanding, John Paul Jones and Nicky Hopkins are on this album. Also Tony Visconti played recorder here (though a producer, he lended some recorder on the occasional recording, like this album, the first Gentle Giant album, and David Bowie's second album most commonly known as Space Oddity on "An Occasional Dream"). The album had outside help, including Nicky Hopkins and John Paul Jones, and others. "The Man Who Calls Himself Jesus" is the opening cut, it sounds like classic Strawbs and could've easily fit on any of their early '70s albums. The song got banned by the BBC. "That Which Once Was Mine" is an incredible piece with recorders (courtesy of Tony Visconti), proving that even if they weren't progressive during this phase, they still delivered the goods. "Pieces of 79 and 15" is their first ever exploration of Mellotron, with plenty of Mark II strings and brass. Not certain who was playing Mellotron, but it wasn't Rick Wakeman (he wasn't in the band at this point). "Tell Me What You See in Me" is an odd psychedelic experiment exploring Persian and Indian styles complete with santoor (a dulcimer common to Iran and India) and violin, plus tabla. "Where is this Dream of Your Youth" is familiar to anyone familiar with Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios. This is the original (no Wakeman organ solo here), and still quite recognizable, although considerably shorter. Some of the other pieces are heavily orchestrated and probably would have been out of place on their more proggy '70s releases, such as "Or Am I Dreaming" (which I found out was released as a single in 1968 prior to the album's release). Progressive rock fans (in which I am one, but don't always need my music to be always prog) might not find much of interest here, but for those who like British folk rock, you really do need this album."