Strawbs

The Strawbs are a rock band founded in 1964 in England. Originally known as the Strawberry Hill Boys, they started out as a bluegrass band and eventually moved onto to other styles (folk rock, glam rock, progressive rock, AOR).

History

Their long-time leader and most active songwriter is guitarist and singer, Dave Cousins (guitar, dulcimer, banjo, vocals) (born David Joseph Cousins, 7 January, 1945, in Hounslow, Middlesex). In the early days the Strawbs played with Sandy Denny (lead singer of Fairport Convention and Fotheringay)

Members

Besides Cousins, long-standing players were:

• Tony Hooper (guitar, vocals) (born Anthony Hooper, in 1944, in Hounslow, Middlesex),
• Ron Chesterman (bass),
• Rick Wakeman (keyboards) (later finding success with Yes and solo work),
• Blue Weaver (keyboards), who also played with Amen Corner, Mott the Hoople and the Bee Gees,
• Richard Hudson (drums, vocals) and
• [1]John Ford (bass, vocals).

The latter pair had some hits as the duo Hudson-Ford. Other members included:

• Dave Lambert (guitar, vocals) (born David Lambert, 8 March, 1949, in Hounslow, Middlesex),
• Brian Willoughby (guitar),
• Chas Cronk (bass, vocals, guitar)(also of the 1980s pop duo Cry No More),
• John Hawken (keyboards) (also The Nashville Teens, Renaissance, Spooky Tooth, Vinegar Joe),
• Rod Coombes, formerly of Stealers Wheel,
• Tony Fernandez (drums) and A
• Andy Richards (keyboards). .

Commercial album success

The group had its biggest commercial album success in the United Kingdom in 1973 with Bursting at the Seams when the line-up was Cousins, Lambert, Hudson, Ford and Weaver. Hudson and Ford then quit to form Hudson-Ford, with the line-up of Chris Parren (keyboards), Mickey Keen (guitar and sound engineer), and Ken Laws (drums). In United States, however, the two following albums, Hero and Heroine and Ghosts, with newly recruited Hawken, Cronk and Coombes, were more successful. The band did several successful tours of the US and Canada. While Strawbs are best known by many in Europe for their commercial successes (primarily Part of the Union and Lay Down), these were not considered by fans as the best examples of their musicianship and songwriting.

File:Monks - Nice Legs Shame About The Face single picture cover.jpg

The picture cover of The Monks': Nice Legs Shame About The Face

Hudson, Ford and Terry Cassidy combined together with Clive Pearce on drums (Hudson was then playing guitar, having switched from drums) to produce 1979 album Bad Habits as The Monks (punk band). The album spawned a number 19 hit in the UK singles chart — Nice Legs, Shame About The Face (right). 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 of Suspended 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.

Present day

As of 2006 the Strawbs are still recording and touring, both in the acoustic format comprising Cousins, Lambert and Cronk and also occasionally as the original Hero and Heroine/Ghosts line-up of the electric band (Cousins, Lambert, Cronk, Coombes and Hawken). The electric line-up, together with guest John Ford, who flew over from New York for the tour, performed on a short UK tour in March 2006, culminating in the recording of a live DVD at the Robin 2 in Bilston. Release was due in September 2006. Five further electric gigs are lined up for the UK in June 2006 (Glasgow, Sheffield, Penrith, London and Brighton) followed by a headlining appearance at a festival in Austria (Freilichtbühne, Thalgau, Salzburg). Full details of all forthcoming gigs can be found at the band's official website. A lively discussion group, "Witchwood" exists for fans - joining details can also be found at the official site.

Hit singles

• "Lay Down" (UK #12 1972)
• "Part of the Union" (UK #2 1973)
• "Shine On Silver Sun" (UK #34 1973)
• "I Only Want My Love To Grow In You" (1976)

The latter single from the Deep Cuts album was a radio airplay success, but despite good overall sales did not chart very well.

Albums

• Strawbs (1969)
• Dragonfly (1970)
• Just A Collection Of Antiques And Curios (1970)
• From The Witchwood (1971)
• Grave New World (1972)
• Bursting at the Seams (1973)
• Hero and Heroine (1974)
• Ghosts (1974)
• Nomadness (1975)
• Deep Cuts (1976)
• Burning for You (1977)
• Deadlines (1978)
• Don't Say Goodbye (1987)
• Ringing Down the Years (1991)
• Heartbreak Hill (1995)
• Halcyon Days (compilation, 1997)
• Baroque and Roll (2001) (Acoustic Strawbs)
• Blue Angel (2002)
• Deja Fou (2004)
• Full Bloom (2005) (Acoustic Strawbs)
• Strawbs Live at Nearfest 2004 (2005)
• Painted Sky (2005)
• Recollection (2006)
• A Taste of Strawbs (2006) (box with 4 CDs, recordings 1967 - 2006)

DVDs

• Complete Strawbs: The Chiswick House Concert (2002)
• Strawbs Live in Tokyo DVD, plus Grave New World, the movie (2003)
• Acoustic Strawbs Live in Toronto (2004)

Film

• Grave New World (1973)
  • Shot on videotape and comprising videos of most of the songs from the album of the same name, this had a limited theatrical release supporting the video of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's Pictures at an Exhibition. The film, considered ahead of its time as an early music video, is paired with the "Strawbs Live in Tokyo 75" DVD.

External links

• http://www.strawbsweb.co.uk/
• http://www.blueweaver.com/
• http://www.witchwoodrecords.co.uk/
• http://www.johnhawken.com/
• http://www.johnfordmusic.net/
• http://www.crynomore.co.uk/
• http://www.brianwilloughby.co.uk
• http://www.andyrichards.com/
• http://www14.plala.or.jp/witchwood/stclubindex.html
• http://www.geocities.com/strawbfan/
• The Strawbs discography at MusicBrainz