Hero and Heroine

Untitled

Hero and Heroine is a studio album by English band Strawbs. After the tour supporting the previous album, Bursting at the Seams, there was an acrimonious split leaving only Dave Cousins and Dave Lambert to rebuild the band. The new line-up gelled very quickly and studio sessions were very productive. The album was released first in the US to a warm reception, and then in the UK where reviews were more negative. The album only reached number 35 on the UK Album Charts and the band increasingly began to look to North America for a successful future.

The album, although still recognisably Strawbs, contains tracks with harsh "straight talking" lyrics, in contrast to the more lyrical approach shown on Bursting at the Seams. The music is more Gothic and doom-laden with washes of mellotron and big guitar power chords, especially on the longer tracks.

All band members made writing contributions, notably Chas Cronk with whom Dave Cousins would write many songs on future albums.

Track listing

Side one

1. "Autumn" – 8:27

   "Heroine's Theme" (John Hawken)

   "Deep Summer Sleep" (Dave Cousins)

   "The Winter Long" (Cousins)

2. "Sad Young Man" (Rod Coombes) – 4:09
3. "Just Love" (Dave Lambert) – 3:41
4. "Shine on Silver Sun" (Cousins) – 2:46

Side two

1. "Hero and Heroine" (Cousins) – 3:29
2. "Midnight Sun" (Chas Cronk, Cousins) – 3:06
3. "Out in the Cold" (Cousins) – 3:19
4. "Round and Round" (Cousins) – 4:44
5. "Lay a Little Light on Me" (Cousins) – 3:27
6. "Hero's Theme" (Lambert) – 2:28

Bonus tracks

The following tracks did not feature on the original vinyl release and were included as bonus tracks on the A&M reissue.

1. "Still Small Voice" (Cousins) – 2:28
2. "Lay a Little Light on Me (early version)" (Cousins) – 2:20

Personnel

• Dave Cousins – lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Dave Lambert – lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• John Hawken – organ, piano, electric piano, mellotron, synthesizer
• Chas Cronk – backing vocals, bass guitar, synthesizer
• Rod Coombes – backing vocals, drums, percussion

with

• Claire Deniz – cello on "Midnight Sun"

Recording

• Dave Cousins, Tom Allom – Producers
• Tom Allom, Freddy Hansson – Engineers

Recorded at Rosenberg Studios, Copenhagen.

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog	Comment
United Kingdom	April 1974 (1974-04)	A&M	stereo LP	AMLH 63607
United States	February 1974 (1974-02)	A&M	stereo LP	SP 3607
Canada		A&M	CD	VPCD 3607
Worldwide	1998 (1998)	A&M	CD	540 935-2	Remastered with bonus tracks
Japan	2002 (2002)	A&M	CD	UICY-9216

References

• Hero and Heroine on Strawbsweb
• Sleeve notes CD 540 935-2 Hero and Heroine