Strawbs

Emerging among the lesser-recognized British progressive acts of the early 1970s, the Strawbs stood apart from more prominent peers including the Moody Blues, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd because their music drew its foundations from English folk traditions instead of rock. Their evolution from an acoustic bluegrass ensemble into progressive folk-rock trailblazers marked a notable achievement, reaching full strength on standout releases such as 1972’s Grave New World and the subsequent Bursting at the Seams. As the decade advanced, ongoing shifts in personnel and record labels hindered the Strawbs’ momentum. They endured a dissolution late in the 1970s yet experienced a strong resurgence during the mid-1980s that, though falling short of their earlier heights, sustained the group and its audience into the new millennium. The Strawbs remained especially active throughout the 2000s, issuing multiple studio albums highlighted by 2005’s Painted Sky and 2009’s The Broken Hearted Bride. Across subsequent years the ensemble sustained its exploratory approach even on later works such as 2021’s Settlement, issued more than five decades after the debut, and 2023’s The Magic of It All, which incorporated material composed for a film documenting the band’s following in South Africa.

Dave Cousins established the ensemble in 1964 as the bluegrass-oriented Strawberry Hill Boys trio, initially comprising Cousins on vocals and guitar, Tony Hooper on guitar and vocals, and mandolinist Arthur Phillips, the latter supplanted in 1968 by bassist Ron Chesterman. That year the newly renamed Strawbs, whose repertoire already extended well beyond bluegrass, briefly expanded to a quartet with the short-term addition of Sandy Denny, who contributed to several tracks issued on the Hallmark label prior to her departure for Fairport Convention; those recordings later appeared under varying titles including All Our Own Work and Sandy & the Strawbs. The Strawbs secured an A&M Records contract in 1969 and completed their debut album, the acoustic-focused Strawbs, the same year.

On the follow-up Dragonfly, tracked and issued the next year, session contributors including pianist and organist Rick Wakeman helped expand the sonic palette. Shortly afterward the Strawbs solidified as a complete band by incorporating Wakeman along with drummer Richard Hudson and bassist John Ford. These adjustments, together with Cousins’ growing command of electric guitar, produced a more forceful sound captured on the subsequent release. The live album Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios from 1970 performed strongly and preceded 1971’s From the Witchwood. Wakeman departed that year to join Yes and was succeeded by Blue Weaver, previously of the Amen Corner. Grave New World arrived in 1972 and signaled the band’s most potent phase, as Cousins’ songwriting gained from the emerging partnership of Hudson and Ford; the album achieved the group’s strongest sales to that point. Its release also coincided with Tony Hooper’s exit, after which Dave Lambert, an electric guitarist with a harder-edged style, joined and propelled the Strawbs into their creative peak. The 1973 album Bursting at the Seams yielded two Top Ten U.K. singles in “Lay Down” and “Part of the Union,” while the album track “Down by the Sea” garnered notable American FM airplay.

With the passage of that high point, the band’s circumstances deteriorated through the remainder of the decade. Blue Weaver exited following one additional tour, and Hudson and Ford left to establish Hudson-Ford, also on A&M. The Strawbs reformed in 1974 around the album Hero and Heroine, recorded by Cousins, Lambert, keyboardist John Hawken, bassist Chas Cronk, and drummer Rod Coombes. Although the record met with limited success in England, it found an audience in America. The next pair of releases, Ghosts in 1975 and Nomadness in 1976, likewise fared better stateside than at home. Such results proved insufficient to maintain stability, however, as further member departures occurred and the A&M affiliation ended. Two subsequent albums on the Oyster label received inadequate distribution, while the Arista release Deadlines from 1978 underperformed commercially and a second Arista project remained unreleased. The Strawbs disbanded at the close of the 1970s, after which Cousins pursued solo work alongside guitarist Brian Willoughby that appealed mainly to committed followers. An invitation to perform at the 1983 Cambridge Folk Festival revived activity when Cousins, Hooper, Hudson, Ford, Weaver, and Willoughby reunited under the Strawbs name; the enthusiastic reception prompted a tour that restored the band to American stages during the mid-1980s, followed by two new studio albums issued in Canada.

In 1993 the Strawbs issued the retrospective concert recording Greatest Hits Live!, which surveyed key moments from their catalog. The group maintained an active schedule through the 1990s and into the following century, producing numerous live and studio projects. The lineup from the Hero and Heroine period reconvened in the studio during 2008 to create The Broken Hearted Bride, a reaffirmation of the band’s enduring strength. Additional releases included 2009’s Dancing to the Devil’s Beat and 2011’s Hero & Heroine in Ascencia, the latter revisiting material from the 1974 album. Following extensive touring in both acoustic and electric configurations, the Strawbs returned in 2017 with The Ferryman’s Curse, their first collection of new original songs in eight years. Marking their fiftieth anniversary, the ensemble toured America in 2019 before delivering the stylistically varied Settlement in 2021. South African documentary filmmaker Niel van Deventer, a longtime admirer, recognized the resonance of Grave New World and Bursting at the Seams within his country, particularly among participants in the anti-apartheid movement. Van Deventer contacted Dave Cousins regarding a film exploring the band’s international audience and the significance of its music to South African listeners; Cousins consented to participate, resulting in 2023’s The Magic of It All, which gathered songs he wrote for the project and recorded in Cape Town with leading South African session musicians.