Well, Dick beat me to the Saturday review of Birmingham, so I thought perhaps I should try and turn the tables with this review of Cousins and Wakeman's performance from the Devon Air music festival in 1988. Picking up the CD last weekend was a pleasant, if, unexpected surprise, even if it's taken me 16 years to do the review
The CD opens with a solo version of "Grace Darling" by Dave Cousins. For those who know the richness of sound on other versions of this song, you will not be disappointed despite just the single guitar.
A second solo of "Part Of The Union" was a bit surprising, in some ways. No booming chorus just a single guitar and voice, simplicity itself, bringing a quite different feel to the song.
Rick then enters the fray and pacy and tinkly piano is accompanied by an equal blitz of breakneck guitar as the duo complement each other with their individual inputs, on a magical "Glimpse Of Heaven".
With the recent addition of "The Antique Suite" to the live performances, its perhaps appropriate that another song from that album surfaces. "Song Of A Sad Little Girl" opens with a short piano intro leading to Cousins soft, gentle and comforting vocal taking you straight to the heart of the action. Almost pleading for help as the song moves forward, the piano, ever present in the background, takes you from the edge of despair to an inspired recovery and joy.
"The Hangman And The Papist": the soft and gentle piano intro belies the anger later to surface, the piano sinks to a bit part in volume as the power of Cousins' vocal takes over, with piano gradually rebuilding, until the song climaxes with a crescendo of noise.
"Witchwood" begins slightly falteringly for a few seconds, before some lovely but perhaps not recognisable runs on piano. The words interspersed by Rick's playing with each driving the song on in its own way. A very interesting and totally palatable version.
Many may already know the version of "The Shepherd's Song", which I think was included in the Classic Rock Society CD, released a few years back. For those that do, you will have a vision of the rest of this album. It combines all the positive elements of the duo's own individual skills, melded into their playing together.
"Ways And Means" finishes the Exeter part of the CD and I admit I have always liked the heavy laden dual guitar combination of this song when it was played live by Dave and Brian Willoughby on their tours. Although Rick does a great interpretation on the song, I think personally, I still favour the Cousins/Willoughby version. But it's early days, having only had a couple of plays of the CD.
The final track on the CD, "Martin Luther King's Dream" was recorded by the duo in the same year but in Belgium. This time Rick was playing a "borrowed" synthesiser. A whole different sound to what has gone before on the CD, but its really good to hear this great song receiving a different treatment, which is another good addition to the other versions held.
I think anyone with the slightest interest in the music of Strawbs would want to include this CD with everything else they possess. A piece of history yes, a live recording yes, but some damn good interpretations of classic songs.