STRAWBS: A TASTE OF STRAWBS, 2006
CD 5 NOTES

This curious song was never played live. It showcases Dave Cousins' reputation as one of the best banjo players in the UK at the time and was recorded along with another bunch of demos in the basement of Cecil Sharp House (the headquarters of The English Folk Dance and Song Society) in North London. One of Cousins' quirky "story songs" like "Poor Jimmy Wilson", it was released on the limited edition Witchwood Project sampler in 2006 – this is its first full commercial release.

Hud first joined Strawbs on percussion, but he also played sitar during his time with the Velvet Opera. This instrumental was his instrumental showpiece for a short time.

Rick's piano playing is unmistakeable on this out-take from Dave's 1972 solo album. It was recorded at the Manor in Kidlington and was the first time they met up again after Rick left Strawbs for Yes. Dave considers Rick's playing to rank with his best work.

There are a couple of versions of this song recorded as demos, though the song never made it onto any album. It accurately reflects Dave's state of mind at the time of the break up of the Bursting At The Seams band after "Part Of The Union" and the blood bath at the Beverley Rodeo in Los Angeles.

Dave Cousins reworking of a track from Strawbs Sampler album - originally recorded for the first Strawbs album, but with Tony Hooper's vocal. Dave's vocal was overdubbed at the time of the break up of the Bursting At The Seams band, when he was seriously thinking of hitting the cabaret circuit (see also Disc 2, "Whichever Way The Wind Blows"). Strange but true!

This first recording of the song took place during the first sessions for Deep Cuts, with Tom Allom in the producer's chair, but was abandoned as Rupert Holmes and Jeffrey Lesser were recruited for a more commercial sound. This song not been issued before in this form; it was reworked from scratch for Cousins & Willoughby's album The Bridge and then further reworked for the Strawbs album – Blue Angel.

The first instrumental track laid down by Cousins and Kirby for the recording of this pretty song. It turned out to be an Acoustic Strawbs favourite when reintroduced to the set during 2005.

8. Time and Life
David Cousins and Chas Cronk
David Cousins: vocals, guitar
Chas Cronk: 12 string guitar
1977: Home Demo
Strawbs archive: previously unreleased

An early demo for the Deadlines album, on a tape reel dated 14 July 1977. The song, without the complex production it ended up with, really shines through. Cousins' rolling guitar figure is a signature of his style. Time and Life were competing US news magazines in the seventies.

The IGTB album was an intricately designed and executed spoof space opera album, produced by Wil Malone and Danny Beckermann (who also worked on Rick's majestic Journey To The Centre Of The Earth album), Dave Cousins was brought in to perform a song written for him, (no connection with the Dave Lambert song of the same title), which fits very well nonetheless with the Strawbs canon of that period. Cousins was paid for the session with a leather backgammon set on which, to his considerable aggravation, he was obliged to pay Customs duty!

Another track from the Humphrey Walwyn sessions (see Disc 3, track 10, "Armada"). David Cousins played with Juan Martin at the Strawbs' Christmas party in 2005.

The year after reforming for 1983's Cambridge Folk Festival, the band were invited by Television South West (TSW) to film a network documentary showing the Strawbs in rehearsal for a live show in the West Country. This song was from that live show at the Radway Cinema, Sidmouth. A DVD of the programmes is scheduled for release in 2007.

Blue's tongue-in-cheek response to "Heartbreak Hill" was recorded in his home studio in London.

The chord structure of the verse of this song is derived from the descending lines of Pete Townshend's "Substitute". It became one of the archetypal acoustic Cousins & Willoughby numbers, with Cousins' on acoustic rhythm guitar and vocals and Brian providing frenetically complex acoustic lead runs.

Acoustic Strawbs, recorded at Hugh's Room in Toronto by Jon Connolly, then proprietor of Natural Sound in Kitchener, Ontario, who also produced the Full Bloom album. This delicate love song was recorded for Deja Fou with string arrangement by Robert Kirby.

Recorded around one microphone in the suburbs of Los Angeles. This Folk Scene recording of the acoustic version of the song from 2004's Deja Fou, has become a well-loved part of the Acoustic Strawbs set. It matches Lambert's solid acoustic picking and Cousins' delicate and intricate banjo, with Chas on 12-string, picking up the part played by Cousins' mandolin on the original recording.

The headline set at the annual Thalgau Festival, held in the foothills of the Austrian Alps, was recorded and filmed, and captures the reunited Hero And Heroine line-up in all its glory.

Back to main A Taste Of Strawbs page