STRAWBS

While rummaging through my album collection looking for a misplaced record, I stumbled upon this antique and curio from the Strawbs. It's a collection of outtakes and demos from the band's formative years up to the recording of the group's first album with A&M records in 1969. A number of songs are demos from the Sandy And Strawbs album from 1967. "Sail Away to the Sea", "On My Way" and "All I Need Is You", all recorded prior to Miss Denny joining the group, are fully formed and very quaint sounding even without Sandy's incredible voice. They don't hold a candle to the all All Our Own Work album recordings made with Sandy, but show just how good a songwriter and arranger Dave Cousins was at that early stage. These songs are fleshed out by founding Strawbs' members Tony Hooper on acoustic guitar and Ron Chesterman on stand up bass.

Demos for "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus" and "Martin Luther King's Dream" actually sound fresher and more dynamic to me than their later studio and live versions found on the "first" Strawbs' album from 1969 (Sandy And The Strawbs was not released in any form until 1973), and the live Antiques And Curios album from 1971, respectively.

There are few bluegrass style banjo and guitar instrumentals that are not my cup of tea, but do show what a virtuoso banjo player Cousins was. It also shows what a good guitarist Hooper was to keep up with Dave's manic picking. Demos for more epic songs like "The Battle" and "Where Is the Dream of Your Youth?" pale in comparison to their heavily produced studio counterparts, but still demonstrate just how completely put together these songs were before all the bombast was added in their studio incarnations.

What is most impressive about this compilation is the great sound quality of these old recordings. Mr. Cousins always seems to produce quality sounding archival material that really sounds if it was recorded yesterday. Preserves Uncanned is strictly for diehard fans but lucky are those fans that can enjoy these wonderful sounding old recordings. 3 stars.

With the release of Dave Cousins' new Strawbs outing The Magic Of It All, with its replacement musicians, I decided to backtrack on other Strawbs albums with musical chairs and found this album in my collection originally released in 1991. Ringing Down The Years finds Dave moonlighting from his job as a radio station program director and follows the similar sounding Don't Say Goodbye released a few years earlier. That album may be superior as it has less covers of past Strawbs songs but this album has a couple of bonified gems. The moving title track, an ode to the late Sandy Denny, and the very baroque "The King", with Kathy Lesurf of the Albion Band adding support vocals, genuinely stand out.

Two older once departed bandmates Richard Hudson on drums and Tony Hooper on acoustic guitar and backing vocals are onboard for this outing, with the superlative Brian Willoughby on lead guitar (replacing the great Dave Lambert who was reported to have been a ski instructor in Switzerland after his retirement from the music business). On bass and keyboards are new members Rod Derick and Chris Parren. All of the above are hold overs from the previous Don't Say Goodbye album.

If I have one big compliant against this album is its late 80s sounding production with loud cracking snare drums and muted bass, along with some new wave sounding synths, generally dragging the songs down. The two remakes, "Tell Me What You See In Me" and "Grace Darling" are especially affected by this as the new arrangements might have worked better in a more 70s production style. We'll never know. One song that does work well with the new wave accoutrements is the lead off track "Might As Well Be On Mars', which is a cover of a song of an obscure (to me) Canadian new wave group called the Pukka Orchestra. No wonder. "Afraid To Let You Go" is the better of two songs written by Parren/Hudson/Willoughby. The other being "Taking A Chance". The former sung by Parren and sounding similar to Dave Lambert, the second sung by Hudson. This does add a bit of continuity to the group's sound, whatever that's worth. As others might overlook the album's production I think that 3 stars is sufficient. Just don't look for any prog here.

Since almost the very beginning, Dave Cousins has imbued Strawbs and solo albums alike with at least one "novelty" song, one which sits outside the mainstream styles of the group. They vary in the degree to which they assist or upset album flow. For instance, "Ah Me Ah My", while completely out of character with the rest of the Grave New World album, was exactly what was needed when it was needed, momentarily lightening the angst. "Part of the Union" arguably worked because it was written and largely performed by Hudson-Ford and on a very diverse release, "Bursting at the Seams". The problem on "Nomadness" was that half of the cuts were outliers, so the album was the structural equivalent of a termite-riddled lodging. It is unfortunately that blueprint which is dusted off on "The Magic of it All", amplified by the absence of long time members Chas Cronk and Dave Lambert, replaced with rather proficient South African musicians and their influences.

Blue Weaver, keyboardist during Strawbs' most successful period in the UK and producer of the excellent "Settlement" in 2021, has returned as producer and keyboardist, while Cathryn Craig offers welcome vocal relief. Both do help with continuity but this still feels like a Dave Cousins solo album where he indulges his varied tastes in everything but rock, folk and prog for the most part. Hard to believe the album is actually decent, but not one that will win many new fans.

The most enjoyable tracks are those that generally do adhere to Strawbs' templates of the distant and near past, chiefly the middle eastern influenced opener "Ready", which is one of only 2 rockers, the wistful and autobiographical "The Magic of it All" with its shades of JADE WARRIOR in the instrumental section that probably could not have risen from Dave Lambert's picking, and the anthemic folky "Our World".

As for the other 6 tunes, the better ones are actually those that do branch out, chiefly "All Along the Bay" in which Cousins' voice adapts to a talking style reminiscent of the Irish master CHRISTY MOORE in a shuffled sax heavy number, and the Cajun-styled "Slack Jaw Alice" which might be a tribute to Gertrude Stein's spouse, she of the famous hash brownies recipe. Ironically, "Everybody means something to someone" and "Wiser Now" are similar to some of his work on "Deep Cuts" and "Burning for You" that never really moved me and still don't, but at least "Wiser Now" maintains his high poetic standards.

Of the two bonus tracks, "Lady of the Night" is more of the same, while "Christmas Ghosts", written and sung by John Ford, sounds wonderful but is ill timed and a bit too optimistic perhaps, but not the action oriented optimism of a "We Have the Power", but one reserved for believers if you will. In all, they don't affect the overall score here.

Strawbs' final performance was at FAIRPORT CONVENTION's Cropredy festival in August, as Dave Cousins' declining health precludes further touring. This may or not be their last album. It's nowhere near as strong as the 2 preceding releases but is still reflective and heartfelt, just too mellow and eclectic for its own good. But Mr Cousins has earned the right to do as he pleases. It's a real head scratcher how a mildly successful group has survived and thrived for 50+ years, even if he has been the only founding member since 1972. And that perhaps is the real magic of it all.

My God, one could go bonkers trying to figure out the riddle behind this latest Strawbs outing. Particularly in trying to figure out why veteran Strawbs members Dave Lambert and Chas Cronk, on lead guitar and bass respectively, are missing from the album's lineup, as are one of the two veteran rotating drummers of either Rod Coombes or Tony Fernandez. This rendition of Dave Cousins' Strawbs consists of Cousins himself on acoustic guitar and vocals, former keyboardist Blue Weaver, along with former member John Ford, who is credited with lead vocals on only one CD bonus song while not contributing instrumentally. Both have not been official members for at least 17 years in Weaver's case, and more in Ford's case as he bailed out back in the 70's. More mystery to boggle the mind. And don't get me started on the album cover art.

I'm going to guess the obvious and say that this album started life as a Cousins' solo album, with heavy input from Weaver in producing and arranging, with parent record company Esoteric probably having pushed Dave into branding the album a Strawbs recording. Strawbs being a much bigger and familiar name than David Cousins, that's for sure. And Ford's name was tossed in to make it look more like a proper Strawbs album.

The album was recorded in Cape Town, South Africa, with a cast of crack South African studio musicians and the mix does turn out well. The lead off track "Ready (Are We Ready)" is the most Strawbs sounding, with Weaver's bombastic mellotron and organ blasted into the sound mix after the song's catchy choruses. A nice beginning that also features a wonderfully rhythmic drum and bass interplay throughout the song. The title track "The Magic Of It All" is an introspective as well as retrospective ballad that is quite poignant given Dave's serious health issues of late. It's melodically quite beautiful and Weaver's keyboard work is exquisitely understated but hitting all the cues that an emotional ballad like this requires. Again, it's beautiful. "All Along The Bay" is a jazzy lounge like song that features multiple saxophone parts. It's nothing to get excited about but breaks up the serious mood with its fun lyrics and bouncy rhythms. "Everybody Means Something to Someone" and "Our World" are more heartfelt introspective songs which feature rich female vocal harmonies (a first for a Strawbs' album) and lush musical arrangements. They are not as strong as the album's two opening songs but still enjoyable.

"The Time Has Come (for Giving Back)" is a catchy rocker with slashing guitar chords and and a hook laden chorus by Dave and the girls. It's another stand out track. "Slack Jaw Alice" is a goofy throwaway song that showcases the album's musicians, especially the rhythm section, who really swing when required. "Paris Nights" is an atmospheric song about Paris at night, naturally, with accordion supplied by Weaver. The first on a Strawbs album. It's the subtleties in the arrangements that keeps the song interesting. "Wiser Now" is another introspective ballad of someone who has lived, learned and is grateful to have done so. As someone battling through a life threatening illness this song, like several others here, no doubt reflects Cousins' wistful state of mind. A perfect album closer. The two bonus tracks found on the CD edition are nice, and the John Ford written and sung "Christmas Ghosts" features an other worldly lyrical twist. Both songs are worth having. The album is beautifully recorded, mixed and mastered by Weaver and is well polished without sounding too slick. And Cousin's vocals are superb throughout.

For an album with so many question marks, no folky acoustic guitar interplay and a lack of any prog songs, it's incredibly enjoyable on it's own terms. Truth be told, this album is not light years away from its predecessor in both style and execution. And perhaps that's the real magic of it all. 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Probably, one of the most defying challenges in the life of a band with a long career behind, is carrying that past against which their new album needs to live up to, if it's going to be embraced and appreciated by long-term followers. In that sense, the previous album by Strawbs had managed to pass a test, where this one fails. In effect, Settlement feels like a solid piece of that vintage prog-folk sound that used to characterize the band's early seventies output. The Magic Of It All seems to be more of a mixed bag, with other things thrown in for good measure.

The opening track, Ready (Are We Ready), sounds almost like a slice of AOR spiced up with Rhythm'n'Blues stylings, in a fashion not entirely dissimilar to Trapeze. A good, but maybe, for this band at least, unexpected touch. Track 2 finally delivers The Magic Of It All, and it does it so with a delicious vocal melody wrapped up in warm crystaline harmony. Tracks 4, 5, and 6 keep the melodic folk legacy of the band up and shining, with the help of choir and percussion wearing the local South African flavour on the sleeve.

Perhaps a less satisfactory result is to be found in tracks 2 and 7, where the ethnic simplicity of rhythms and choir doesn't seem to achieve the goal of freshness, but more likely a moment where everybody involved feels relieved from duty, and indulges in sheer fun and a sense of communion. Touching, in a sense, but hardly progressive, if you ask me.

Track 8, Paris Nights, is a rather obvious piece of parisienne charm, complete with accordion and French vocals by Dave Cousins himself, who is in fine form, in despite of his serious health issues. One maybe could feel that, in order to close the album on a high note, a song with strong solos is required. Well, don't worry then, because that's precisely what the closer brings out, with slow-burning contributions by piano and, of course, heartfelt electric guitar.

Not everything I was expecting, but surely good for its great moments.

Review Nº 620

'The Very Best Of The Strawbs: Halcyon Days' is a compilation album of the English progressive rock band Strawbs that was release in 1997. The compilation was released as a 2 CD set in the UK and US in 1997 and 1998, respectively. However, the US release has a slightly different title, 'The Very Best Of Strawbs: Halcyon Days ' The A & M Years' and a slightly different track listing too. About half of the tracks that appear in both versions are common to the UK and US versions. Although credited to Strawbs the UK version does contain three Hudson Ford tracks and a Dave Cousins solo track and the US version does also contain a Dave Cousins solo track. The cover image of both versions is very similar with a common kingfisher, which is a reference to the mythical kingfisher of Halcyon days, in the Greek mythology.

The US version of 'The Very Best Of The Strawbs: Halcyon Days' has thirty-five tracks. From 'Strawbs' we have 'The Man Who Called Himself Jesus', 'Where Is This Dream Of Your Youth' and 'The Battle'. 'Where Is This Dream Of Your Youth?' is a good song with a simple structure. 'The Man Who Called Himself Jesus' is a great song, one of the best moments on that album. 'The Battle' is an epic with the glimpses of their future progressive lines. From 'Dragonfly' we have 'The Weary Song' and 'I Turned My Face Into The Wind'. 'The Weary Song' is a nice typical acoustic folk song. 'I Turned My Face Into The Wind' is a nice simple song with some pastoral feeling, a piano and cello driven song. From 'Just A Collection Of Antiques And Curious' we have 'Song Of A Sad Little Girl'. It's a nice song showing the perfect interplay between Rick Wakeman and Dave Cousins on Strawbs. From 'From The Witchwood' we have 'A Glimpse Of Heaven', 'Witchwood', 'Sheep', 'The Shepherd's Song' and 'The Hangman And The Papist'. 'A Glimpse Of Heaven' is a powerful song where the band develops its atmosphere brilliantly. 'Witchwood' is a calm nice song in the style of the medieval and Celtic music with a great pastoral melody. 'Sheep' is a good song made in a psychedelic style. 'The Hangman And The Papist' is a powerful song with dramatic lyrics. 'The Shepherd's Song' is a great song perfectly balanced with excellent keyboards. From 'Grave New World' we have 'Benedictus', 'Queen Of Dreams', 'Heavy Disguise' and 'New World'. 'Benedictus' is well constructed with a nice organ break in the middle. 'Queen Of Dreams' is a song with psychedelic influences and recorded in reverse. 'Heavy Disguise' is short with a great tune and good lyrics. 'New World' is a fantastic song, the most powerful song ever made by them. From 'Bursting At The Seams' we have 'Part Of The Union', 'Tears And Pavan', 'The River', 'Down By The Sea' and 'Lay Down'. 'Part Of The Union' is an amused controversial song due to its lyrics. 'Tears And Pavan' is divided into 'Tears' and 'Pavan'. 'Tears' is sad with some emotional parts and great Mellotron lines and 'Pavan' is a dance tune with twin nice acoustic guitars and a great harpsichord work. 'The River' is a folk melancholic song played in a slow rhythm. 'Down By The Sea' is powerful, very symphonic with a magnificent triumphant choir. 'Lay Down' is a pure rock song, very enjoyable and well sung. From 'Hero And Heroine' we have 'Autumn', 'Hero And Heroine', 'Midnight Sun', 'Out In The Cold' and 'Round And Round'. 'Autumn' is a varied song with great moments and nice choruses. 'Hero And Heroine' is a strong energetic song with great and varied moments. 'Midnight Sun' is a short melodic and beautiful folk ballad. 'Out In The Cold' is a good song with intricate guitar work, good harmonica and nice drumming. 'Round And Round' is a very progressive song with a beautiful and brilliant keyboard work. From 'Ghosts' we have 'Ghosts', 'Grace Darling' and 'Lemon Pie'. 'Ghosts' is a gorgeous melodic song with a multiple use of instruments. 'Grace Darling' is a nice piece with great keyboards and a beautiful choral accompaniment. 'Lemon Pie' is a catchy song in their most folk traditional roots. From 'Nomadness' we have 'To Be Free', 'Hanging In The Gallery' and 'The Promised Land'. 'To Be Free' is an energetic hard rock, pleasant and well constructed. 'Hanging In The Gallery' has great lyrics and a nice vocal interpretation. 'The Promised Land' is strong and has powerful keyboards, great guitar, good lyrics and singing.

The US version of this compilation has more four tracks. It has two non-albums tracks of Strawbs, 'Forever' and 'Here It Comes'. Both were only released as singles and appeared as bonus on the remastered versions of 'Dragonfly' and 'Grave New World', respectively. We have also two Cousins' solo tracks 'Two Weeks Last Summer' and 'Blue Angel' that appeared on his first work 'Two Weeks Last Summer'. The last one was later recorded on 'Blue Angel' of Strawbs.

Conclusion: The US version of this compilation album is also good as happened with its UK version. It also covers the career of the band from 1969 to 1975 that belong to their first nine studio albums with the exception of 'All Our Own Work'. Still, this US version is more focused on the more known Strawbs material. With the exception of four tracks, the two non-albums tracks and the two Cousins' tracks, the rest on it is more conventional material that was taken from their regular studio albums. So, this is probably a better option for those who aren't very familiar with the band's work.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

"Dragonfly" is the second full-length studio album by UK folk rock/progressive rock act The Strawbs. The album was released in February 1970 through A&M Records. It´s the successor to the eponymously titled debut album from May 1969. The trio lineup who recorded the debut album was joined by a fourth member in cellist Claire Deniz. Rick Wakeman makes a guest appearance playing piano on "The Vision of the Lady of the Lake".

Stylistically the folk rock style with progressive rock elements which the band initiated on the debut album is continued on "Dragonfly". It´s maybe a little more folk oriented than the debut album and the addition of Claire Deniz and her cello provides some of the tracks with a dark melancholic bottom which is quite a significant new element to the band´s sound. The music is predominantly acoustic featuring acoustic guitars (although there is sparse use of electric guitars too), piano, flute, cello, minimal percussion (and even more minimal use of drums), double bass, and dulcimer. Most tracks feature a storytelling singing style, which of course isn´t anything out of the ordinary for a folk rock album. The lead vocals are often layered with harmony vocals and choirs. It´s an organic soundscape.

While The Strawbs are often called a progressive folk rock band, most of the tracks on "Dragonfly" are relatively straight forward folk rock songs, but the 10:44 minutes long "The Vision of the Lady of the Lake" is an exception to the rule (not completely unlike "The Battle" was on the debut album). "Dragonfly" features a well sounding organic production job, which provides the material with the depth and warmth it needs. So upon conclusion it´s a good quality sophomore release by The Strawbs. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Review Nº 614

"The Very Best Of The Strawbs: Halcyon Days" is a compilation album of the English progressive rock band Strawbs that was release in 1997. The compilation was released as a 2 CD set in the UK and US in 1997 and 1998, respectively. However, the US release has a slightly different title, "The Very Best Of Strawbs: Halcyon Days ? The A & M Years" and a slightly different track listing too. About half of the tracks that appear in both versions are common to the UK and US versions. Although credited to Strawbs the UK version does contain three Hudson Ford tracks and a Dave Cousins solo track and the US version does also contain a Dave Cousins solo track. The cover image of both versions is very similar with a common kingfisher, which is a reference to the mythical kingsfisher of Halcyon days, in the Greek mythology.

The UK version of "The Very Best Of The Strawbs: Halcyon Days" has thirty-six tracks. From "Strawbs" we have "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus", "Oh, How She Changed", "The Battle" and "Tell Me What You See In Me". "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus" is an excellent song, one of the best moments on that album. "Oh How She Changed" is a short beautiful song. "The Battle" is an epic with the glimpses of their future progressive lines, the highest point on their debut. "Tell Me What You See In Me" is a nice song with an oriental flavour. From "Dragonfly" we have "I Turned My Face Into The Wind". It's a nice simple song with some pastoral feeling, basically a piano and cello driven song. From "Just A Collection Of Antiques And Curious" we have "Martin Luther King's Dream". It's a nice song, a kind of a folk troubadour epic with a good rhythm section and organ. From "From The Witchwood" we have "Witchwood", "The Hangman And The Papist" and "The Shepherd's Song". "Witchwood" is a calm and beautiful song in the style of the medieval and Celtic music with a wonderful pastoral melody. "The Hangman And The Papist" is a powerful song with dramatic lyrics, the strongest and most progressive on that album. "The Shepherd's Song" is another great song, a song perfectly balanced and with excellent keyboard performance. From "Grave New World" we have "On Growing Older", "Queen Of Dreams" and "Benedictus". "On Growing Older" is a short cool folk acoustic song that sounds as an old English song of the 60's. "Queen Of Dreams" is an ambitious song with psychedelic influences with its beats recorded in reverse. "Benedictus" is a well constructed song with a delightful organ break in the middle. From "Bursting At The Seams" we have "Stormy Down", "Lay Down", "Part Of The Union", "The River" and "Down By The Sea". "Stormy Down" is a mix of rock, folk and country and is performed in a ballad style. "Lay Down" is a nice strong pure rock song, very enjoyable, well sung, with lots of Mellotron and a good guitar solo. "Part Of The Union" is an amused song very controversial due to its lyrics. "The River" is basically a folk song, played in a slow rhythm, which gradually develops into a melancholic track. "Down By The Sea" is a powerful song, very symphonic and with a magnificent triumphant choir. From "Hero And Heroine" we have "Hero And Heroine", "Out In The Cold", "Round And Round" and "Shine On Silver Sun". "Hero And Heroine" is a strong energetic song, with great musical moments and a variety of instrumental choruses. "Out In The Cold" is a good song with intricate guitar work, good harmonica and nice drumming. "Round And Round" is a very progressive song with a beautiful and brilliant keyboard work by John Hawken. "Shine On Silver Sun" is a typical classic song of them with nice vocal harmonies, good Mellotron work and a catchy piano harmony. From "Ghosts" we have "Ghosts" and "Grace Darling". "Ghosts" is a gorgeous melodic song with multiple musical instruments such as harpsichord, acoustic guitars and church bells. "Grace Darling" is a beautiful piece with fantastic keyboards and a beautiful majestic choral accompaniment. From "Nomadness" we have "The Golden Salamander", "Tokyo Rosie" and "Absent Friend (How I Need You)". "The Golden Salamander" is an excellent song in the traditional vein of the great songs of the band. "Tokyo Rosie" is a vulgar commercial song but it's pleasant enough to be heard. "Absent Friend (How I Need You)" is a good song, but it's a bit strange and bizarre too.

The compilation has also more ten songs, six non albums tracks "Let's Keep The Devil Outside", "Back Side", "Here It Comes", "We'll Meet Again Sometime", "Why And Wherefore" and "Will Ye Go?", a Cousins song "Blue Angel" also recorded on Strawbs' album "Blue Angel" and three Hudson Ford songs "Pick Up The Pieces", "Burn Baby Burn" and "Floating In The Wind". These songs are also good and a nice reason for people can decide to buy this compilation.

Conclusion: We can say that "The Very Best Of The Strawbs: Halcyon Days" is a good compilation album of Strawbs. It covers the career of the band from 1969 to 1975 that belong to their first nine studio albums with the exception of "All Our Own Work". So, some of their best tracks are included here making of it a nice showcase for those who aren't familiar with the band. Besides that, it has also six tracks from the band that only appeared as singles or bonus tracks on the re-mastered versions of the albums. It has also three rarities, the tracks that belong to Hudson Ford's career.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Review Nº 603

'Deadlines' is the eleventh studio album of Strawbs and was released in 1978. It was the last album released by the group in the 70's. The decision of Dave Cousins in 1980 to leave the band to work in radio effectively signalled the band's demise. So, as happened with 'Nomadness', 'Deep Cuts' and 'Burning For You', all tracks are short with less than five minutes, their folk/rock roots and their progressiveness has gone and the songs were clearly more pop orientated. And as happened with all those albums, continues the absence of a full time keyboardist in the band too.

The line up on the album is Dave Cousins (lead and backing vocals and acoustic guitar), Dave Lambert (lead and backing vocals, acoustic and electric guitars), Chas Cronk (backing vocals, bass and acoustic guitars) and Tony Fernandez (drums, tambourine, tympani and bells). Relatively to their previous album, 'Burning For You', Tony Fernandez substituted Rod Coombes on drums. The album had also the participation of two other artists, Robert Kirby (piano, electric piano, mellotron, organ and autoharp) and John Mealing (piano, poly moog, minimoog and harpsichord).

'Deadlines' has nine tracks. The first track 'No Return' written by Cousins and Lambert is a song that sets the tone for the whole album. It's an upbeat rock song with John Mealing performing a very good keyboard work. This is a song with Lambert on lead vocals and with Cousins on the backing vocals. It appears to be the confession of the band that it seems to be no return to the roots of their music of the good old days. The second track 'Joey And Me' written by Cousins, Lambert and Cronk was the song chosen to be released as the first single of the album. To be honest, I agree with Cousins when he wrote that he loves the song and that we are in presence of a great track. Of course we are only in presence of a pop rock song, but very well written, and are a cherry enough song to be very pleasant to hear, really. The third track 'Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss' written by Cousins is a very softer ballad telling us a story of a very painful separation. This is a great ballad that reminds us the good old times of the band in their golden era. It has a great piano performance and the vocal performance of Cousins is absolutely delightful. This is, in my humble opinion, an improvement in relation to the two previous songs. The fourth track 'I Don't Want To Talk About It' written by Cousins and Cronk is a song with more lead vocals from Lambert and with Cousins on the backing vocals. This is another song that was released as a single to support the album. It's a nice and beautiful pop rock song clearly written to the commercial musical market at the time and to be listened on the local radio frequencies. The fifth track 'The Last Resort' written by Cousins, Lambert and Cronk is another upbeat tempo rock song, very well written in terms of a pop rock song. However, it's clearly a track where the musical arrangements of the guitars, the organ and the drums are with more influenced by the hard and heavy rock. The sixth track 'Time And Life' written by Cousins and Cronk is, in my humble opinion, a typical dramatic Strawbs' song in the same vein of many of their usual songs. It's a song where we can clearly hear an excellent mellotron work and where we can feel that the old magic of the band is still there. This is one of my favourite songs on the album. The seventh track 'New Beginnings' written by Cousins and Lambert is a beautiful and nice song perfectly written to be a single. It's an optimistic song about children, very sentimental, and where, once more, we can hear Lambert singing as the lead singer and Cousins on the backing vocals. The eighth track 'Deadly Nightshade' written by Cousins is, in my humble opinion, a great Strawbs' song. Finally, we are in presence of a true really Strawbs' song. It has all the ingredients that a great Strawbs' song must have, great lyrics, an excellent electric guitar work, the simple presence of the sound of the acoustic guitar, heavy keyboard work provided by the Mellotron and organ and the intoxicating nasal voice of Cousins, which made of it a true classic Strawbs' song. The ninth and last track 'Words Of Wisdom' written by Cousins is a song very slow and atmospheric and is another song in the same vein of 'Deadly Nightshade'. It tells us the story of a Mexican man Carlos Castaneda and evokes the spirituality of what he wrote. It's the lengthiest track on the album, it's the most creative and it's one of the best too.

Conclusion: 'Deadlines' is an album in the same vein of their previous three studio albums 'Nomadness', 'Deep Cuts' and 'Burning For You'. Once more we are in presence of a good album that sounds nicely but where the songs, collectively, are unlike their greatest and best studio albums 'From The Witchwood', 'Grave New World', 'Bursting At The Seams', 'Hero And Heroine' and 'Ghosts'. On them, we can clearly see the sacrifice of their prog folk roots in favour of pop rock songs, so fashionable in those days. In reality, we can't say that 'Deadlines' is a bad album. On the contrary, I'm perfectly convinced that it has some good musical moments. However, I perfectly agree with Easy Livin when he wrote that 'Deadlines' can't be part of any list of essential Strawbs' albums. In terms of progressive music it has only two great tracks 'Deadly Nightshade' and 'Words Of Wisdom'. But, 'Time And Life' is also an excellent track.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Review Nº 586

'Deep Cuts' is the tenth studio album of Strawbs and was released in 1976. As happened with the previous ninth studio album 'Nomadness', all tracks are short and timed with less than five minutes. On 'Deep Cuts', the absence of a full time keyboardist continue, as happened with their previous ninth studio album, 'Nomadness'. As also happened with 'Nomadness', it moved away from the progressive folk/rock leanings and it's quite definitely a more pop/rock oriented album. And like 'Nomadness', 'Deep Cuts' also continues the electric progression, an interesting and peculiar trade mark that belongs to both albums. It also contains the same line up of its predecessor studio album 'Nomadness'.

So, the line up on 'Deep Cuts' is also Dave Cousins (vocals and acoustic guitars), Dave Lambert (vocals, acoustic and electric guitars), Chas Cronk (backing vocals, bass guitar and acoustic guitar) and Rod Coombes (backing vocals, drums and percussion). 'Deep Cuts' has also the performance of some guest musicians, Robert Kirby (backing vocals, Mellotron, electric piano and French horn), John Mealing (piano, organ, electric piano, harpsichord and synthesizer) and Rupert Holmes (piano, harpsichord, clavinet and clarinet).

'Deep Cuts' has ten tracks. The first track 'I Only Want My Love To Grow In You' written by Dave Cousins and Chas Cronk was the first single to be taken of this album. It was also the first single to be written by Dave Cousins and Chas Cronk as a partnership. This is a good effort to be a hit single with a simple but largely enjoyable melody and with great vocal performance. The second track 'Turn Me Round' written by Dave Cousins and Chas Cronk is a song composed in the same vein of the previous track. It has a fine rock arrangement and a fine poetic lyric. This is a good song, very strong and hard, and in the bottom, it's very pleasant to hear. The third track 'Hard Hard Winter' written by Dave Cousins and Robert Kirby is a pleasant and nice ballad sung and performed with great musical expression. It's a song that reminds me strongly the ballads made and performed by Eagles. This is a short song where basically its musical structure has nothing of progressive. The fourth track 'My Friend Peter' written by Dave Cousins and Chas Cronk, is an unconvincing rock song despite has a nice guitar solo. Curiously, this song reminds me the vocals of Phil Collins, not Peter Gabriel vocals, to which he has often been compared on vocal issues. However, this is one of the weakest points on the album. The fifth track 'The Soldier's Tale' written by Dave Cousins and Chas Cronk is another rock song, but this time with some musical influence of the country rock music. This is a good and pleasant song to hear with several and beautiful keyboard works, which gives a kind of a depth to the song. The sixth track 'Simple Visions' written by Dave Cousins and Chas Cronk is another good song on the album. This is one of the most overlooked classic songs of the band with good poetic lyrics, well sung and also with great imagery, and with some fine musical arrangements. The seventh track 'Charmer' written by Dave Cousins and Chas Cronk is, in my humble opinion, another weak point on the album. It's the other song of the album which was also released as a single. Still, the single version has some additional overdubs compared with the version on the album. This song reminds me, in some moments, the music of Styx. The eighth track 'Wasting My Time (Thinking Of You)' written by Dave Cousins and Chas Cronk is another weaker musical point on the album. It's a soft and gentle ballad, nice and calm and where we can hear a French horn. This is a song that reminds me the music of The Beatles, but sincerely there isn't much more to say about it. The ninth track 'Beside The Rio Grande' written by Dave Cousins is, without any doubt, the highest point on the album, unfortunately the only one. It's the only song that reminds me, a little bit, the epic music of their good old times. This is an excellent song, very rocking, and that for a while make us think and revive their moments of musical glory. The tenth track 'So Close And Yet So Far Way' written by Dave Cousins is a calm, slower and beautiful ballad, well performed, with beautiful electric piano, nice guitar playing and enjoyable backing vocal harmonies. It's an enough decent song to end this musical work.

Conclusion: Unfortunately, I can't agree with some of you who consider 'Deep Cuts' better than 'Nomadness'. I know both albums, have short songs, are almost commercial oriented, its songs aren't particularly inspired and both albums has very few progressive lines. However, 'Nomadness' is, in my humble opinion, a better musical effort because it's more cohesive, more uniform, more balanced and has also four great songs, 'The Golden Salamander', 'So Shall Our Love Die', 'Hanging In The Gallery' and 'The Promised Land'. 'Deep Cuts' is less cohesive and less balanced, and, above all, has only one song which can be considered worthy of their great music moments, 'Beside The Rio Grande'. Despite what I said before, I decided to rate 'Deep Cuts' also with the same 3 stars of 'Nomadness'. In my opinion, 'Nomadness' is an album that deserves 3 or 3,5 stars and 'Deep Cuts' is an album that deserves only 3 stars. I think it has some interesting and good musical moments and it has also some good lyrics in their old traditional quality vein.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)