Next April, Yes will embark on the second edition of their floating prog-rock festival, Cruise to the Edge. And they’re bringing along a highly impressive line-up of like-minded acts (including icons like Steve Hackett and Tony Levin). With this Spotlight series, we’ll explore some of the more obscure bands on the cruise, hopefully opening your eyes to some awesome talent below marquee level.
For this installment, Ryan is spotlighting Strawbs, one of the unsung-hero bands of progressive rock.
I first discovered Strawbs in the same way I’ve discovered various other slightly-forgotten-but-not-too-obscure rock bands throughout the years: by flipping through the overstuffed dollar bin at one of my local record stores (or the dusty, dingy attic of an antique mall). A few years ago, while filtering through stacks of withering Herb Alpert LPs (It’s a law, I’ve realized, that every record store or antique mall must have 15 Alpert LPs in stock), I stumbled upon Strawbs’ 1975 LP, Ghosts. I was drawn in by its mysterious cover (a Victorian-esque, black-and-white photo of a well-dressed woman and child) and its simple yet enigmatic title. And I wanted to learn more.
Ghosts is an all-around stellar LP, built on the melodramatic yelp of frontman Dave Cousins and the symphonic folk interplay of the band behind him (on this record: guitarist-vocalist Dave Lambert, bassist Chas Cronk, keyboardist John Hawken, and drummer Rod Coombes). It’s an excellent starting point into the band’s sprawling catalogue, which — absorbed chronologically — evolves from more pastoral folk settings (like 1970’s Dragonfly) to art-rock romanticism (their 1973 masterpiece, Bursting at the Seams) to tastefully epic prog-rock (1974’s Hero and Heroine).
Through endless line-up shifts (including on-again-off-again guitarist Tony Hooper and a brief stint from keyboardist Rick Wakeman) and artistic flops (like 1976’s Deep Cuts), Cousins has remained the band’s chief songwriter and creative force. Though, like most prog-related bands, their most celebrated (and essential) work is concentrated in the 1970s, Strawbs have managed to keep touring and making music decades later: Their most recent LP, Dancing to the Devil’s Beat, came out in 2009.
At this point in my record-collecting experience, I’m working may way through the more obscure corners of the band’s discography (Still never seen a copy of 1977’s Burning For You). But even though I’m not a full-fledged expert, I want to pass along my appreciation and help newcomers ease into the world of Strawbs. Below, get a taste of the band’s eclecticism with this small primer from their golden age.
