New Strawbs album due Feb. 2021.

I agree he is only doing story or topical songs these days, but it seems to me he is doing what he wants now, and luckily has the support of Cherry Red to do it.  I think where Strawbs lost their way somewhat in the late 1970s was when they stopped being true to that voice.  They have always had that gift for melody but everything became somehow lightweight.  That helped contribute to their decline in popularity.  At this point they seem to be playing mostly for themselves and their existing fan base and, while they are probably gaining few new fans, I would guess that the sales of even the recent albums would be the envy of many of today's prog groups.  Because they are not, nor have they ever been, strictly a prog group

Edited by kenethlevine - March 07 2021 at 15:33

I tend to agree with you, Moshkito....the duality of the autobiography was difficult for me, as well.  At least, for him, his work in FM was somewhat connected still to music, rather than being a CPA or something, but I didn't find that as interesting as his viewpoint on his band, etc.  And I felt that in some ways, he was guarded, as well.  

Edited by Snicolette - March 08 2021 at 13:14

Good points all.  It sounded like in the 1970s Cousins was paid by the management company, I'm guessing a salary with potential bonus, because he does mention in the autobiography that he depended on the money from management to pay his way as well as wives and children from a couple of marriages, so he had to go into radio and probably accumulated most of his wealth during those 20 years.  I skipped over a lot of that part of the book as the details of it don't interest me much.  

Edited by kenethlevine - March 10 2021 at 16:59

Snicolette wrote: And oddly, or maybe not, "Deep Cuts," is one of my lesser loved Strawbs LPs, although I do like a few individual tracks.

kenethlevine wrote: Good points all.  It sounded like in the 1970s Cousins was paid by the management company, I'm guessing a salary with potential bonus, because he does mention in the autobiography that he depended on the money from management to pay his way as well as wives and children from a couple of marriages, so he had to go into radio and probably accumulated most of his wealth during those 20 years.  I skipped over a lot of that part of the book as the details of it don't interest me much.   What was just as disappointing was that he barely mentions the minimal band activities during those 2 decades, and does not even mention the two albums released in 1987 and 1991.  I happen to think "Don't Day Goodbye" is better than any album after Ghosts released up to that point, but Cousins is so stuck on "Deep Cuts" as being a great album.  It's like he was ashamed of those albums or sees them as not even a footnote. He has always skirted around the religious issue but clearly that is an important part of who he is and also has contributed to some of his most authentic songs, like the ones you mention as well as "A Glimpse of Heaven" and, even recently, "When the Spirit Moves". On the subject of the album, at least the streaming version plays well several times through due to its diversity.  There are several tracks where Cousins' voice is rather detracting, in this case the softer numbers.  On "Ferryman's Curse", Tsangarides kept it from ever reaching this stage, but of course he is 3 years older and of advanced age, so we will never know if the late Chris could have still helped.  Yes the vocal on the "Ferryman's Curse" track is dire but that is mostly the fault of the song, while in the new album all the songs are good but his voice fails in several.  Oh well!

Yes, I have a problem with weak vocals, even giving the artist the benefit of his age. I disparaged over the vocals of 70+ year old Gary Brooker in a PA review I did of Procol Harum's last studio album, which really annoyed the admins of one of Procol's official album sites. They actually reprinted the entire review instead of just ignoring it. To be fair, the review was not one of my better ones, so they had a right to be annoyed! But I really don't know how to balance that one when an artist's vocals were so much a part of the musicality of their songs. A tough one that I'll continue to grapple with, I'm afraid.

Edited by SteveG - March 11 2021 at 07:27

kenethlevine wrote: I think it's hard for a singer to admit that their voice is weakening and it's hard for people around them to be honest with them as well.  It's a rare voice like John Ford's who sounds as good at 70 as he did at 23

Or Roy Harper or Richard Thompson, who always sound the same. Even Dave Lambert's is pretty close to how he used to sound. Just a little deeper. Some just stay the same while others just deteriorate.

I think that's all true, Steve.  It's the clarity that I noticed right away, but I doubt there will be anything as huge as those 2 tracks when all is said and done.  Also, the bonus tracks are not at the level of the rest of the album.  "Champion Jack" is the best of the 3 but Cousins' voice is lacking and it only really takes off in the last couple of minutes.   But the remaining tracks seem more consistent to me, as I wasn't a fan of "Ten Commandments" or the title track from Ferryman.

Edited by kenethlevine - March 13 2021 at 13:07

kenethlevine wrote: Like I said, I much prefer Bainbridge's work here, much more in Strawbs tradition.  I suspect it's because he had less input to the arrangements and clearly had a minor hand in the songwriting. Have you noticed the similarity between the title track and "Here Today Gone Tomorrow" from Deja Fou?  I think I prefer the new one slighlty

I didn't notice the samilarity as there's so much to take in but I'm sure you're right. The title track has the strangest chord voicings I've ever heard but I like it!

^ you could base the review just on the non bonus tracks, but then you have to factor in that it's only a 39 minute album.  ,  It's weird that the last song, sung by Cronk, seems to be well liked even by critics that aren't big into the album, but it doesn't do anything for me, at least not yet.  But "Better Days" is truly dreadful.  When Strawbs try to do Brazilian, rather than reflecting their eclectic interests it sounds like a parody

Edited by kenethlevine - March 13 2021 at 18:47