Print Page | Close Window

Strawbs on US television!

Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
Forum Description: Discuss specific prog bands and their members or a specific sub-genre
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=134126
Printed Date: February 21 2025 at 07:00
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: Strawbs on US television!
Posted By: cstack3
Subject: Strawbs on US television!
Date Posted: December 29 2024 at 16:00
I saw this broadcast of "Midnight Special" and had never heard of The Strawbs!!  Needless to say, I was instantly a fan!!   I've literally waited years for this footage to resurface!!






-------------
I am not a Robot, I'm a FREE MAN!!



Replies:
Posted By: Jacob Schoolcraft
Date Posted: December 29 2024 at 16:47
I remember seeing this! I met Strawbs fans along the way and it took some time for Strawbs to grow on me. I collected everything on LP in the 1970s and began this habit forming routine of track surfing through their albums . Eventually I appreciated their albums start to finish.

I chatted briefly with David Cousins at the Chesnut Cabaret in Philadelphia...( probably mid 80s), when Strawbs and Steeleye Span were playing there and I believe I bombarded him with Sandy Denny questions ...but nevertheless it was an interesting conversation about her because he was hospitable enough to put up with my fascination with her ...my B.S.

Their early albums such as Strawbs, Dragonfly,From The Witchwood, Antiques and Curios, and Grave New World are somewhat bewitching....somehow they create a mysterious vibe at times .

Bursting At The Seams and Hero & Heroine seemed more Symphonic oriented Prog to me . ...they were still Folk in many ways and Strawbs by that point in time had already been using the Mellotron which altered their sound ..however the aforementioned albums still sounded like a different direction ..but not sure how to define that direction.

They could actually be dark at times , but they didn't give me the impression that they were...yet certain songs were truly creepy...particularly on Ghosts where things start to get strange on specific tracks . They still have a melodic attraction throughout the Ghosts album which is not dark and brings continuity like many of their albums do...but yet they go more distance in darker sounding composition on Ghosts and you could say that it's a bit unusual for them.


Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: December 29 2024 at 17:23
^Thanks, that is a great contribution!  This is the second song that the Strawbs performed on Midnight Special!  Both songs were on "Hero & Heroinne," a great LP! 






-------------
I am not a Robot, I'm a FREE MAN!!


Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: December 29 2024 at 19:22
They also appeared on Midnight Special a year or so later to perform "Lemon Pie" and "The Life Auction" from Ghosts




Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: December 29 2024 at 22:20
Originally posted by kenethlevine kenethlevine wrote:

They also appeared on Midnight Special a year or so later to perform "Lemon Pie" and "The Life Auction" from Ghosts



Thanks, I'll look for those segments on YouTube! Clap


-------------
I am not a Robot, I'm a FREE MAN!!


Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: December 30 2024 at 11:04
let me know if you find it.  I couldn't though I didn't search hard.  I remember wolfman jack saying they were one of wolfwoman's favorite groups lol


Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: December 30 2024 at 11:40
Originally posted by kenethlevine kenethlevine wrote:

let me know if you find it.  I couldn't though I didn't search hard.  I remember wolfman jack saying they were one of wolfwoman's favorite groups lol

YouTube is posting new segments from Midnight Special constantly!  This is another clip I waited for years to see! 




-------------
I am not a Robot, I'm a FREE MAN!!


Posted By: ProcolWho?
Date Posted: January 31 2025 at 16:55
  Never saw this Strawbs performance  .  Amazing


Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: February 05 2025 at 08:09
Hi,

I don't remember when I got into the band, but I saw the "Hero & Heroine" album on the used bin in Santa Barbara for a dollar, and I bought because of the cover ... I could not imagine them not being good with a cover like that.

Within months the album "Ghosts" came out and I went into it right away and have been into it since ... and I was not aware of their history ... remember that there was no periodical in America that kept track of these things, for you to read ... like you can today ... only to find a couple of years later about their history and Sandy Denny, whom I fell in love with the moment I heard "Reynardine" ... and I ended up following them since. But the "history" I finally got more of it when I started picking up the Melody Maker from 1975 on ... about one issue every other month or so. 

I still love a lot of the lyrics from Dave ... and in the last 2 albums, he still has such a knack and touch and "The Magic Of It All" ... so wonderful ... 


-------------
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com


Posted By: Jacob Schoolcraft
Date Posted: February 19 2025 at 14:27
Strawbs early albums, ( the first 5), seemed rather obscure in the U.S.   Though I did buy From The Witchwood and Grave New World after discovering YES and making that connection after enjoying Rick Wakeman on Fragile and Close To The Edge.

I remember people searching for Strawbs Live...the Antiques and Curios release because they realized that Rick Wakeman played piano on there. Some people were obviously interested in hearing Strawbs based off the reputation that Rick Wakeman had.

The first Strawbs album featured Sandy Denny. Their second release was thought to be their debut album by many. People were unaware because Strawbs were not promoted enough until around the release of Hero & Heroine.

I collected Sandy Denny albums for years. Also Fairport Convention and Fotheringay.

I never found her party trick amusing such as throwing herself off of a bar stool or down a flight of stairs. Perhaps that style of humor is more accepted in Europe..but the day she died it hit me hard because I was young and had been following her music for years. That was a sad day.

For me she is timeless! It was a real experience to see her on film decades later. Her first two albums...Northstar Grassman And The Ravens and Sandy are monumental...they are impressionable to me. If I recall...she was taken off life support . When she died it ripped my heart.



Print Page | Close Window

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Copyright ©2001-2014 Web Wiz Ltd. - http://www.webwiz.co.uk