STRAWBS

"Strawbs" is the debut studio album of Strawbs and was released in 1969. Strawbs was formed in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys in Strawberry Hill in London. The name was shortened to Strawbs in 1967. Although they started out in the 60's as a bluegrass band the band's repertoire shifted to favour their own material. In 1967 Strawbs recorded thirteen songs for a proposed first album "All Our Own Work" with Sandy Denny. But, the album only saw the light of day in 1973. So, it was only in 1969 that Strawbs released their acclaimed eponymous debut studio album "Strawbs".

The line up on this album is very short and is formed by Dave Cousins (vocals and guitars), Tony Hooper (vocals and guitars) and Ron Chesterman (double bass). The album had also the participation of John Paul Jones, the bassist of Led Zeppelin and Nicky Hopkins, the keyboardist of The Rolling Stones, on some of the tracks on the album.

"Strawbs" has eleven tracks. The first track "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus" written by Cousins is an interesting song with strange lyrics. It reflects how the society might react if Jesus came back to the world. It's a very good song and one of the best moments on the all album. The track was a controversial selection as a single and unfortunately the BBC objected the lyrical content and quickly banned it from the airplay. The second track "That Which Once Was Mine" written by Cousins is a short song as almost all the songs on the album. It's a simple and calm song, very melodic, well performed, and where the voice of Cousins marries perfectly well with the acoustic sound of the instruments. The third track "All The Little Ladies" written by Cousins and Hooper isn't as good as the two previous tracks. It's another simple and melodic acoustic song, but it's more repetitive and less original and creative than the other two are. The fourth track "Pieces Of 79 And 15" written by Cousins and Hooper is, without any doubt, one of the most beautiful pieces on the album. It's a very beautiful song very well performed and where the vocal harmonies are perfect. It's a song with some symphonic parts that reminds me the early musical work of Genesis, "Trespass", especial due to the keyboard work. The fifth track "Tell Me What You See In Me" written by Cousins is one of the two lengthiest songs on the album. It's a song with an oriental flavour performed by several acoustic instruments, which give to it a very special and exotic musical ambience. This is a song that reminds me the early psychedelic musical period of Pink Floyd. The sixth track "Oh How She Changed" written by Cousins and Hooper is another short song, but nevertheless, it's very beautiful. Again, we are in presence of a very simple song but where all the elements, the vocal performance and the musical performance, are perfectly mixed. This time, the song reminds me the two early albums of Tim Buckley, his eponymous debut "Tim Buckley" and "Goodbye And Hello", both already reviewed by me here. The seventh track "Or Am I Dreaming?" written by Cousins is also a nice song, especially due to its catchy sound of the 60's. It deserves a special mention the use of a beautiful orchestration on the song. This is a song that brings to our memory the good old 60's, particularly Donovan, Simon & Garfunkel and the eponymous debut studio album of David Bowie. The eighth track "Where Is This Dream Of Your Youth?" written by Cousins is another song with a simple musical structure. It's one of the most ambitious pieces on the album and has a very nice and interesting piano performance. When I played this album to my youngest son, when he heard this music, he told me that it reminded him R.E.M. Sincerely, I must confess that I never had noticed that. However, after listening to it again, I think he can probably be right. The ninth track "Poor Jimmy Wilson" written by Cousins is a very simple song, with a nice and sad story. It has a beautiful flute performance, not listed, and the final result is a beautiful and pleasant song to hear. Despite be one of the weakest points on the album it's pleasant enough to not spoil it. It was the song chosen to be the B side of the single "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus". The tenth track "Where Am I? / I'll Show You Where To Sleep" written by Cousins is another weak track and was written in the same vein of the previous track "Poor Jimmy Wilson". These two tracks are with "All The Little Ladies" the three weakest points on the album. The eleventh track "The Battle" written by Cousins is the lengthiest and is their first mini epic. This track represents the highest point on the album and it can show perfectly well the glimpses of the future progressive lines, which were to follow, especially after the release of their next studio album "Dragonfly".

Conclusion: "Strawbs" was one of the good surprises and one of the most pleasant albums released in the end of the 60's. It's true that it shows some weak musical points, but in general, we may say this is an album that shows some consistency and some great musical moments too. Some of the songs are wonderfully composed in terms of lyrics and music, and even we may say, that some of them have already some complexity. Despite the poor initial reception, this is a good debut album by a well regarded and respected progressive band. It has, without any doubt, some of the main characteristics of their future music. And, in a certain way, it represents the birth of their future progressive folk roots.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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