DRAGONFLY

"Dragonfly" is the second studio album of Strawbs and was released in 1970. It's a more restrained album than their debut, probably due to budgetary restraints. Probably this has always been an underrated Strawbs album, certainly not as dynamic as their later works, but possessing a quieter, rich and somber charm. The band was still very much an acoustic group, but already headed in the musical direction of their greatest fame, though they had yet to go to electric.

The line up on this album is the same of their debut album with the addition of Claire Deniz as a new member of the group. So, the line up is Dave Cousins (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, dulcimer, piano and percussion), Tony Hooper (vocals, acoustic guitar and tambourine), Ron Chesterman (double bass) and Claire Deniz (cello). The album had also the participation of Tony Visconti (recorder), Paul Brett (electric guitar) and Bjarne Rostvold (drums). The album marked the first collaboration of Rick Wakeman with the band, but on this album he was only a guest musician.

"Dragonfly" has nine tracks. All tracks were written by Dave Cousins except "Young Again" which was written by Tony Hooper. The first track "The Weary Song" is a conventional and typical folk song. It's an acoustic song and where the blend of Clare Deniz's cello gives to the song a very special feeling and a different musical dimension. The song, with bitter sweet harmonies and along with Dave Cousins' discreet vocals, is a perfect introduction to the mood of the all album. The second track is the title track "Dragonfly". It's a much darker song than the previous one and is also a song with an unusual tune and where the recorder played by Tony Visconti with the dulcimer played by Dave Cousins, gives to the song a modal perfect feeling, for the usual Dave Cousins' poetic lyrics. The third track "I Turned My Face Into The Wind" is basically a piano and cello driven song. It was a song written after a walk in Yorkshire, near Barnsley, and it brings some darker imagery of the English traditional countryside. This is a nice song where Dave Cousins plays piano and Tony Hooper plays quietly and tastefully an electric guitar. The fourth track "Josephine For Better Or For Worse" is another calm and beautiful folk song on the album, but this time, it's basically performed by acoustic guitar and cello. It seems this is a song rescued from the outtakes of the first musical sessions of their debut studio album, and where to this version, it was given an attractive and nice new acoustic treatment. The fifth track "Another Day" is a song with a very happy mood, which makes me joyful and gives to me an air of hope. It deserves special mention the beautiful vocal performance of Dave Cousins and Tony Hooper. This is a song with an Irish folk tinge, very simple and pleasant to hear. The sixth track "Til The Sun Comes Shining Through" is another West Country inspired song, as happened with the previous track, "Another Day". It's a short track with an intricate blend of beautiful guitars and where Dave Cousins and Tony Hooper are in perfect harmony. The seventh track "Young Again" is another short track which gives to us, perfectly and deliberately, the true innocence of the song. Tony Visconti also provides a recorder on this song and he handle with the vocals too. We can hear Dave Cousins playing a child's piano on the instrumental break. The eighth track "The Vision Of The Lady Of The Lake" is clearly a track inspired by the Arthurian's legend. It's the great epic on the album. It's in the same vein of "The Battle", released on their previous eponymous debut studio album "Strawbs". This is a fantastic song that gradually moves in a constantly dramatic growing, which in the end provides to us one of the most build- ups musical experiences I've ever heard. It's by far the best musical moment on the album and it's also, undoubtedly, one of Dave Cousins' most striking musical compositions ever wrote by him. The ninth and last track "Close Your Eyes" is too short, 45 seconds, to have much to say about it. So, I only want to say this is a song entirely performed with the voice and the acoustic guitar of Dave Cousins. This is a nice and a brief way to close this album.

Conclusion: Like their previous eponymous debut studio album "Strawbs", "Dragonfly" is also a typical folk album with very few of progressive music. However, and as happened with "Strawbs", "Dragonfly" has the main lines of the progressive group they will become, very soon, and where "The Battle" of their debut and "The Vision Of The Lady Of The Lake" of this, are the two best and perfect examples of that. "Dragonfly" is, in my humble opinion, a step forward in the musical maturity of Strawbs. It's a more cohesive and uniform work than "Strawbs" is. However, I like both albums. But, for my taste, I think "Strawbs" has some songs more conventional than "Dragonfly" and, due to that, I probably prefer "Dragonfly" to "Strawbs". Still, this is only a matter of my personal taste. By the other hand, "Dragonfly" shows one of the first presences of Rick Wakeman on a progressive rock album, along with the second studio album of David Bowie, "Space Oddity". It's true that his presence isn't strongly felt here and we need to wait to Strawbs' next album, their debut live album "Just A Collection Of Antiques And Curious", to can feel his presence perfectly. However, "Dragonfly" represents, in a certain way, the starting point of his brilliant career as one of the best keyboardists ever.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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