Strawbs

Strawbs were formed in London in 1967, part of that circuit of artists who had recently begun bringing British folk into the pop-rock universe, inspired by the traditional music revival that had been sweeping the UK since the Fifties, with artists like Ewan MacColl, A. L. Lloyd and Shirley Collins.

The band was among the first to attempt this crossover. Although their debut album didn't arrive until 1969 - by which point Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention and Pentangle were already well established, having had at least a year's head start - it's also true that they had been recording material as far back as 1967: it was simply the lack of an immediate record deal that held them up. Compared to the aforementioned groups, they also stood out for a more modern singer-songwriter streak, echoing the records of Cat Stevens and Donovan.

Album after album, Strawbs underwent a gradual but constant evolution, which led to a complete transformation within about five years. This was also due to their constant lineup changes: the band revolved around the figure of Dave Cousins - singer, guitarist and banjo player - and saw countless prestigious musicians pass through its ranks. Among those who would be part of Strawbs, at various points, were: Sandy Denny (soon to join Fairport Convention), Richard Hudson and John Ford (later known as a country rock duo), as well as the inevitable Rick Wakeman, who would leave the band just before entering the jet set with the Yes of "Fragile".

An impressive workshop of talent, all of whom nonetheless remained secondary to the creative impulses of Cousins, the group's principal songwriter and singer.

Among his interests was not only British tradition, but also American tradition: his passion for the banjo, in his younger years, actually stemmed from listening to records by Earl Scruggs (a bluegrass master, often paired with guitarist Lester Flatt). He began playing the instrument by practicing along to Scruggs' music slowed down, trying to learn its patterns.

This American influence then extended to his guitar style: listening to the six-LP anthology curated by Harry Smith, he noticed how many Appalachian musicians had the banjo's second string tuned to C. It occurred to him to wonder how the guitar would sound if tuned the same way, and from there he never stopped experimenting, eventually creating the unusual tunings that have characterized many of his songs.

Under his leadership, Strawbs went through a whirlwind of activity, releasing an album a year, sometimes two, gradually shifting their center of gravity away from the psychedelic figures who populated their scene during the Sixties, replacing them with a romanticism vaguely reminiscent of Moody Blues, albeit in a leaner form. The nod to Stevens and Donovan would evolve in its own way into pastoral tones close to those of Genesis: understandable, considering that Peter Gabriel too had been strongly influenced by those singer-songwriters, borrowing their vocal style and, much like Cousins in his own way, making it more theatrical. But while Gabriel's theatricality was the flamboyant, mime-inflected kind he admitted to having absorbed from David Bowie, Cousins' was the attitude of a bard who had served his apprenticeship in folk clubs (venues that had sprung up alongside the folk revival mentioned earlier): more rustic and provincial, then, but no less noble for it.

All of this is clearly audible on "Hero And Heroine", Strawbs' eighth album: by this point, the band could just as easily be classed as folk rock as prog. They had, in short, moved into a middle ground populated by bands like Renaissance on the more aristocratic side, and Jethro Tull on the more pastoral one. Of this hybrid strain, Strawbs may well be the single most representative band, drawing together nearly all of its elements, from refined orchestration to electric outbursts, from pop choruses to folk melodies lost in the mists of time.

"Hero And Heroine" followed "Bursting At The Seams", an album whose title proved prophetic: it's a common expression referring to seams tearing apart from being stretched beyond their limits. Strawbs' seams had indeed burst, more visibly than ever, by the end of the 1973 tour. The record had been a major commercial success, reaching number two on the UK charts (just behind Elton John's "Don't Shoot Me..."), but it had also generated irreconcilable tensions. Hudson and Ford were pushing for greater emphasis on easily accessible country rock songs, in the vein of the single "Part Of The Union": a direction that held no appeal whatsoever for Cousins. Within a few weeks the band fell apart, leaving only Dave Lambert, himself a singer and guitarist, standing by his side.

From what seemed like the worst possible scenario, Cousins, by way of reaction, produced Strawbs' finest record, bringing in keyboardist John Hawken (part of Renaissance at the time of their first album), bassist Chas Cronk (at the time known almost exclusively for having played on Rick Wakeman's "Catherine Howard"), and drummer Rod Coombes (fresh off the successful debut of Scottish band Stealers Wheel).

The album was recorded in Denmark, perhaps for tax reasons, with the support of an outside producer (whereas the previous two had been produced by the band itself). The choice fell on Tom Allom, sound engineer for Black Sabbath and future mentor to Judas Priest, whose records he produced from 1979 to 1988.

Graced by the highest recording quality the Strawbs had achieved up to that point, the album opens with "Autumn", an eight-minute suite divided into three sections: "Heroine's Theme", an electronic introduction in which Hawken layers electric organ and Mellotron strings over a slow synthesizer groove, while Lambert's electric guitar imitates the sound of distant seagulls; "Deep Summer Sleep", a mournful folk ballad in which Cousins's voice is doubled by a whisper, tucked in the background yet able to enrich the melody with subtle shading; "The Winter Long", sung by Lambert, embellished by piano reminiscent of Tony Banks at his most romantic, and closed by a choral crescendo of almost liturgical intensity, which by that point had become something of a trademark for the band (think of "Benedictus", from "Grave New World", 1972).

The midtempo folk rock of "Sad Young Man", the only contribution penned by Coombes, seems to imagine Neil Young transplanted into rural England, showing off Rhodes piano, an organ solo, a chorus propelled by muscular electric guitars, and vocal harmonies over backward-run tape. Lambert sings of the depression of a young man unable to immerse himself in city life ("You came down south from Birmingham. [...] You came down and you didn't know why, and then you didn't even try. Swept up by the crowd, blown away like a cloud. The heavy spell of darkness and night, your self-imposed isolation").

"Just Love", written by Lambert, is sometimes criticized as feeling out of place, with its punchy boogie rock, but however valid that criticism might be, it remains an impeccably crafted song, complete with a brief romantic break for Mellotron and piano.

"Shine On Silver Sun", the album's lead single, is the fairy-tale story of a man who gazes at a countryside vista from the top of a hill and is moved to tears. Cousins once again builds it as a choral ballad, complete with angelic falsettos.

The second side of the vinyl opens with the title track, arguably the greatest song Cousins ever wrote, and one of the high points reached by the Mellotron in rock: Hawken unleashes it at full volume with a brass-like riff that rises like a Gothic cathedral. Cutting off abruptly, it gives way to what sound like offbeat banjo arpeggios (actually piano played back at double speed, to wonderfully illusory effect), over which Cousins sings the first verse. From there an electric surge kicks in, with a guitar solo reminiscent of Mike Oldfield's style (in its Celtic atmosphere, tone, and light vibrato), followed by the second verse, this time a cappella, with an echo effect gradually building up on Cousins's voice, generating a mass of tension that pours out into the final scream. Few other songs of the era pack in so many ideas within a single minute: from there the structure repeats until the end, where a generous dose of Mellotron choir is added.

The lyrics tell of a young man who falls victim to hard drugs: "Where a man's search should surely cease, the irresistible white wool led the hero in search of the peace that only she could offer. So he knelt before her feet, afraid their eyes might meet. He knew his life was incomplete because he had yet to suffer" (it is precisely on the word "suffer" that Cousins unleashes the intensity, his voice multiplied by echo).

"Midnight Sun" is an acoustic ballad with Mellotron flutes, percussion, cello, and pastoral vocal harmonies, supporting Cousins as he sings the reflections of what should be the same protagonist as "Hero And Heroine" (or so one would assume, given that the two songs blend into one another): "The dark night sheds no light, it barely serves as a warning, I pray for a single ray of hope".

After the placid "Out In The Cold", in which a harmonica makes an appearance, "Round And Round" - with its distorted guitar phrases - seems to build a bridge to the American arena rock that was being born at that very moment (it wouldn't sound out of place on Kansas's "Leftoverture"). Hawken's contribution is precious here, with his Moog introduction and a finale of manipulated tape.

In "Lay A Little Light On Me" the tone that Cousins shares with Peter Gabriel and their common influences resurfaces stronger than ever, in a kind of collective mood that marked the zeitgeist of that era.

It tells of a young man in existential crisis and his skepticism toward Christianity, which seems to weigh him down more than offer him any answers: "Boys growing up, masturbating, drink the wine and take the bread. Holy priests, chastising, holy water on the head. With the shadow of John the Baptist, who came meaning to save, and instead danced with death".

The ballad flows directly into "Hero's Theme", built on a menacing 3/4 guitar riff, and the album closes with tape reversing the choir of "Shine On Silver Sun".

The album would disappoint expectations in Britain, failing to crack the top 30, but it gave the Strawbs their first entry into the US top 100: lured by such a promising market, they flew to America and threw all their efforts into it. The following album, "Ghosts" (1975), would even manage to hook the Billboard top 50: sadly, it would be their last flash of glory, before a series of clashes with the record label permanently sank any commercial ambitions for Cousins and company. Their cult following, however, is still alive: in 2019 they celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their debut with an American tour.

For whatever it's worth (though Cousins reportedly appreciated it), in 2016 "Hero And Heroine" was included by Rolling Stone among the fifty greatest prog albums of all time.

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15/03/2020