Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Ghosts
2. On Growing Older
3. The Man Who Called Himself Jesus
4. Stormy Dawn
5. I Turned My face Into The Wind
6. Queen Of Dreams
7. Whitchwood
8. Keep The Devil Outside
9. The Hangman And The Papist
10. Benedictus
11. Golden Salamander
12. Tokyo Rose
13. Hero And Heroine
14. Pick Up The Peices
15. Lay Down
16. Ciggy Barlust
17. Out In The Cold
18. Round And Round
19. How She Changed

Disc 2:

1. The Battle
2. Grace Darling
3. Blue Angel
4. Here It Comes
5. The Shepherds Song
6. We'll Meet Again Sometime
7. Martin Luther King's Dream
8. Burn Baby Burn
9. Shine On Silver Sun
10. Why and Wherefore
11. Floating In The Wind
12. Absent Friend
13. Part Of The Union
14. Will Ye Go
15. The River
16. Down By The Sea
17. Tell You What You See In Me

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18516 in Music
• Released on: 1997-02-10
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .24 pounds
• Running time: 149 minutes

Customer Reviews

The Strawbs: Professive Folk Rock at its very best
They were originally the Strawberry Hill Boys before the group's name was shorted to the Strawbs. They also had a reputation as the hardest drinking group in rock, which does seem strange for a group that would best be described as British Progressive Folk Rock. These double disc collection covers the early and middle periods of the Strawbs when they recorded by A&M. This means that their best work is included on these discs.

Although this collection does include several tracks by Richard Hudson and John Ford, I have to profess that I have always preferred the work of Dave Lambert with the group a bit more, even though I readily admit that his work does mesh as well with the songs of Dave Cousins, who has always been the heart and the soul of the Strawbs. I also like the keyboard work of John Hawken over Blue Weaver. Even if neither of them is Rick Wakeman, the group certainly thrived without having a virtuoso on keyboards. Consequently, the second disc in this collection gets a lot more play than the first at my house, although "The Hangman and The Papist," "Benedictus" and "New World" certainly capture the variety and quality of the group during their first period.

Hudson and Ford contributed their best work right before leaving the group, writing "Lady Fuschia," "Part of the Union," and co-writing "Tears and Pavan" with Cousins on the 1973 "Bursting at the Seams" album. One special treat of this collection is that "The River" proceeds "Down By the Sea" (the opposite order of how they appear on the original album). When I saw the group in concert those were the two songs they played in their encore, using the former to set up what was then their signature piece in performance. It was that song, played by a DJ at a FM station in Albuquerque that persuaded me to go see the Strawbs in concert when I did not have any of their albums. Of course, that all changed the week after the show.

"Hero & Heroine," the 1973 concept album usually considered the group's best album, is well represented in this collection as is the 1974 "Ghosts." Each album began with a trio of songs combined into seamless set pieces, "Autumn" and "Ghosts" respectively. This was the most ambitious creative period for Cousins, who I always thought sounded like Cat Stevens with a more aggressive sense of soul. I also like the choices of Cousins' "Hanging In the Gallery" and Lambert's "The Promised Land" to end the collection. This seems quite appropriate to me.

The Strawbs are pretty much forgotten. When I was staging a high school production of Christopher Fry's "The Lady's Not for Burning," I used music from "Tears and Pavan" and "Hero and Heroine" for the show. Everyone thought the music appropriate and effective but none of them had ever heard of the Strawbs. For those of us who followed them in the 1970s, I have to believe they are one of our more memorable groups.

Difinitive Strawbs Collection
The Strawbs weren't just a fine band - they were several! The shifts from straight folk to folk-tinged rock and more or less back again are well documented on this excellent collection, the constant factor being (of course) Dave Cousin's instantly recognisable and charismatic vocals. Highlights abound: "Ghosts", "Witchwood", "Benedictus", "Hangman & the Papist", "Martin Luther King's Dream", the big hit "Lay Down": each has its own identity but each in its own way is typical Strawbmusic. Sadly, a collection such as this has to include "Part of the Union", which is no more representative of their material than "My Ding-a-Ling" is of Chuck Berry's, hence 4 stars instead of 5. Otherwise the tracks assembled here make a very satisfying whole and do credit to one of the most worthwhile bands to grow out of the British folk-rock movement.

A collection of favourites to bring back all those memories
Other reviewers have given a detailed breakdown of tracks so I won't repeat those - just to say that anyone who remembers The Strawbs will thoroughly enjoy and welcome this comprehensive reprise of all their best tracks. The early days are well represented and it's hard to think of any of their greatest tracks which isn't included here - along with some of their less well-known later works.
All-in-all this is a superb gathering-together of their work.

Highly recommended.