Strawbs
The Strawbs is a British rock - and folk-rock - band , playing together since the mid-1960s.
Band history
Bandleader, guitarist and most important songwriter of the Strawbs is Dave Cousins , who founded the band in 1964 with Tony Hooper ( guitar ) and Ron Chesterman ( double bass ) under the name "The Strawberry Hill Boys". Initially tending towards bluegrass , the trio gradually developed into an acoustic folk group, which, however, in contrast to comparable English groups at the time, refrained from including traditional songs in their repertoire. In 1967 the Strawbs in Denmark produced together with the later Fairport Convention singer Sandy Denny , the album All Our Own Work , which long remained unnoticed and was not published until the 1973rd The first official long-playing record is Strawbs from 1969, followed by Dragonfly the following year . Then there was a change of line-up with a turn to folk rock. The new bass guitarist John Ford took over from Ron Chesterman, and Rick Wakeman (keyboards) and Richard Hudson (drums) expanded the group to form a five-person ensemble. The new Strawbs formation made their debut on the record market in 1970 with the widely acclaimed live album Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios .
A new record was released every year until 1978, with progressive elements and borrowings from Art Rock increasingly shaping the style of music. Band members during this time were Blue Weaver , who also played with Amen Corner , Mott the Hoople and the Bee Gees , as well as Dave Lambert , Brian Willoughby, Chas Cronk and John Hawken (also with The Nashville Teens , Renaissance , Spooky Tooth and Vinegar Joe ) .
The group achieved their greatest commercial success in 1973 (with the line-up Cousins, Lambert, Hudson, Ford and Weaver) with the album Bursting at the Seams and the single hit Part of the Union , which reached number 2 in the UK and was in Germany came up to 31st place.
At the beginning of 2005 the group was on tour through England as Acoustic Strawbs in what is now the 24th line-up with Cousins, Lambert, Hudson, Ford, Weaver and Willoughby.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1970 | Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios (Live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall) |
- |
UK27 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1971 | From the Witchwood | - |
UK39 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1972 | Grave New World | - |
UK11 (15 weeks) UK |
US191 (5 weeks) US |
|
| 1973 | Bursting at the Seams | - |
UK2 (12 weeks) UK |
US121 (9 weeks) US |
|
| 1974 | Hero and Heroine | - |
UK35 (3 weeks) UK |
US94 (17 weeks) US |
|
| 1975 | Ghosts | - | - |
US47 (13 weeks) US |
|
| Nomadness | - | - |
US147 (6 weeks) US |
||
| 1976 | Deep cuts | - | - |
US144 (5 weeks) US |
|
| 1977 | Burning for You | - | - |
US175 (4 weeks) US |
|
|
More albums
|
Live albums
Compilations
|
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1972 | Lay Down Bursting at the Seams |
- |
UK12 (12 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1973 | Part of the Union Bursting at the Seams |
DE31 (7 weeks) DE |
UK2 (11 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Shine On Silver Sun Hero and Heroine |
- |
UK34 (3 weeks) UK |
- | ||
More singles
|
|
Video albums
- 2002: Complete Strawbs: The Chiswick House Concert
- 2003: Strawbs Lifve in Tokyo / Grave New World, the Movie
- 2004: Acoustic Strawbs Live in Toronto
- 2009: Acoustic Strawbs - Live at Hampton Court Palace
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US
- ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7