from Jamming 2
Jamming was lucky to catch Dave Cousins in a reflective mood, and in the same place for more than five minutes at once. While we had his attention, we asked him some penetrating questions about Dragonfly.
Jamming: How did you come to make Dragonfly in Denmark?
Dave Cousins: We spent so much money on the first album, we had to find ways to save money on the next one, and one way was to record it in Deamark
Jamming: How did Clare come to join the band?
Dave Cousins: I can't remember how we came to meet Clare, I think that we already knew Henry Lowther, her husband, and I think that's how she came to join us.
Jamming: Can you remember the inspiration behind any of the songs?
Dave Cousins: Yes, but I'm not sure I want to reveal them!. Dragonfly was about a young Swedish lady I met..she was the North Wind in the song. That year there were lots of dragonflies around.... I Turned My Face Into The Wind was written after a walk on a very bleak moor in Yorkshire, I think it was near Barnsley. The song reflected my state of mind at the time .. it's not a favourite of mine. Another Day was another of the Devon beach songs.
Jamming: What is your favourite song from the album?
Dave Cousins: Dragonfly, because it has the most original lyrics and tune, I also like Till The Sun Comes Shining Through, I like the guitar work
Jamming: What do you think of the LP now?
Dave Cousins: I don't like it - we set out to create something more simple, because I thought the first album was over- elaborate, but listening to it now, I think it's too raw. I did enjoy the cello parts, I wrote most of them and playing the piano on I Turned My Face Into The Wind.
Jamming: Is it true that Close Your Eyes was placed where it was to bring people out of a bad trip after Vision Of The Lady of the Lake?
Dave Cousins: Yes, although the Vision was not a deliberate attempt to induce a bad trip. I enjoyed playing it live, but the boys didn't because they could never remember where we were. They could never remember where the minor bit came !
Jamming: I find the song quite disturbing.
Dave Cousins: Yes, it does have an impact on people. It's based on the seven deadly sins .. greed, envy, sloth they're all in there.
Jamming: Were you in the studio with Rick (Wakeman) when he did the piano parts?
Dave Cousins: Yes, but we ran into a problem - the tracks were out of tune with the piano in the studio - and there was no varispeed machine, so we had to play the piano through a Leslie speaker to make it distorted so you wouldn't notice the fact that it was out of tune, otherwise you would have heard the piano playing much more clearly.