CHERRY RED PRESS RELEASE - NEW STRAWBS ALBUM UNDER WAY  NEW 

David Cousins, leader of innovative rock band Strawbs, reveals that work is in progress for a new album to be released by Esoteric/Cherry Red in 2023.

Following the five-star reviews and chart-topping success of Settlement, fans around the world were disappointed when live Strawbs shows were cancelled for the foreseeable future.

David says: “In August last year I was diagnosed with a malignant tumour that required major surgery to remove it. My consultant advised me that the recovery period would be six months, which was the reason for me having to withdraw from all live Strawbs shows. I am pleased that the procedure was successful and I must express my gratitude to the National Health Service (NHS) team who continue to monitor my progress.”

‘Settlement’ was influenced by the strange atmosphere of the Covid-19 lockdowns. The new Strawbs album will again be produced by Blue Weaver who says that some songs he’s heard so far reflect the challenges of the past year, while others look at today’s uncertainty and social unrest.

David Cousins goes on to say: “I’d like to thank our Strawbs friends for their patience and understanding. One of the new songs is called - ‘Wiser Now’.” We all are.

DAVE COUSINS - SONG CYCLE  UPDATED 

This song cycle, chosen by Dave Cousins, will make up a year of songs reflecting on the way in which our lives have changed over time. The first song was posted in December 2021 and Dave will be posting further songs monthly to the Strawbs Facebook page, and they'll be archived here in the lyrics section of Strawbsweb.

Each post is accompanied by a specially chosen photo and a link to a YouTube video featuring the song.

The February 2022 track is "The Battle", from Rick Wakeman's first session with the band for "Top Gear" and the March 22 track is Dave playing on a Leionard Cohen TV special. The first two tracks were "Evergreen" (December 2021) and "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" (January 2022).

Click on the RED links below to see the Song Cycle pages which have gone live.

BRIAN WILLOUGHBY SOLO ALBUM - TWIDDLY BITS  UPDATED 

There's a review from Spill Magazine at: https://spillmagazine.com/spill-album-review-brian-willoughby-twiddly-bits/

Release date: 27 Mar 2022 - order from Brian and Cathryn's website, £10 plus p&p.

This is a new guitar instrumental album. The 4-panel digipack contains a 6-page booklet with track explanations, instruments used, etc. "Twiddly Bits" was what Dave Cousins used to refer to Brian's guitar playing during the days of their Cousins & Willoughby duo - the album features 19 tracks and Brian plays all the instruments, with help from Cathryn's acoustic rhythm guitar on six of the tunes, whistle by Danny McGreevy on one, All-Ireland bodhran champion Niall Quinn on another and drummer Dennis Bryon on a further two.

Track listing

1. Busterchops
2. Clara's Theme
3. Twiddly Bit
4. Narrow Waterfall
5. Aunt Gen In The Clouds
6. The Borders
7. White Stratosphere
8. Buenos Suenos
9. Long Tall Kelly
10. The Point
11. The Middle
12. Kitesurfing
13. Glenarm 1949
14. Rosie's Tale
15. Red Steel Tracks
16. Peace Pipe
17. Dunavil Beach
18. Uisce Beatha
19. She Rang Our Bell

CHAS CRONK SOLO ALBUM - LIBERTY

Release date: 4 Mar 2022 - available both on CD and vinyl - order from Renaissance Records.

This album was kickstarted by Chas’s release of his new song “Liberty” on Facebook, which proved very popular and prompted US label Renaissance Records to get in touch about a possible EP. Chas added a couple of tracks based on previous work: a finished version of his demo of “Everybody Knows” which had been recorded by Strawbs on Broken Hearted Bride (the recent re-issue of BHB has the early version of the demo).

There’s also “A Splash Of Blue”, which was on the Lambert Cronk album Touch The Earth and featured Dave Lambert on guitar. “Liberty” was also included as a bonus track on the CD version of the 2021 Strawbs album “Settlement”.

Having heard the four tracks, Renaissance floated the idea of making it an album – rather than look for further existing material to rework, Chas decided to record new positive, upbeat tracks, to counteract the grim lockdown experience in which they were recorded. One of these – “Slipping Downstream” has some lead guitar from fellow Strawb Dave Bainbridge, who was staying over with Chas for some Strawbs rehearsals, and there’s some live drumming from Chas’s mate Major Baldini (who I met at a Strawbs warm-up or a Roy Hill gig at the Royal Oak in Isleworth – can’t recall which).

There’s an interview by Chas about the album on YouTube.

SIDE ONE

1. Liberty
2. Take My Hand
3. Lambert Cronk: A Splash Of Blue
4. Everybody Knows
5. Flying Free

SIDE TWO

1. Into The Light
2. Slipping Downstream
3. Away
4. System Overload
5. Reverie

Lindsay Sorrell review now on the Chas Cronk reviews page.

THE LONG NIGHTS OF SUMMER - VELVET OPERA 3CD ANTHOLOGY  NEW 

Release date: 22 Jul 2022
The album collects the mono and stereo versions of the first Elmer Gantry album, the second album and numerous outtakes and radio sessions, nearly all of which feature Hudson and Ford.

Track listing - see the new Velvet Opera pages

DAVE COUSINS - NO LIVE DATES IN 2022

Cherry Red issued the following press release on 17 Dec:

David Cousins of pioneering rock band Strawbs withdraws from live band shows for the foreseeable future due to health issues. After more than fifty years of performing his songs around the world to thousands of fans, a series of recent hospitalisations has meant all live acoustic and electric Strawbs shows will not proceed as planned in 2022.

David says: "This has been a tough year for me with my health issues. It started at the end of March with surgery for a full-knee replacement; six months later I could walk freely for the first time in several years. However, in November I went into hospital for a routine stent change. This was rapidly followed by a priority operation which will require an indeterminate period of recovery. I have become acutely aware that I must put my health first."

With the toll that touring takes on an artist’s health, David will now concentrate on writing and recording new music for the Esoteric/Cherry Red labels. The band’s latest album Settlement was critically acclaimed and returned the band to the top of the Progressive Rock and Folk charts for the first time since the 1970s.

David Cousins goes on to say: I wish all in the extended Strawbs family well for Christmas and the New Year."

Anyone who bought tickets for any of the affected Acoustic and Electric Strawbs shows is eligible for a refund at the point of purchase. The affected dates are:

9 Apr Queen Park Arts Centre Aylesbury
30 Apr Sharrington Hall Norfolk
1 May Sharrington Hall Norfolk
14 May Marine Theatre Lyme Regis
15 May Matthew’s Hall Topsham
16 May Over Hulton Folk Club Bolton
21 May We Låve Rock Festival Cosmopolite, Oslo
10 Jun Social Club Chelmsford
11 Jun Stables Wavendon
12 Jun Cheese and Grain Frome
16 Jun Robin 2 Bilston
17 Jun Edinburgh Queens Theatre Scotland
18 Jun Gosforth Theatre Newcastle
19 Jun Cambridge Rocks Cambridge
25 Oct Oxford New Theatre Oxford (w/ Steeleye Span)

REISSUED BROKEN HEARTED BRIDE - PRESS RELEASE FROM CHERRY RED

Strawbs: The Broken Hearted Bride, Remastered And Expanded - £10.95

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a newly re-mastered and expanded edition of ‘The Broken Hearted Bride’, the acclaimed 2008 album by Strawbs.

The album was recorded at producer Chris Tsangarides’ Ecology Rooms studio in Kent in April and May 2008 and saw a reunion of the Strawbs’ line-up that had recorded the legendary albums ‘Hero And Heroine’ and ‘Ghosts’, both of which were huge selling releases in North America in the mid-1970s.

The line-up of David Cousins (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Dave lambert (vocals, guitar), Chas Cronk (vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards), Rod Coombes (drums) and John Hawken (keyboards) recorded a fine work which was heralded by fans upon its original release.

Unavailable for some years, this new edition of ‘The Broken Hearted Bride’ has been newly remastered and features three previously unreleased additional tracks, fascinating demos of the songs ‘Too Many Angels’, ‘You Know As Well As I’ and ‘Everybody Knows’.

The Esoteric Recordings release also features an illustrated booklet with a new essay by David Cousins.