LAST UPDATED 5 JUL 2025 |
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MAGIC FROM THE MOON NEW The long-awaited Blu-Ray with segments from the 40th Anniversary celebrations has now landed. It's a smart piece of work, some excellent filming and the music sounds clear and strong, Included: There's also a revealing and endearing interview with the late Robert Kirby about his long association with the Strawbs, both as arranger and keyboard player. Brings it all back .... - there are reviews/comments by Les Cotton, Bjorn Nilsen and me - and some links to external reviews - on the reviews page and you can watch a 60 second trailer on YouTube by clicking on the image below. 
You can buy it from Amazon: or search in your local Amazon on Ebay. Enjoy ..... |
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IAN CUTLER RIP NEW I am very sorry indeed to pass on the news that Ian Cutler has passed away. As a young man, Ian was first spotted playing fiddle on the cult classic film "The Wicker Man", before joining celebrated folk rock outfit Bully Wee, with whom he continued to play till their final retirement a few years back. He was in a long-running duo with Doug Hudson, The Hot Rats, and played annually with the hugely respected Feast Of Fiddles along with many of his peers. In the 2000s, Dave Cousins hooked up with him to accompany him on Dave Cousins solo gigs, and he was a natural to be included in Dave's side project The Blue Angel Orchestra, along with Chas Cronk, Miller Anderson and veteran drummer Chris Hunt. The BAO played a number of gigs including one of the legendary Teddington Christmas Parties. When Dave did his US tour in 2008, Ian was drafted in for some of the shows, captured on 2008's Duochrome CD and he guested on "The Call To Action" on The Broken Hearted Bride". the same year. The duo was reunited for the opening session of the 2009 40th anniversary weekend. On the 2008 trip to New York City I travelled with Ian and Sarah Jayne and itook them off on a whistlestop tour of the city I knew fairly weell, but neither of them had been to - Ian was always great company, a very self-effacing person despite his amazing talent, and will be much missed. |
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SANDY DENNY ARCHIVE PROJECT NEW Sandy Denny's daughter Georgia Licas, has created the Sandy Denny Archive Project, intended to preserve her mother's legacy - on the GoFundMe page she has set up she explains: "In 2023 I realised a long held ambition: bringing a unique exhibition to Cropredy's Brasenose Arms for Fairport's annual festival. For the first time, fans old and new had an intimate glimpse into my mum’s world through her handwritten lyrics, guitars, photographs, stage outfits, and other personal treasures. The responses and emotions it evoked were overwhelming – inspiring me to return this August with an expanded exhibition — delving deeper into her life and music. The message from 2023 though was clear – if there was to be any long-term vision for Sandy’s legacy, these delicate artefacts needed skilled and expert care: My initial target then, this 'Phase 1' focuses on the most urgent needs: safeguarding my mum’s belongings; ensuring their safe journey to Cropredy; and ongoing storage. Your donations will directly fund: Phase 1 is the all-important foundation of what has become, The Sandy Denny Archive Project. Future phases will help further develop Sandy's legacy — including a permanent home, and digitising her paper archives. So every contribution, whatever its size, matters: protecting these fragile pieces of Sandy's history, helping to share them with the world. Thank you for helping her legacy endure. Together we can honour Sandy’s spirit; ensuring her extraordinary gifts shine for generations." The GoFundMe page is at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/sandy-denny-exhibition-2025 |
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DAVE BAINBRIDGE - ASSORTED 2025 TOUR DATES NEW
DAVE BAINBRIDGE & SALLY MINNEAR SUMMER UK TOUR |
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LATEST STRAWBS ALBUM - THE MAGIC OF IT ALL You can read the Cherry Red press release and see the track listing and other info on Strawbsweb on the main Magic page Singles Two singles have been released as downloads - you can listen to them online at the Cherry Red website via various streaming services (including Spotify and YouTube Music): Interviews and reviews UPDATED Various reviews on the Magic reviews page - feel free to send any further reviews or comments comments to Dick Greener Video clips And there are still videos online of Dave's solo living room performance of two of the new songs on the album, intended to promote the 2022 Chiswick show |
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MONKS 2CD COMPILATION "NO SHAME" Released 15 Sep 2023, a compilation of the two Monks albums Bad Habits and Suspended Animation, together with bonus tracks many of which have never been released. Whilst a stark departure from Strawbs music, following the hit single "Nice Legs, Never Mind The Face" Hud and John together with vocalist Terry Cassidy produced two commercially successful albums - the first for EMI, and the second for Polydor Canada, which went platinum in that territory. You can order at: from the Cherry Red website. For track listing see the No Shame page. |
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 PITMEN POETS COVER "PART OF THE UNION" Folk supergroup The Pitmen Poets, featuring Bob Fox, Jez Lowe, Billy Mitchell (of Jack The Lad and Lindisfarne fame) and Benny Graham, perform material mainly about the North-East's mining past and industrial/trade union heritage. For their 2024 CD Reunion, to coincide with their 2024 "reunion" tour, they included a jolly take on John and Hud's "Part Of The Union". |
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NICK AWDE BOOKS Nick Awde has already added to the folklore of thhe Strawbs with his mighty tome on the Mellotron, which featured chapters on Dave Cousins, John Hawken, Blue Weaver and Robert Kirby for those interested in the Strawbs, Mike Pinder (Moody Blues), Tony Banks (Genesis), Greg Lake, Ian McDonald, John Wetton, Bill Bruford (all King Crimson) as well as countless others, and his Singer-Songwriter books, Voilume 1 of which included chapters on Dave Cousins, Ralph McTell, Richard Thompson, Al Stewart, Arlo Guthrie, Iain Matthews and others.
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