RIVALS, FRIENDS AND FELLOW TRAVELLERS
Updated: 18 Feb 2010
Relevant artists and others who have contributed over the years to the Strawbs story or who link to the Strawbsweb site.
Send any suggestions for inclusion (or broken links) to:
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RAB NOAKES - excellent Scottish singer/songwriter (a personal favourite), covered by Lindisfarne (one song on each of their first two albums), Barbara Dickson et al. in the early part of his career. Was going to be part of Scottish would-be super-folk-group Stealers Wheel with Rafferty and Egan, but dropped out. Moved into television as a producer, now runs Neon, a record label and TV production company, though he continues to record and tour sporadically - either as a duo with Fraser Spiers or with current outfit, the Varaflames. |
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PENTANGLE - Contemporaries of the early Strawbs, classic folk rock outfit with a jazz tinged feel to their music, they stayed together in their original incarnation (Jacqui McShee, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Danny Thompson, Terry Cox) from 1967 to 1973. Later incarnations haev centred around singer McShee. |
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PLUMPTON FESTIVAL - Two years running, 1969 and 1970, the Strawbs played the (8th and 9th) National Jazz Pop & Blues Festival held at Plumpton - what a difference a year makes: '69 saw Cousins, Hooper "supported for the first time by bass and cello; '70 saw the Wakeman, Hudson & Ford in tow, having just recorded their QEH tour de force. The festival moved to Reading in 1971. Links below to the two Strawbs years, though the site as a whole makes for interesting browsing. |
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PUKKA ORCHESTRA - Canadian band, Strawbs covered their "Might As Well Be On Mars" for their 1991 Virgin Canada album Ringing Down The Years. |
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JOHNNY SILVO - still performing today, Silvo was one of te earliest successful folk entertainers, mentoring Sandy Denny on her first recordings Sandy & Johnny. The earliest Strawberry Hill Boys gig I have been able to find - September 1963! - featured SHBs with Silvo in support at the Crown Open Folk & Blues venue in Twickenham. |
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STACKRIDGE - A link to fellow 70s nutters Stackridge - a beautifully designed site, using the delightful image from one of their best albums, Friendliness. Most of their albums have now been re-issued with bonus tracks on Angel Air and you can off the site; they are recording a new album in 2009. |
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STEELEYE SPAN - long-lived folk rockers, formed by Ashley Hutchings after leaving Steeleye Span. The"voice" of Steeleye, Maddy Prior, sang with Strawbs on the late 70s private pressing single "The King", remixed for 2003's Blue Angel. |
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AL STEWART - a graduate of the 60s London folk scene, clubs like Bunjies, Les Cousins and the Troubadour, with which the Strawbs wre very familiar. Al shared a stage with the Strawbs on a number of occasions. |
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TANNAHILL WEAVERS - a great traditional folk band still going strong |
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THE TROUBADOUR - a historic venue for the folk scene generally, at which such luminaries as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon all played, as have many many others in its long history. As far as Strawbs history is concerned, it is the place at which Cousins invited Sandy Denny to join the band. These days it remains a venue for unsigned bands, but the folk club which Cousins & Willoughby frequently played in their duo years no longer runs it would seem ... |