STRAWBSWEBNEWS - DECEMBER 2020

Sent by Dick Greener, 23 Dec 2020

Hi all

It's been a while since the last Strawbswebnews - so much so that I had to reconnect with the service which provides this free of charge! I wasn't able to get a message out about the passing of Tony Hooper, but I think most of you will have seen this sad news either on Facebook or Strawbsweb - there have been a lot of heartwarming tributes and I hope it will be some comfort to his family to know that he was so well liked and valued.

Main news is of course the new album Settlement, due for release on 21 Feb 2021, which was announced last Friday (4 Dec). More details below, and a preview review to follow.

But there's also news of a brand new feature on Strawbsweb - a masssive timeline, taken from a combination of research I did back in the late 90s at the British Library and Dave Cousins' diaries, along with a whole bunch of other stuff.

It's going to be a strange holiday season, with various parts of the world locked down and normal life suspended, but I wish you all the best for the holidays and hopefully for a better 2021 than 2020 turned out to be!

Keep safe and well

Dick
====

Contents
--------
* Settlement - due 21 Feb 2021
* Tony Hooper
* Strawbs Timeline
* Other release news
* Support your local music venue

============================
SETTLEMENT - DUE 21 FEB 2021
============================

NB This album is being released both on 180gm vinyl and on CD (the CD release has three extra tracks). For track details, see the Settlement album page. Preview review to follow.

NBB You can pre-order this now - as with previous Esoteric releasess, pre-orders will get an exclusive signed postcard with their order.

Pre-ordering details:
CD: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/strawbs-settlement-cd-edition
180g Vinyl LP: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/strawbs-settlement-180g-vinyl-lp

For a track listing, see www.strawbsweb.co.uk/albtrack/settle/settle.asp

Esoteric Records press release
------------------------------
"Settlement is the latest album produced by Strawbs, more than 50 years on from the band's first major label release. The album comes at a time of political and social upheaval, which the lyrics and melodies of the songs reflect. Undeterred by the fact that "business as usual" was not possible because of the global COVID-19 pandemic - working remote from one another, from their own home studios - Settlement is a remarkable achievement.

David Cousins, leader of the Strawbs says: "Settlement is something extraordinary. I can't think of another band who can go from metal grunge to the lilt of an Irish ghost story - or from a song in 6/8 time to singing in 4/4 over a 5/4 backbeat - in half an hour." He goes on to say: "The lyrics reflect the times we have been living through: 'Once we went dancing through quicksilver days', or 'What the autocrats are selling you is Sturm und Drang', or 'All bear witness, come together, we are everyone'. I'm immensely proud of what we've achieved."

Settlement is produced by Blue Weaver who played with Strawbs and Bee Gees in their 1970s heydays. The recording was coordinated from Blue's studio in Germany, where he now lives. Strawbs are David Cousins, Dave Lambert, Chas Cronk, Dave Bainbridge, and Tony Fernandez who last played together at Strawbs' 50th Anniversary Weekend in Lakewood, New Jersey in April 2019.

Strawbs' guests on Settlement are John Ford, another former member of Strawbs, who lives in New York, Cathryn Craig, with her lovely voice and unmistakable Southern lilt, who lives in Northern Ireland, and bass player Schalk Joubert, with whom David Cousins performed in South Africa at the beginning of the year.

Blue Weaver sums it up: 'Strawbs dusted off their instruments and set up the necessary technology to make it happen - ranging from state-of-the-art recording equipment to an ironing board! It is unprecedented that a recording of this quality could be made without a single face to face meeting. There comes a time when every Settlement is due!'"

===========
TONY HOOPER
===========

The Hooper family have set up a page to celebrate Tony's life:
https://tonyhooper.muchloved.com/

There are some rare photos of Tony and an opportunity to donate to the hospice which looked after him at the end and to contribute your thoughts and wishes.

Obituaries have appeared in both the Times and the Telegraph, which have been posted on Facebook and Strawbsweb.

================
STRAWBS TIMELINE
================

This is a collection of nearly 4000 dates in the Strawbs' history, which I hope will be of interest to Strawbs fans, particularly for those with a bit more time on their hands than they expected to have over Christmas.

The project started when I researched the British Library's archive of music papers, held at the then-new BL in Euston Road. I went across to Kensington, behind the Royal Albert Hall, where I thought the archive was based. However, it had moved to the new British Library building in Euston Road, so I headed off there and queued for a reader's ticket. Several people in front of me were rejected because they could find the material they wanted elsewhere. I stepped forward and said "I want to read old copies of the Melody Maker, Sounds and NME" and was immediately accepted as a serious academic!

There followed months of happy Saturdays spent at the BL (a nice place to work), turning the fragile pages of real copies of those papers, many of which I had bought, owned and foolishly disposed of - a real treat. I came away with a timeline of the Strawbs' history, finding the earliest mention I could of the Strawberry Hill Boys in the MM's gig pages (24 Sep 1963), and many things besides, with the intention of using them to write a book about the band. I did some preliminary work, about 120,000 words, and several interviews with band members, but somehow it never seemed to come together. Maybe one day ….
Step forward many years, when Dave started writing his autobiography, I sent him my timeline research. It then turned out that he had kept many of his diaries over the years, and they included a huge amount of info about gigs and his activities, which complemented my research. He produced a combined timeline, which we originally thought we'd include as an appendix to the book "Exorcising Ghosts" - however it became clear that the book was already a substantial tome, and the timeline material would be far too bulky, so it could not be included.

A little while back, I did some pages for Strawbsweb to cover a few early years, using some of Dave's work and mine, but stalled after I covered 1971, thinking something more was needed (also there was a lot of stuff not covered by either of us which needed inclusion from various other sources which had emerged, for which many thanks are due - see below).

As we headed into lockdown in March 2020 during the current Covid-19 crisis, I started a new project - a database which would hold all this information and spit out pages for inclusion on the website. There's lots of other date info been added from Strawbsweb itself, from the old Strawbs Info Service newsletters and elsewhere.

After months of work, the Timeline is now ready to be made public. Starting out as a list of just gigs it's now become something bigger, with the inclusion of release dates, recording dates and TV and radio dates, as well as seminal events in the Strawbs' history (eg the meeting where A&M rejected the first album). I think it is a true timeline feature, with nearly 4000 pieces of information, some just bare details of a show, others with commentary, and a selection of images to embellish what would otherwise be a very text-heavy page.

It'll never be finished, and I'll keep adding to it over the months to come, but you can’t wait for these things to be complete or they'll never see the light of day. I hope Strawbs fans enjoy reliving things they recall (vaguely - or maybe with crystal clarity), and if they aren't there, please let me know. Corrections and additions always welcome.

Please note however - this compilation of information is © Strrawbsweb and represents a huge investment of my time and energy - prreviously published timeline info included on Strawbsweb has been lifted and included elsewhere online without permission. This material should not be reproduced elsewhere - please include a link to these pages insteadd. Thank you.

==================
OTHER RELEASE NEWS
==================

Just in case anyone has missed them, Mooncrest released Strawbs Live In Concert (a 2CD and 1DVD set comprising both CD and DD versions of 2008's Lay Down With The Strawbs, recorded at The Robin 2 at Bilston in 2006 and Best of Strawbs Live, a 180gm vinyl selection of the key tracks from that concert.

Details at:

Live - https://www.strawbsweb.co.uk/albtrack/live20/live20.asp
Best Of Live - https://www.strawbsweb.co.uk/albtrack/best20/best20.asp

==============================
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MUSIC VENUE
==============================

I have news from Charles Jarrells, that one of my favourite venues in the US - The Strand Theater in Lakewood, which hosted and helped to orgaanise the Strawbs 50th anniversary celebrations - is seeking help to survive. I have visited the Strand on a number of times and it really is a splendid venue, which ought to survive. The letter goes as follows:

"Subject: A Plea for Help
Dear Friends of The Strand,
As you know in early March, based on the Governor's declaration of a State of Emergency, we cancelled or postponed shows, which we had to do month by month. Most of our staff was furloughed.
We are asking for donations during this pandemic via our website donate button, no amount is too small.
The Strand is a not-for-profit organization and we rely on the generosity of our patrons to offset expenses and keep the National Historic Landmark open. We know times are tough but if you are able, we humbly ask that you consider making a tax deduction donation to our jewel of Ocean County.
With your support, we can make it!
Donating is easy, simply go www.strand.org and click the donate button or to the drop-down menu. A check can be mailed to Strand Ventures, Inc. 400 Clifton Avenue, Lakewood, New Jersey 08701.
Thank you for your continued support.
With warmth and gratitude,
The Strand"

Of course there are many other enterprises which support and cherish live music, and, without our help, a number of which may not survive the current pandemic, making our lives less joyful when this awful period in our lives is over. By all means support the Strand, but, equally, please give some thought if you have not already done so, to support your favourite venue(s) to help then get through this bleak time.

Thank you.

[ends]
DICK GREENER
STRAWBSWEB- www.strawbsweb.co.uk
"You'll scarcely believe all the pleasures inside..."