SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: STRAWBS – STRAWBS 50 YEARS ON – GRAVE NEW WORLD LIVE

STRAWBS
STRAWBS 50 YEARS ON – GRAVE NEW WORLD LIVE
WITCHWOOD RECORDS

April 26 – 28, 2019, The Strand Theatre was the place to be in Lakewood, New Jersey, to celebrate 50 years of the Strawbs. It was an incredible weekend and that was filled with many surprises and treats for Strawbs fans, and yes I attended. One of the biggest surprises was the performance of Grave New World in its entirety, something that Dave Cousins really wanted to do. Strawbs 50 Years On – Grave New World Live is an exceptional live album.

Grave New World was originally released in 1972 and proved to be a turning point for Strawbs. With this album they moved away from their folk roots and went into a prog rock direction. While fans may have been taken by surprise, it proved to be a permanent move for the band as their music continued to be more prog and rock.

The performance captured on this live album included Dave Cousins, John Ford, and Blue Weaver who were on the original album. Helping them out were other members of Strawbs over the years (Brian Willoughby and Tony Fernandez), former Hooters member Eric Bazilian, Cathryn Craig (who provides wonderful vocals) and Wesley Stace who acted as narrator. They took the classic album and turned it into an incredible live event. This album gives one the chance to hear the moving and emotional show the band put on that night.

Cousins’ voice is strong and forceful. Listen to “New World.” It is, in some ways, more effective than the original studio recording. Cousins is feeling every word he is singing. And the audience was all the better for it.  Ford takes over as vocalist for his brilliant “Heavy Disguise.” The playing throughout is flawless with each member contributing their part, and more. “The Flower and the Young Man” comes off beautifully and is one of the several highlights of the original album and the show.

This was a performance of a lifetime. Cousins, who is no longer with us (he passed away last year) was not entirely well during the show, but he seemed to push that aside to be part of this magnificent event. He wrote most of the album, and Grave New World is now considered a classic prog-rock album and was hugely successful in the U.K. The songs stick close to the original with some additional guitar work, and the narration flushes out the original themes of the album.

Larry Fast produced Strawbs 50 Years On—Grave New World Live and has maintained the warmth of the original concert while having it sound clear and sharp. There is no crowd noise until after the encore of “Benedictus,” and then the cheering starts. It is an apt response to the perfect show. This is the first in, what is hoped, to be a series of concerts from that weekend. Listening to it now, seven years later, it is very bittersweet. It is so good to have but it brings to mind the loss of Cousins, who is so vey missed.

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