Post by toomanyhatz on Jun 21, 2021 19:13:28 GMT
Just picked up a copy of Cousins' autobiography for cheap(ish). It's mostly going for hundreds of dollars, so when I saw a copy close to what it originally went for, I snapped it up. He's a good writer, and dishes just the right amount of dirt. Apparently he doesn't care for Burton Cummings much. He did coke for the first (and possibly last; he doesn't specify) time with John Bonham at the Continental Hyatt House (AKA "Riot House") in LA. He's generally generous toward the talents of those who passed through the band (still worships at the feet of Sandy Denny, seems to have oodles of respect for Wakeman despite their occasionally tempestuous relationship, and agrees with me that John Ford is one hell of a bass player) but is a bit less forthcoming about his love life, which is probably just as well since he seems to have been a bit of a jerk to his first wife.
Anyway, I know there won't be much traction here for a discussion about them, but they've always been a band that has fascinated me, despite how wildly inconsistent even their best records have been.
The timeline goes kind of like this:
Acoustic band doing traditional music (with bluegrass fan Cousins playing lightning runs on the banjo)
Early attempts at songwriting (influenced by Donovan)
Early recordings with Sandy Denny (featuring, imo, the best version of "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" ever)
First UK band signed to A&M, expensive first album produced by Gus Dudgeon
Wakeman joins, then Hudson and Ford from Velvet Opera, folk influence still present but more and more of a rock band
"Last folkie" Tony Hooper leaves and is replaced by Dave Lambert of "Father's Name is Dad" fame. Irrevocably a rock band now.
Hudson and Ford leave (after Cousins throws every bit of pool furniture at the LA hotel where they're staying into the pool in a legendary temper tantrum that cost him a few thousand pounds), band gets less poppy and more proggy
The 'new band' gets smaller and smaller in the UK and bigger and bigger in the US
Band leaves A&M, does two poor albums and one decent one (Cousins ranks 'em the opposite of how I do!)
Cousins, disillusioned with dwindling sales, semi-retires from music and gets a job as a radio programmer which is his career for the next 20 years give-or-take a few folk gigs and Strawbs reunions.
Acoustic Strawbs start playing regularly - in the book he mentions the gig at the Bottom Line in New York that I attended - John Ford was also there in the audience.
I'm not heavily into the prog side of what they do - though the lyrics are usually a step above, long on personal angst and short on hobbits and fairies - but I love their eclecticness, their experimentalism (Grave New World in particular strikes me as having George Martin as a guiding spirit) and (although I find there are a couple of stories that cause me to lose a little respect for him) Cousins' talent for self-examination in and aside from his songwriting.
This may just be a thread for me to talk about my love for this band, and if so, feel free to ignore. But if anyone has any thoughts about them or any of their incarnations, they're certainly welcome.
Anyway, I know there won't be much traction here for a discussion about them, but they've always been a band that has fascinated me, despite how wildly inconsistent even their best records have been.
The timeline goes kind of like this:
Acoustic band doing traditional music (with bluegrass fan Cousins playing lightning runs on the banjo)
Early attempts at songwriting (influenced by Donovan)
Early recordings with Sandy Denny (featuring, imo, the best version of "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" ever)
First UK band signed to A&M, expensive first album produced by Gus Dudgeon
Wakeman joins, then Hudson and Ford from Velvet Opera, folk influence still present but more and more of a rock band
"Last folkie" Tony Hooper leaves and is replaced by Dave Lambert of "Father's Name is Dad" fame. Irrevocably a rock band now.
Hudson and Ford leave (after Cousins throws every bit of pool furniture at the LA hotel where they're staying into the pool in a legendary temper tantrum that cost him a few thousand pounds), band gets less poppy and more proggy
The 'new band' gets smaller and smaller in the UK and bigger and bigger in the US
Band leaves A&M, does two poor albums and one decent one (Cousins ranks 'em the opposite of how I do!)
Cousins, disillusioned with dwindling sales, semi-retires from music and gets a job as a radio programmer which is his career for the next 20 years give-or-take a few folk gigs and Strawbs reunions.
Acoustic Strawbs start playing regularly - in the book he mentions the gig at the Bottom Line in New York that I attended - John Ford was also there in the audience.
I'm not heavily into the prog side of what they do - though the lyrics are usually a step above, long on personal angst and short on hobbits and fairies - but I love their eclecticness, their experimentalism (Grave New World in particular strikes me as having George Martin as a guiding spirit) and (although I find there are a couple of stories that cause me to lose a little respect for him) Cousins' talent for self-examination in and aside from his songwriting.
This may just be a thread for me to talk about my love for this band, and if so, feel free to ignore. But if anyone has any thoughts about them or any of their incarnations, they're certainly welcome.
