31/01/2007

Strawbs - From The Witchwood (1971)

What more can be said about the Strawbs? On the net you can easily find thousands of pages about this band, one of the better (if not the best) folk-oriented progressive groups to emerge in England in the late 60s. From the Wichwood is one of the highest points in their long and glorious career. Here's a sample review from Progarchives:

«
From the Witchwood marked the start of the Strawbs transition in earnest from a primarily acoustic folk based band to a prog rock orientated band with strong folk influences. The album represents Rick Wakeman’s last venture with the Strawbs, before he was headhunted by Yes. […] Wakeman does manage to add some wonderfully dramatic effects to From the Witchwood, particularly with the menacing organ on The hangman and the Papist. The song is an incredibly powerful story of a hangman finding his next victim is to be his brother, who is to be punished for his religious beliefs. You can almost touch the raw emotion as Dave Cousins sings «forgive me God we hang him in thy name». The opening track, A Glimpse of Heaven has a hymnal quality to it, with church like organ and choir like vocals on the choruses. The brief keyboard solo has some effective phasing. […] The band’s folk influences come to the fore on tracks such as Witchwood, and In Amongst the Roses, while Cannondale and The shepherd’s Song have a deeper, more haunting structure. Sheep is an out and out rocker, with a great if brief organ solo by Wakeman, leading into a reflective ending. […] The closing [bonus] track I’ll carry on beside you is a great sing-a-long. […] In all, superb album, which finds the band exploring new pastures and starting their migration to a major prog folk band.»

Link in comments

8 comments:

DJ Radu said...

http://rapidshare.com/files/14174341/Strawitch.rar.html

Anonymous said...

terribly underated. it is the strawbs at their most haunting and cousins' lyrics weave a complex but beautifult tapestry.

Anonymous said...

I've come to this LP thanks for a recent discover on a secon hand's store. I purchased for 0.90 Euros the LP Hudson-Ford "Nickelodeon" that is full of the better pop-rock I've heard...
I've read that "From The Witchwood" showns the Strawb's "pop side", with some songs written by Ford.
Sure they have great talent to demonstrate this. Now, I'll discover it. Thanks a lot.

Anonymous said...

woo-hoo!! great!! thanks!!

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I've never heard this band, But I think they are really good, I used to hear another rock, but I THINK Folk rock, glam rock, progressive rock IS more amazing than any kind of music,thanks for the site,for me it is really good to know new bands here.

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