Strawbs in concert from London. Recorded for BBC Radio 1’s In Concert Series in 1974.
Starting off the week on a sad note – founding member and guiding light for Strawbs, Dave Cousins died on July 13th at 85. He had been in poor health since 2021 when he officially retired from performing, save for a one-off gig in 2022.
Strawbs may not ring a lot of bells with people unless they were around at the time, or have been fans of Progrock for a while.
They actually began life as a folk outfit, gradually sliding into more folk-rock and, with the inclusion of Rick Wakeman (later of Yes), took a decided turn for the Progressive in the early 70’s. It was there that they achieved their biggest success and it was during this time that this concert was recorded. During this period they toured with Supertramp, another band also on A&M but also a band Strawbs were compared to in musical style
But the 70s were very much up-in-the-air musically, with shifting genres and tastes the initial incarnation of Strawbs broke up in 1980. Even though they had achieved a breakthrough success in the U.S. and Canada, their own shifting styles and personnel changes resulted in a split with some members going off to form or join other groups. But in 1983 a new incarnation of Strawbs formed and remained relatively active until 2004 when members of the 1974-era band reunited and continued until 2019.
With the exception of a brief period when Dave Cousins took a turn for solo (and off-and-on since), he was indelibly linked as a founding member of Strawbs and rejoined the band during this final period when he finally left for health reasons in 2021.
On 11 August 2023, Strawbs gave their final live show and farewell gig at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention 2023.
Dave Cousins died at the Pilgrims Hospice in Canterbury, on 13 July 2025, at the age of 85.
As a reminder – Strawbs as they were in 1974.
