Dragonfly

Artist:

The Strawbs

UPC:

600753026809

See Also:

Cousins, Dave Denny, Sandy Stealers Wheel Wakeman, Rick

Description:

Personnel: Dave Cousins (vocals, guitar, dulcimer, piano, percussion); Tony Hooper (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, tambourine, percussion); Paul Brett, Paul Brett (guitar); Ron Chesterman (double harp, double bass); Claire Deniz (cello); Tony Visconti (recorder); Rick Wakeman (piano); Bjarne Rostvold (drums, drum).
Audio Remasterer: Paschal Byrne.
Recording information: Morgan Studios, London, England; Rosenberg Lydteknik, Copenhagen, Denmark; Trident Studios, London, England.
Illustrator: Roger Saunders.
Photographers: Philippa Clare; Barry Plummer.
Dragonfly was the second album to be released by the Strawbs, though much other material unissued in the late `60s that preceded it has since been made available. (In fact, earlier versions of two of the songs, "I Turned My Face into the Wind," and "Josephine, For Better or for Worse," appear on the archival releases Strawberry Music Sampler, No. 1 and Preserves Uncanned, respectively.) Dragonfly was also the only LP the band recorded with cellist Claire Deniz in the lineup. Though an attractive and competent record, it`s not as impressive as their debut. The songs aren`t as striking, and the arrangements -- even with the addition of a fourth full-time member in Deniz -- aren`t as effective as the mating of folk-rock, medieval, and classical music that characterized the best songs on the first album. It`s a more subdued effort, and not as grave in its mood, Deniz`s cello doing much to mellow the sound. Dave Cousins retained his appetite for epics, though, in the ten-minute "The Vision of the Lady of the Lake," which had piano by soon-to-be Strawb Rick Wakeman. When the fuzz guitar unexpectedly piles into the mix a few minutes into the track, joined by strange hissing background noises, it reaches a tense height that the rest of the record doesn`t match, though it`s an accomplished and pleasingly introspective dawn of `70s British folk-rock. ~ Richie Unterberger

Track Listing:

DISC 1

1. Weary Song, The
2. Dragonfly
3. I Turned My Face into the Wind
4. Josephine (For Better or Worse)
5. Another Day
6. `Til the Sun Comes Shining Through
7. Young Again
8. Vision of the Lady in the Lake, The
9. Close Your Eyes
10. We`ll Meet Again Sometime
11. Forever
12. Another Day - (live)
13. We`ll Meet Again Sometime - (live)

Album Information

Release Date:

08/04/2008

Type:

Performer

Genre:

Rock & Pop

Subgenre:

Art Rock

Label:

AM

Producer:

Tony Visconti; Tony Visconti

Catalog Number:

5302680

Original Release Year:

1970

# of Discs:

1

Studio/Live:

Studio

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