Grave New World

Infobox Album
Name = Grave New World
Type = studio
Artist = Strawbs


Released = February 1972
Recorded = November 1971
Genre = Folk rock, Progressive rock
Length = 36:31
Label = A&M, (UK)
Producer = Strawbs
Reviews =
*All Music Guide rating|4.5|5 [http://wc05.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:j9fpxq85ldje link]
Last album = "From the Witchwood
(1971)
This album = "Grave New World"
(1972)
Next album = "Bursting at the Seams"
(1973)
Misc = Singles
Name = Grave New World
Type = album
single 1 = Benedictus

"Grave New World" is a studio album by English band Strawbs. It was the first album to be released after the departure of Rick Wakeman, under circumstances about which band leader Dave Cousins was very bitter. Cousins has admitted that the track "Tomorrow" was written about Wakeman. Happily their friendship survived and the two have since performed and recorded together, releasing an album "Hummingbird" in 2002.

Wakeman's departure to join prog-rockers Yes caused a lot of predictions of Strawbs demise. Cousins was into the I Ching at the time and he asked the book what he should do. The answer was used in the lyrics for the first track on the album, "Benedictus".

Blue Weaver, late of Amen Corner, was recruited and considered by most fans to be a more than adequate replacement for Wakeman.

The album depicts the story of one man's life. For instance, the track "Hey Little Man" represents an older man giving advice to his young son. The songs themselves show the continuation of the movement away from Strawbs' original folk leanings. Founder member Tony Hooper began to be increasingly uncomfortable with this and left after the recording of this album.

The original vinyl album had lavish artwork and included a pamphlet showing the lyrics of each track together with details of instrumentation. The front cover is a reproduction of William Blake's "Glad Day".

Track listing

ide one

#"Benedictus" (Dave Cousins) – 4:24
#"Hey Little Man ... Thursday's Child" (Cousins) – 1:06
#"Queen of Dreams" (Cousins) – 5:32
#"Heavy Disguise" (John Ford) – 2:53
#"New World" (Cousins) – 4:11
#"Hey Little Man ... Wednesday's Child" (Cousins) – 1:06

ide two

#"The Flower and the Young Man" (Cousins) – 4:17
#"Tomorrow" (Cousins, Tony Hooper, Ford, Blue Weaver, Richard Hudson) – 4:49
#"On Growing Older" (Cousins) – 1:56
#"Ah Me, Ah My" (Hooper) – 1:24
#"Is It Today, Lord?" (Hudson) – 3:07
#"The Journey's End" (Cousins, Weaver) – 1:46

Bonus tracks

The following were featured as bonus tracks on the A&M 1998 reissue CD.

#"Here it Comes" (Cousins) – 2:42
#"I'm Going Home" (Cousins) – 3:14

"I'm Going Home" originally appeared on Dave Cousins's solo album "Two Weeks Last Summer". This track is the first occasion on which Dave Lambert recorded with the band. He had occasionally been appearing on stage for encores but after this album and the departure of Tony Hooper, Lambert joined the band full-time.

Personnel

*Dave Cousins – lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, dulcimer, recorder
*Tony Hooper – lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, autoharp, tambourine
*Blue Weaver – organ, piano, harmonium, mellotron, clavioline
*John Ford – lead vocals, backing vocals, bass guitar, acoustic guitar
*Richard Hudson – backing vocals, drums, sitar, tablas

with

*Trevor Lucas and Anne Collins – backing vocals on "Benedictus"
*Robert Kirby arranger ("Heavy Disguise")
*Tony Visconti arranger ("Ah Me, Ah My")

The track "Ah Me, Ah, My" credits "The Gentlemen of the Chorus" with vocals and "Tony Visconti's Old Tyme Dance Orchestra" (actually the Ted Heath Orchestra) as musicians.

Recording

Recorded mainly at Morgan Studios, London with additional work at Island Studios and Landsdowne Studios.

Produced by Dave Cousins, Richard Hudson, John Ford, Blue Weaver and Tony Hooper

*Tom Allom – engineer at Morgan Studios
*Martin Levan – assistant engineer
*Frank Owen - engineer at Island Studios
*John Macksmith - engineer at Landsdowne Studios
*Tony Visconti - producer, "Benedictus"
*Gus Dudgeon - original producer, "Ah Me, Ah My"

Release history

References

* [http://www.strawbsweb.co.uk/@f/f_gnw.htm "Grave New World" on Strawbsweb]
* [http://www.strawbsweb.co.uk/albtrack/gnw/gnw30.asp 30th anniversary article on Strawbsweb]
*Sleeve notes CD 540 934-2 "Grave New World"