Reflections on ‘The Magic of It All’ by Strawbs
The Magic of It All is a memorable album. It is also a handbook for making memories by turning everyday minutiae into meaningful memes. It is the latest studio album by a band formed in the mid sixties and just about to perform their last ever gig. Once upon a time the Strawbs were a duo billed (in September 1963 at the Grand Theatre in Blackpool) as ‘David and Anthony’ before becoming a trio as ‘The Strawberry Hill Boys’ colloquially truncated to ‘Strawbs’, a name that has stuck through seven decades, a multitude of members, and a musical metamorphosis from contemporary folk via progressive rock to what we might simply call contemporary music.
Present from day one – with the exception of a couple of aimless gigs when the band temporarily fractured and folded in 1980 – has been David Cousins. He has, during that time, also appeared as a solo artist and made ‘solo’ albums none of which were entirely solo. For health reasons, David will make his final public appearance at Cropredy on 11th August 2023. That will be the Strawbs’ final gig.
This latest (and last?) Strawbs record was made at the invitation of South Africa documentary maker, Niel van Deventer and recorded mostly in Cape Town in October 2022.
News of its recording stirred dust clouds among some Strawbs fans as a consequence of the personnel taking part. Only three former Strawbs were involved with the writing, recording and producing of the album. There is nothing unusual about this; it has happened many times before. Just a Collection of Antiques & Curios (1971) Hero & Heroine (1974) and Don’t Say Goodbye (1987) were all made with just two band members carried over from the previously released Strawbs albums. One can appreciate, however, how some long-standing recent players may have felt somewhat irked at not being involved. The reasons are not pertinent to our appreciation of the music, and neither are they any of our business.
Fresh Strawbs
The Magic of It All album is, quite deliberately, a retrospective; but cleverly and ironically, the retrospection is all new. Some of the lyrics look back, and the music from time to time resonates with previous recordings, but not in a laboured or indulgent way.
It is quite likely that some of the past echoes are accidental, or subliminally created, or subjective on the part of this listener. The satisfaction, melancholy, regret and celebration are tangibly there, but equally, there is the enthusiastic prompting to seize this day and make future ones more graspable. It is a retrospective with one eye firmly on the future. The message is sometimes blatant, sometimes enigmatic, never banal and nearly always meaningful.
Is it a typical Strawbs album? No – but then, find me a typical Strawbs album. The music has continuously evolved which is something Cousins has said categorises the band far more correctly than any genre label. I have to say, though, that if the lead vocal is removed, this assortment doesn’t really sound very much like a Strawbs album at all. It doesn’t sound like an album by a band – it sounds instead like an album by a collective of musicians and vocalists; a very good collective indeed. I really like it. Though some parts are more memorable than others.
Track by track impressions
Ready (Are We Ready) (Cousins)
The opening track has echoes rhythmically of Judgement Day from the previous album and vocally of The Nails from the Hands of Christ from the album prior to that. It is the least impressive track on this album, solid and steady rather than innovative. It is culturally narrow in comparison with the remainder of the album. There is some enigma in the lyrics and the song may have a more impressive impact if played live – something not likely to happen often. It is the least creative constituent of this collection and it doesn’t quite capture the call to arms of the Strawbs’ halcyon days. The soft pedal of maturity tempers the angry young guts somewhat. The eponymous hook line is swallowed rather than stretched, and the song is a couple of metaphors short of a clear connotation, which left me wondering what it was I might be ready for.
The Magic of It All (Cousins)
The second track is on much more generally palatable ground and sets some of the fundamental moods and philosophies of the ensuing works. The words harp back to former times, documenting the band’s past glories and misadventures. It is a song from the memory of the heart and as such has a tenacious authority.
All Along the Bay (Cousins / Weaver)
This is the first of the truly surprising tracks. It is an uplifting sing-along ditty not dissimilar to some songs from Cousin’s post-2000 output, but in style and mood it stands joyously alone. A saxophone has not featured on any Strawbs track prior to this recording as far as I can detect, but its use here and subsequently on Slack Jaw Alice works well. Personally, I’m glad it hasn’t appeared before, and while it suits this collection – let’s leave it there, shall we?
Everybody Means Something to Someone (Cousins)
This is a gentle, deeply moving song with unusually blatant vocabulary. There are beautifully mixed musical surges that operate as a kind of emotional echo. The message is simple and clear and lingers long after the haunting spoken and sung conclusion.
Our World (Cousins / Ford)
This is the most Strawbs-like song in terms of the blend of lyrics and accompaniment but it is startlingly different to anything that has preceded this album due to the timbre of the glorious female backing voices. There is a clearly discernible crisp, youthful, feminine, African tone to them which is exquisite in quality and ancient in authority. That vocal component is evident on several tracks and it is one of the absolute delights of this album.
The Time Has Come (For Giving Back) (Cousins)
The lyrics take a less allegorical turn in this protest song. Here too, the choral backing adds a sweet blade to the sentiment. There are thematic echoes of the folk-rock heyday of the early seventies stuff. The guitar solo, tastefully mixed, resonates with the instrumental electric strands that typified the move from folk influences to more progressive material.
Slack Jaw Alice (Cousins)
This is a tongue-in-cheek dig with bite. It is sugar-coated sarcasm set to a jaunty beat. The sax sets it apart from similar coded observations that came stinging down the years and the communiqué leads us geographically seamlessly into…
Paris Nights (Cousins)
This is another track like no other Strawbs recording, though some recent tracks such as Bats & Swallows from The Ferryman’s Curse (2017), have evoked aspects of continental Europe. It is not many conceptual miles from Deadly Nightshade on the 1978 Deadlines album, or Barcarole for the Death of Venice from Burning for You (1977). It draws down the images of the City of Love depicted in the popular culture of the mid-twentieth century and as such builds an Eiffel triumph.
Wiser Now (Cousins / Weaver)
This slides nicely from the atmosphere of the previous track into another reflection, this one apparently on several levels: musical, emotional and intellectual. That is the perennial trinity on which Cousins’ work is founded and the slow tender delivery of this song along with a splendidly sympathetic accompaniment creates a damp-eyed ambience.
The final two tracks are not on the vinyl version of the album, which is a shame. Vinyl fetishists will not be troubled by Christmas Ghosts at unseasonable times, but they will tragically miss out on the wondrous delights of…
The Lady of the Night (Cousins)
This is, without a doubt, the most charming track on the album, not least because of the backing vocals that are so sweetly sung and delicately mixed. The naughty-but-nice ambience created by those vocalists is supreme. They evoke a knowingly conspiratorial joy. This song is not the most meaningful lyrically (but perhaps more than initially apparent) but it is a wonderfully enriching song, so untypical of Strawbs, but splendidly suited to the oeuvre.
Christmas Ghosts (Cousins / Ford)
The problem with Christmas music is that it’s welcome for six weeks of the year. This track is commercial enough to provide the band with a last-minute present if attached to a seasonal produce promotion. If you know anyone in the marketing business give them a nudge. Cousins and Ford deserve it. They’ve been good boys. Honestly.
The Likeness:
Is it the singer, or his likeness
Hanging in the gallery?
David Cousins, Hanging in the Gallery, 1975
For me, and others, this album sits far more comfortably as a David Cousins collaborative opus than a Strawbs record. That is not a negative criticism. Two Weeks Last Summer and The Boy in the Sailor Suit rate very highly in my estimation, and much higher than some Strawbs albums. This is up there close to them. It is a really enjoyable assembly of quality music. With the exception of the opening track, the songs here will appeal to a much wider audience than any of the previous band-branded records.
Cousins’ creative canon can be thought of as a doppelganger in disguise. He draws deeply and honestly from his life experience which he then costumes with poetry and melody. He has always offered us truthful glimpses of heaven and hell as he perceived them, and those perspectives change as a person travels towards their journey’s end. The Magic of It All is the latest audible view. It’s lovely, thought-provoking and moving, and continuously rewards repeated listening.
Links
For much more information visit the STRAWBS OFFICIAL WEBSITE.
I have explained my overall appreciation for this band in Savouring Strawbs and reviewed the first thirteen albums by them at monthly intervals from Strawbs: Strawbs onwards.
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