Grave New World

Grave New World is the fourth studio album by English band Strawbs, their fifth overall. 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.

For the Discharge album, see Grave New World (Discharge album). For the episode of Pretty Little Liars, see Grave New World (Pretty Little Liars).

Grave New World
Studio album by
Strawbs
ReleasedFebruary 1972
RecordedNovember 1971
GenreFolk rock, progressive rock
Length36:31
LabelA&M (UK)
ProducerStrawbs
Strawbs chronology
From the Witchwood
(1971)		 Grave New World
(1972)		 Bursting at the Seams
(1973)
Singles from Grave New World
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideD[2]

Wakeman's departure to join prog-rockers Yes prompted many 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. Founding member Tony Hooper began to be increasingly uncomfortable with this and left after the recording sessions 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.

The album reached number 11 in the UK Album Charts.[3][4]

Track listing

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

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

Bonus tracks

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

  1. "Here it Comes" (Cousins) – 2:42
  2. "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
Additional personnel
  • 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 Mackswith – engineer at Landsdowne Studios
  • Tony Visconti – producer, "Benedictus"
  • Gus Dudgeon – original producer, "Ah Me, Ah My"

Release history
Region Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom February 1972 (1972-02) A&M stereo LP AMLH 66078
United States February 1972 (1972-02) A&M stereo LP SP 4344
Japan 1987 (1987) A&M/Canyon CD D32Y3578
South Korea 1997 (1997) Si-Wan CD SRMC 0075
Worldwide 1998 (1998) A&M remastered CD 540,934-2
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References

Notes
  1. Grave New World at AllMusic. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 13 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. UK Top 40 database Archived 18 July 2007 at WebCite. everyHit.com retrieved on 16 December 2008
  4. "STRAWBS | Artist | Official Charts". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
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