Strawbs - Bursting at the Seams. Release date: Feb 1973 (ads appeared in music papers dated 10 Feb 1973 saying album released "this week"). Had been scheduled for 26 Jan 1973 but was delayed by production difficulties. With Dave Lambert replacing Tony Hooper and bringing a new rock-based dynamic to the band, the Strawbs scored an instant chart hit with "Lay Down", followed by their number 2 UK hit single, "Part Of The Union". The band courted pop success with several apearances on Top Of The Pops and flirted with the current glam-rock trend wearing make-up and flamboyant stage clothes. Letters to Melody Maker accused Strawbs of "selling out", vehemently denied by Dave Cousins.
The album, which carried on the musical journey towards rock, also reached number 2 in the UK album charts, including some all-time Strawbs classics such as "Down By The Sea", "The River", "Stormy Down" and "Tears And Pavan", as well as Dave Lambert's splendid "The Winter And The Summer" and Hud and John's "Lady Fuschia". A 52 date tour of the UK in early 1973 saw them reaching a newer, younger audience. The stage show included some comedy material - Lambert's "Bovver Blues" and a camped up impersonation of Little Jimmy Osmond by Hud - which eventually grated on Cousins, who made his feelings known in uncompromising fashion, singing the bitter "A Song For Me" at the band's April London showcase at the Rainbow. Afterwards, they embarked upon a gruelling second US tour, and the album title proved prophetic with the group splitting asunder after things came to a head in Los Angeles. From: https://www.strawbsweb.co.uk/albtrack/bats/bats.asp
Bursting at the Seams by Strawbs: With Tony Hooper departed, and Dave Lambert on board, the last of the Strawbs traditional folk influences (excepting Cousins of course) had gone. This was the album which broke the Strawbs to the masses, containing as it did, two hit singles. "Lay down" is a good burst of Dave Cousins at his most commercial, a light but enjoyable sing along. The less said about the pop song "Part of the union" the better. It was admittedly a massive hit single, but it misrepresented what the Strawbs were all about, the band were I trust embarrassed all the way to the bank! In defense of Dave Cousins, the song was really a Hudson-Ford track, the rest of the band appearing to have little to do with it performance wise. Lyrically the track was quite satirical, taking a swipe at the power of the trade unions in the UK. It was completely misunderstood by many union activists, who adopted it as their anthem (a bit like the way Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" was completely misunderstood by some).
These two tracks aside, there is a lot of excellent stuff on the album. The opening two tracks, "Flying" and "Lady Fuschia" are both melodic and well structured, "Flying" having several contrasting sections. "Down by the sea" is as close as the band came to symphonic prog, complete with an infectious chiming guitar theme, with an orchestral backing. The following track, "The river" features one of Cousins occasional divergences into "adult" themes, which he always seems to approach with schoolboy fascination, great track though. When performed live, the band always reverse the order of these tracks, the climax to "The river" giving way to the wonderful guitar theme of "Down by the sea". In doing so, the tracks effectively become a wonderful 10 minute two part piece.
"Tears and Pavan" is two distinct songs, which merge into a single piece rather beautifully. The echoed vocal refrain on the first section and mellotron backing make for a pleasantly emotional feel, while "Pavan" provides an Elizabethan harpsichord link to a slightly more upbeat latter half. Whether this line up with Lambert or the previous one with Hooper which recorded "Grave New World" (or indeed the one with Rick Wakeman which made "From the Witchwood") represents the "classic" Strawbs line up, will always be a source of debate. We should therefore satisfy ourselves with the thought that though band members came and went, the Strawbs made many classic albums. From: https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=2895
