''Blue Angel'' is the 15th studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

band

Strawbs Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known fo ...

. It was the first Strawbs album in 12 years to contain new material and featured several different line-ups of musicians from past Strawbs eras. Welsh folk-singer

Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists ...

featured on many tracks, continuing a working partnership established by Dave Cousins and Brian Willoughby on their album ''The Bridge'', from which several of the tracks on this album are drawn. The track "Blue Angel" is a rearrangement of the track which appears on Dave Cousins' first solo album ''

Two Weeks Last Summer ''Two Weeks Last Summer'' is the first solo album by Dave Cousins, singer and guitarist from the Strawbs. It was released in 1972 on A&M Records. Track listing All songs written by Dave Cousins #"Two Weeks Last Summer" – (3:07) #"October to ...

''. "Lay Down" is a re-recorded version of the hit single from ''

Bursting at the Seams ''Bursting at the Seams'' is the fifth studio album by English band Strawbs, released on 1 January 1973 by A&M Records. It was the first album to be released after the departure of founder member Tony Hooper and the recruitment of Dave Lambert. ...

''. "Sealed With a Traitor's Kiss" is a rearrangement of a track which appears on 1978 studio album '' Deadlines''. The bonus track is the original 1979 version - also released as a single - of a track which later appeared on the 1991 studio album ''

Ringing Down the Years ''Ringing Down the Years'' is the fourteenth studio album by English band Strawbs. The album was released initially only in Canada. Because of the record company's request that a Canadian song be included on the album (in order to facilitate Cana ...

''.

Reception

Jimmy James in an

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review feels that the album returns to the band's Seventies music style, particularly in its "combination of folk-rock and progressive rock melodies and arrangements".

Track listing

#"Blue Angel" (

Dave Cousins Dave Cousins (born David Joseph Hindson; 7 January 1945) is an English musician who has been the leader, singer and most-active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967. Career Cousins is a founder member of the Strawbs, which started out as the S ...

) – 11:13 #:"Divided" #:"Half Worlds Apart" #:"At Rest" #"Oh So Sleepy" (Cousins) – 3:44 #"Further Down the Road" (Cousins) – 3:25 #"There Will Come the Day" (Cousins,

Don Airey Donald Smith Airey (born 21 June 1948) is an English musician who has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, after the retirement of Jon Lord. He has had a long and productive career, playing with such acts as Gary Moore ...

) – 6:05 #"Strange Day Over the Hill" (Cousins) – 3:56 #"Cry No More" (Cousins,

Brian Willoughby Brian Willoughby (born 20 September 1949) is a British guitarist. He has worked with many musicians, notably Dave Cousins and The Strawbs, Mary Hopkin, as well as releasing solo work. Discography (UK releases unless stated otherwise) Albums ...

) – 3:18 #"The Plain" (Cousins) – 5:48 #"Do You Remember" (Cousins, Willoughby) – 3:12 #"Rhythm of the Night" (Cousins) – 3:19 #"Morning Glory" (Cousins) – 4:52 #"Sealed With a Traitor's Kiss" (Cousins) – 2:57 #"

Lay Down "Lay Down" is a single by the Strawbs which reached No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart in October 1972 - their first hit. It was included on their 1973 album ''Bursting at the Seams''. The lyrics are loosely based on the 23rd Psalm in the Old Testa ...

" (Cousins) – 4:09 ;Bonus track #"The King" (Cousins) – 2:38

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(11) *

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

* Dave Lambert – electric guitar (2,9), vocals (2,9) *

Blue Weaver Derek John "Blue" Weaver (born 11 March 1947) is a Welsh rock keyboardist, session musician, songwriter and record producer. Career Weaver's career as a musician began as a co-founding member of 1960s Welsh rock band Amen Corner and its succ ...

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

(except 11 and 13), programming (4),

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

(10) *

Andy Richards Andrew John Richards (born 26 October 1952) is a British-Australian pianist, composer, music producer and keyboardist. The artists he has played with include Frankie Goes to Hollywood, George Michael, Propaganda, Grace Jones, Rush, Annie Lenno ...

– keyboards ("The King") *Rod Demick – backing vocals (1,4,5,12),

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(1,4,5,12),

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

(5) *

Chas Cronk Chas Cronk is an English musician, best known as the bass player and acoustic guitarist for the Strawbs from 1973 to 1980 and again from 2004 to the present. Chas also toured and recorded with Steve Hackett and Rick Wakeman in the 1980s and C ...

– bass guitar (2,3,6,8,9,10,"The King"), backing vocals (4,9,"The King"),

bass pedals Bass pedals are an electronic musical instrument with a foot-operated pedal keyboard with a range of one or more octaves. The earliest bass pedals from the 1970s consisted of a pedalboard and analog synthesizer tone generation circuitry packaged ...

(7), programming (7,8) * Richard Hudson – backing vocals (1,4,5,12),

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(1,5,12) *

Rod Coombes Rodney Coombes (born 15 May 1946) is an English musician. He was mostly known from playing drums with British bands Stealers Wheel in 1972 to 1973 and again in 2008 and Strawbs from 1974 to 1977 and again from 2004 to 2010. Career He has pla ...

– drums (2,9) * Tony Fernandez – drums (3,10,"The King"),

tom-toms A tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, though floor toms can go as l ...

(7) ;Additional personnel *

– vocals (1,3,4,6,8,10,12) *Cathryn Craig – vocals (4) *Terry Cassidy – vocals (4) *Jana Heller – vocals (9) *Roy Hill – vocals (9) *Tommy Lundy – vocals (9) *

Maddy Prior Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police dr ...

– vocals ("The King") *

Rick Kemp Frederick Stanley 'Rick' Kemp (born 15 November 1941) is an English bass player, guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with the British folk rock band Steeleye Span. Projects In the 1960s, he shot to prom ...

– vocals ("The King")

Recording

*Dave Cousins, Brian Willoughby, Chas Cronk – producers *Mixed by Dave Cousins and Kenny Denton at KD's Studio,

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

Recording

Release history

References

External links