New World (Strawbs song)

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"New World"
Song by Strawbs
from the album Grave New World
Released February 1972 (1972-02)
Recorded November 1971 (1971-11)
Genre Progressive rock
Length4:11
Label A&M
Songwriter(s) Dave Cousins
Producer(s) Strawbs
Grave New World track listing
"Heavy Disguise"
(4)		 "New World"
(5)		 "Hey Little Man ... Wednesday's Child"
(6)

"New World" is a song by English band Strawbs written by Dave Cousins. The track first appeared on the Grave New World album.

England Country in north-west Europe, part of the United Kingdom

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Strawbs English rock band

Strawbs are an English rock band founded in 1964. Although the band started out as a bluegrass group they eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock, progressive rock, and (briefly) glam rock.

Dave Cousins singer, songwriter and musician from England

Dave Cousins is an English singer and songwriter, who has been the leader, singer and most-active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967.

Contents

Lyrical and musical content

The song is very much a companion piece of "The Hangman and the Papist" from the previous album From the Witchwood . It tells of conflict and divided families and, like the earlier song, was prompted by the troubles in Northern Ireland.

<i>From the Witchwood</i> 1971 studio album by Strawbs

From the Witchwood is the fourth album by English band Strawbs. It was recorded at Air Studios, London during February and March 1971 and reached number 39 in the UK Album Charts.

This is perhaps the first song from the band that could be described as progressive in instrumentation and arrangement, in particular the prominent mellotron brass and strings.

Progressive rock is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States throughout the mid to late 1960s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an outgrowth of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its "progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening, not dancing.

Mellotron musical instrument

The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It evolved from a similar instrument, the Chamberlin, but could be mass-produced more effectively. The instrument is played by pressing its keys, each of which presses a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, drawing it across a playback head. Then as the key is released, the tape is retracted by a spring to its initial position. Different portions of the tape can be played to access different sounds.

Release history

The song was released as a single in Japan instead of "Benedictus", which was relegated to the B-side.

"Benedictus" is a song by English band Strawbs featured on their 1972 album Grave New World.

A-side and B-side the two sides of 78, 45, and 33 1/3 rpm phonograph records and cassette capes

The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78, 45, and 33​1⁄3 rpm phonograph records, or cassettes, whether singles, extended plays (EPs), or long-playing (LP) records. The A-side usually featured the recording that the artist, record producer, or the record company intended to receive the initial promotional effort and then receive radio airplay, hopefully, to become a "hit" record. The B-side is a secondary recording that has a history of its own: some artists released B-sides that were considered as strong as the A-side and became hits in their own right. Others took the opposite approach: producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side.

Region Date Label Format Catalog
Japan 1972 A&M Records 7" single AM 135

Personnel

Singing act of producing musical sounds with the voice

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir of singers or a band of instrumentalists. Singers may perform as soloists or accompanied by anything from a single instrument up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Different singing styles include art music such as opera and Chinese opera, Indian music and religious music styles such as gospel, traditional music styles, world music, jazz, blues, gazal and popular music styles such as pop, rock, electronic dance music and filmi.

Acoustic guitar type of guitar

An acoustic guitar is a guitar that produces sound acoustically by transmitting the vibration of the strings to the air—as opposed to relying on electronic amplification (see electric guitar). The sound waves from the strings of an acoustic guitar resonate through the guitar's body, creating sound. This typically involves the use of a sound board and a sound box to strengthen the vibrations of the strings. In standard tuning the guitar's six strings are tuned (low to high) E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4.

Tony Hooper is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as a founder-member of Strawbs together with Dave Cousins and double bassist Ron Chesterman. He left The Strawbs in 1972 after their album Grave New World, when it became obvious that the band was moving further away from its folk roots towards rock and progressive rock. He rejoined for a 10-year stint in 1983. Hooper has been the guitarist in the Ceilidh & Barn-Dance Band Pitchfork since 1984, and is also a member of Misalliance.

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References


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