Dragonfly is The Strawbs second album and is more cohesive than their initial offering and also has the addition of Claire Deniz on cello, giving an unusual fusion of cello and acoustic guitars. While this certainly wasn’t the most commercially successful of the Strawbs output, but there are some real forgotten gems on this album. Some great songwriting (mainly by Dave Cousins) starting with the engaging ‘Weary song’ which has classic vocals and lyrics by Cousins, great double bass and a surprise bit of fuzz guitar. The title track is a great piece of poetry with a haunting medieval feel to the music. ‘I turned my face into the wind’ gives a great feel of what it’s like to out on the wild moors – another really haunting track. ‘Josephine, for better or for worse’ is a beautiful love song with an excellent acoustic guitar solo. ‘Another day begins’ is a more upbeat track with a bit of Spanish clapping, but some of Cousins’ best vocals well supported by Hooper. Side 2 starts with the lovely ‘Til the sun comes shining through’ which has a lovely folky sound and has Cousins’ and Hooper singing a round of the chorus. ‘Young again’ Hooper’s only solo composition is a bit light in comparison with the rest of the album and is completely over-shadowed by the following 10 minute epic. ‘The vision of the Lady of the Lake’ has 14 verses of great poetic storytelling with great emotional vocals from Cousins and develops a wonderful Fairport sound. This is a great album, often forgotten except by fanatical Strawbs’ supporters and this first issue is very collectible.
