Exposé Online

RIP Dave Cousins

The sad news of the passing of Dave Cousins has reached us today. The founder of Strawbs was a talented songwriter coming out of the UK folk scene of the 60s who took his band and his music into a variety of progressive rock that garnered much success in the 70s. Cousins was 85.

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-07-14

In the mid-60s, Dave Cousins founded The Strawberry Hill Boys with Tony Hooper and Ron Chesterman. The group originally played bluegrass music, but soon began to focus on original songwriting, primarily that of Cousins. As part of the fertile London folk scene, they collaborated with singer Sandy Denny, recording the All Our Own Work album together in 1967. After Denny left to join Fairport Convention, the band recorded their self-titled debut album with production and arranging from Gus Dudgeon and Tony Visconti, moving into a mostly-acoustic folk-rock sound. For their third album, the trio added Rick Wakeman (keyboards), Richard Hudson (drums), and John Ford (bass), further incorporating rock sounds into their style.

After having a big UK hit with “Part of the Union” in 1972, the group emerged as one of the country’s most prominent progressive rock bands, though their music always charted its own course rather than following the lead of others such as Yes, Genesis, or Pink Floyd. The group remained at heart a singer-songwriter band, and the lyrics of Cousins and the others were always at the core of the music no matter how elaborate the arrangements became.

Strawbs remained active with varying personnel until 1980, when Cousins disbanded the group to concentrate on his work in radio. He had released his first solo album in 1972, and during the 80s and 90s collaborated with Brian Willoughby. Strawbs reconvened occasionally for performances over the next decade, finally returning to more-or-less steady activity in 1998 with both acoustic and electric configurations playing and recording.

Late in 2021, Cousins announced that health concerns would put an end to touring, and the final Strawbs performance occurred at the Cropredy Festival in 2023.

Dave Cousins was one of the most distinctive voices in folk or rock music, and leaves behind a legacy that is sure to stand the test of time.

Filed under: Obituaries

Related artist(s): Dave Cousins, Strawbs, Sandy Denny, Rick Wakeman, Dave Lambert, Hudson-Ford