{"id":31742,"date":"2026-09-21T12:59:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T12:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/?p=31742"},"modified":"2026-09-21T12:59:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T12:59:45","slug":"witchwood-records-to-release-strawbs-grave-new-world-live-on-limited-edition-coloured-vinyl-october-23-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/2026\/09\/21\/witchwood-records-to-release-strawbs-grave-new-world-live-on-limited-edition-coloured-vinyl-october-23-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Witchwood Records To Release Strawbs \u2018Grave New World Live\u2019 On Limited Edition Coloured Vinyl October 23, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2022 One time only limited pressing<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The only live performance of ‘Grave New World’ in its entirety<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 A live realisation of Cousins’ vision for how his proudest work was to be experienced<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Produced and mixed by Larry Fast (Peter Gabriel, Bonnie Tyler, Kate Bush, Foreigner)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Mastered at Abbey Road Studios by Geoff Pesche (Gorillaz, Coldplay, New Order, Dire Straits)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 180g translucent red vinyl, gatefold outer sleeve, printed inner sleeve with deluxe trifold booklet<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In marking the death of David Cousins on 13 July 2025, Witchwood Records is absolutely delighted to announce the release of the first recording from Strawbs 50th Anniversary \u2013 \u2018Grave New World Live\u2019.  This will be released as a limited pressing, just 1,000 for the world, gatefold LP with booklet \u2013 presented libretto-style, as was the original studio album. This is the first of a series of recordings to be released from Strawbs 50th. This release captures the only ever concert rendition of this landmark record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grave New World, released on 4 February 1972, reached number 11 in the UK Albums chart, selling almost 100,000 copies in the UK alone. It was one of the albums of which David Cousins was most proud. He continued to perform songs such as New World and Benedictus throughout his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In developing Strawbs 50th Anniversary, to be held in Lakewood, New Jersey, USA from 26 April through 28 April 2019, David decided that the programme should include the only live performance of the album. As such, he invited Wesley Stace to collaborate with him in writing a narration for this \u2018theatrical performance\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Ford and Blue Weaver, both of whom had performed on the original album, were invited to take part. They were joined by Wesley Stace, Eric Bazilian (of the Hooters), Tony Fernandez, Brian Willoughby and Cathryn Craig. With only an afternoon\u2019s rehearsal, the performance took place on the early evening of 27 April. As would be the case for a theatrical performance or classical concert, the audience was asked not to applaud until the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the numbers that David sang, and Wesley\u2019s narration, John Ford sang Heavy Disguise and Wesley performed The Flower and the Young Man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David\u2019s ill health, together with COVID-19, meant that it wasn\u2019t possible for Grave New World Live to be completed as soon as he would have wished. Work had already been started by Larry Fast, a pioneer in electronic music production, and record producer Blue Weaver, before David\u2019s death in July 2025. In accordance with his wishes, this recording, on vinyl like the original, is now presented as the first major work from the 50th Anniversary. Unlike many \u201clive\u201d albums, however, the songs are heard as they were performed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track listing:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Benedictus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Hey Little Man Thursday<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Queen Of Dreams<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Heavy Disguise<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. New World<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Hey Little Man Wednesday<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. The Flower And The Young Man<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Tomorrow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. On Growing Older<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Ah Me Ah My<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. Is It Today Lord<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12. Journey\u2019s End<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13. Benedictus 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Released on Witchwood Records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dedicated to the life and work of David Cousins.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To pre-order:<\/strong> https:\/\/a.co\/d\/095UlkWa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Witchwood official website:<\/strong> https:\/\/witchwoodrecords.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2022 One time only limited pressing \u2022 The only live performance of ‘Grave New World’…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,2],"tags":[125,319],"class_list":["post-31742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-news","category-news","tag-prog","tag-strawbs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31744,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31742\/revisions\/31744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}