[1] Their long-time leader and most active songwriter is guitarist and singer Dave Cousins (guitar, dulcimer, banjo, vocals) (born David Joseph Hindson, 7 January 1945, Hounslow, Middlesex).

While in Denmark in 1967, the Strawbs (Cousins, Tony Hooper and Ron Chesterman) with Sandy Denny recorded 13 songs for a proposed first album, All Our Own Work.

[2] This was produced and arranged by Gus Dudgeon and Tony Visconti, who also worked on their critically acclaimed first album, Strawbs (1969).

After the folk-tinged Dragonfly, Cousins and Hooper added Rick Wakeman on keyboards, Richard Hudson on drums, and John Ford on bass.

[1] The new line-up had their London debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, where they recorded their third album, Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios;[1] the Melody Maker reported on the concert with the headline "Tomorrow's superstar" in reference to Wakeman.

[1] This line-up produced what many feel to be the archetypal Strawbs album Grave New World, before yet another change, the departure of founding member Hooper, who was replaced by electric guitarist Dave Lambert, formerly of Fire and the King Earl Boogie Band.

[citation needed] Cousins and Lambert rebuilt the band, adding John Hawken (formerly of the Nashville Teens and Renaissance) on keyboards, Rod Coombes formerly with Stealers Wheel and Chas Cronk on bass.

This line-up recorded the 1974 Hero and Heroine and Ghosts, and tended to concentrate on the North American market with relatively little touring in the UK.

In a review in Rolling Stone in 1974, Ken Barnes wrote: "Strawbs moved from folkier days to a lush, stately and mellotron-dominated sound, with similarities to Yes, King Crimson and the Moody Blues.

"[8] Signed to the Deep Purple–owned Oyster label, they recorded two more albums with two keyboardists replacing Hawken – Robert Kirby, also known for his string arrangements (notably Nick Drake) and John Mealing of jazz-rock group If.

A reunion on Rick Wakeman's TV show Gas Tank in 1983 resulted in an invitation to re-form to headline 1983's Cambridge Folk Festival.

The Grave New World line-up plus Brian Willoughby (who had replaced Lambert when he left in 1978 during the making of Heartbreak Hill, and had also begun a partnership with Dave Cousins as an acoustic duo from 1979 onwards) went on from there to perform occasionally in the UK, the US and Europe over the next few years, replacing Weaver with Chris Parren from the Hudson Ford band and Ford himself (when he relocated to the US) with bass player Rod Demick.

The final of these – the Bursting at the Seams line-up plus Willoughby – became the ongoing version of the band, with annual tours in subsequent years.

The album spawned a number 19 hit in the UK singles chart, "Nice Legs, Shame About the Face", which featured a mildly risquė cover.

They dabbled with 1930s-style music in 1980 as High Society before returning to the pseudo-punk format of the Monks for a follow-up album released in Canada only, Suspended Animation, with the addition of Brian Willoughby on guitar and Chris Parren on keyboards.

The Hero and Heroine line-up toured again in 2007 in the UK, including gigs at the Robin 2 (Bilston), The Stables (Wavendon), and several locations in Southern and Southwestern England.

For these tours, Tony Fernandez (who played with Strawbs on Deadlines and Heartbreak Hill) was employed on drums, and John Young on keyboards.

The tour included a three-day event in Lakewood, New Jersey, featuring former members along with special guests/friends appearing (Annie Haslam, Larry Fast, Tony Visconti, Wesley Stace, and others).