A few minutes with Dave Lambert by Judi Cuervo

DAVE LAMBERT

It was 2003.  I was standing in the drizzling rain outside New York City’s Bottom Line preparing to see Strawbs—Acoustic Strawbs, at least—for the first time in about 25 years.  I remember standing there thinking “This can’t really be my Strawbs” (that “acoustic” thing was throwing me).  And then walking down the street alongside a bearded gentleman that I later learned was Dick Greener, I saw Dave Lambert.  Maybe it was the streak in his hair, maybe it was the happy smile, maybe it was the memory of his electrifying guitar riffs or the seagull sounds during Autumn, but with one glance, I knew:  Yes, I’d be seeing Strawbs tonight.

And now, as we look forward to Strawbs’ 50^th Anniversary Weekend in April 2019, Dave is kind enough to talk about the event, his career and why the heck he’s just so nice….

Among the most highly-anticipated segments of Strawbs’ 50^th Anniversary Weekend is the first live orchestral performance of Oh, How She Changed, Strawbs’ very first single.   Although Tony Hooper originally did the vocals on that song, it has over the years firmly become a “Dave Lambert song” and a Strawbs signature.  Are you excited about performing it with the orchestral background?

DL: I wasn’t aware it will be the first time it’s been played live with an orchestra, that’s quite exciting isn’t it? We’ve played it with the acoustic band over the years and I always enjoy singing and playing it.

There’s a simplicity in the song structure which really appeals to me, and the orchestration doesn’t interfere with that simplicity. If we get the rhythm right, that’s the secret, it should end up sounding amazing.

Sadly, Fire will not be performing at the 50^th Anniversary but can we expect a few Fire songs during the weekend? 

DL: It’s a shame Fire won’t be there but I’ll certainly perform Father’s Name is Dad at some point.

There may be other Fire tunes, as well,  but I haven’t planned any as yet.

Some fans may not be aware of the very impressive history of Fire—the attention the band received from everyone from Moody Blues producer Tony Clarke to Paul McCartney!  Can you tell us a bit about that?

DL: Fire was born quite accidentally.  One Saturday night in 1966, I’d just come home from playing with a pipe-band and was looking forward to a night in front of the TV.  The phone rang and my old friend, drummer Bob Voice, was calling from The White Bear Pub to tell me the entertainment hadn’t shown.  He begged me to come down.  I wasn’t keen because I hadn’t played before a live audience in over a year and was out of practice but Bob finally persuaded me.  We played everything from heavy blues to Beatles and went down a storm and the next week we started running through some tunes in Bob’s garage.  Shortly after, we were very lucky to get Dick Dufall to join us on bass. Dick also sang and so did Bob so we spent as much time on our vocal arrangements as we did on the music.

The band was originally called Friday’s Chyld but the following year we changed it to Fire because the music was becoming quite heavy and we thought Friday’s Chyld seemed a bit too soft.  The first master tracks we recorded were Father’s Name Is Dad and Treacle Toffee World and they were produced by Tony Clarke who was producing The Moody Blues at the time (and continued to do so until 1979).  Those tracks led us to being offered a contract by Decca but they wouldn’t release Father’s Name Is Dad and Treacle Toffee World as a single and we were baffled!

One night, Mike Berry from Apple Publishing came to see us play in South London and, after the show, made it clear that he wanted to sign me to Apple Publishing as a songwriter—I signed the contracts the very next week.  Apple contacted Decca and advised them that Father’s Name Is Dad should be our first single and, in March 1968, it happened.  Shortly after the release, Apple called to say Paul McCartney loved the song but thought the recording could be improved so the following day we were back in the studio with Tony Clarke.  I sang a new lead vocal while Dick and Bob added extra harmonies and I added a high octave to the guitar riff.

I’m tremendously proud of that song.  I know of at least 20 cover versions and I’ve heard a number of musicians cite that song as an influence.  It simply doesn’t get better than that.

Our next project was The Magic Shoemaker in 1968, probably one of the earliest concept albums recorded.  It was a musical fairy tale and, coincidentally, included Dave Cousins on banjo.  I have no idea how many copies of The Magic Shoemaker were produced but I’ve always assumed it wasn’t many because it’s such a valuable record in the collector’s market.

Fire reunited briefly in late 2006.  It was catapulted by seeing a book that a fan in Rochester, New York showed me:  ‘THEN NOW AND RARE: BRITISH BEAT 1960-1969′ by TERRY RAWLINGS, which featured a full-page Fire spread. A second book “THOSE WERE THE DAYS: AN UNOFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE BEATLES’ APPLE ORGANISATION 1967-2001” by STEFAN GRANADOS also included a feature on the band.  We did a few gigs and also played Strawbs 40^th anniversary celebration in Twickenham.  As I said before, it’s a shame we won’t play the 50^th but logistics really prevents it.

Acoustic Strawbs, the “stripped down” version of Strawbs will be performing during the 50^th anniversary event.  To so many fans, you epitomize the electrifying rock & roll star so it makes us wonder if you enjoy performing acoustically or if your preference would be the more dynamic electric line up.

DL: We first performed as the trio Acoustic Strawbs in 2001 and we’ve toured worldwide ever since. I firmly believe that to be a good song it must be possible to reproduce it with a guitar and vocal only.

Not every great record is a great song.

That’s the principle we adopted for Acoustic Strawbs; strip the song back to its basic elements so as to rediscover the essence of the material.

It’s a very demanding format because there’s nowhere to hide; no guitar or vocal effects, it’s you a guitar and your voice. Yet, strangely, I get more satisfaction with the acoustic band, probably because it’s harder work. Of course I’ve always been more comfortable with electric bands.  After all, I’ve been doing that for well over fifty years and never fallen out of love with it.

 

Strawbs are probably among the most accessible and friendly of all iconic rock bands yet so often you’re singled out as the friendliest, “nicest guy.”.   Do you simply enjoy people or do you learn things from these interactions that you incorporate into your performance?

DL: Do you know I’ve never been able to understand, or tolerate, aloofness or unfriendliness.

For me it’s so much easier to interact with people in a warm way, you feel better for it and you learn a lot in the process.

A sea change for me was when they banned smoking inside venues. I started spending my rest periods outside the theatre having a smoke and, of course, I would be joined by like minded people who were there for the show. It led to me meeting and chatting with more people than ever before.