Witchwood: The Very Best of

This is an excellent collection and the very best single disc compilation of the band. It would be a good introduction for someone who wants to hear what the Strawbs were all about. For reasons I can't fathom "Tokyo Rosie" is included in this collection which is not a very good song by Strawbs standards. "A Glimpse of Heaven" or "Shepherds Song" or almost anything from their first 7 albums would've been smarter sequencing in my opinion. "So Shall Our Love Die" from the same album that spawned "Rosie" would've been an excellent choice.I have four Strawbs compilations; two single disc and two double disc and "Rosie" makes an appearance on three out of four of them. In truth, I believe it is on all four compilations. It must be a Cousins' favorite. Never mind that. If the Strawbs were a band you are at all curious about "Witchwood" would be a great place to start. Nearly every song is a classic Strawbs song and if this disc tickles your fancy, there are at least 7 more that you will enjoy immensely.Start with "Grave New World" or "Bursting At the Seams." Go backwards and get "From the Witchwood" the disc from which this current compilation takes its name. Then pick up "Hero and Heroine" or "Nomadness." I also love their first two releases, the eponymous "Strawbs" followed by "Dragonfly" but these discs are more folk oriented and less Rocky than the aforementioned discs. I think once you are introduced to Cousins writing you will enjoy them also but since it is 2015 and not 1969, I would start somewhere in the order I have already recommended."Ghosts" has its moments but is is weaker that those already mentioned and "Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios" also has much to recommend it but it is for true fans only I would say.

just got it 2 day great band great album ! t u Peter Vasky

The sweet sounds of yesteryear!

Very good collection

Expectations exceeded. - Very good

Witchwood is a good compilation for a really good band you don't often hear on the air waves. I have much of Strawbs music on vinyl so wanted to get a disc for the truck and also to lend out and turn some folks on to this band. Disc was shipped in a timely manner but Was a little bummed because the jewel case was shattered, thankfully the disc arrived in tact. Would recommend this "best of" disc.

What can be said about yet another Strawbs compilation. Not much. Particularly when there is really nothing really imaginative about the track selection for this set. For fans of having a definitive single CD set, chose Choice Selection - particularly if you like the Bursting At the Seams period with Hudson & Ford on board (great rhythm section and song writers). To be honest, a lot of Dave Cousins tracks start to sound alike. Personal view of course. For fans of a more complete Strawbs experience, try the UK version of Halcyon Days, an odd assortment of tracks with three standout Hudson Ford solo efforts. In short you can do better than this.

Un trocito de historia del rock de la época.

Greatest hits- it is.. I had forgotten how good the Strawbs are- wonderful ballads... very talented musicians. They started in early 60's but really popularized in the late 60's through to the early 70's. Their music is soulful and beguiling- if you do not own anything of theirs, this CD would be a very good sampling. I think however most listeners will find their music intoxicating and want more.. you cannot help but be intrigued. Their foray into music was via folk and blues and later rock. They are diverse and comfortable in all three genres.

まあまあかな、

My vinyl copy of the 1978 double album compilation “The Best Of Strawbs” has never been equalled, or bettered, by any subsequent CD compilation—until now. Apart from the 1992 release “A Choice Selection of Strawbs”, inevitably each compilation omits either “New World”, "Benedictus" or “Part of the Union”. Oddly, “New World”, possibly the pinnacle of the band’s career, is absent from two compilations: "The Collection" (2002) and "20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection" (2003).Not only does “Witchwood-The Very Best Of” contain all the essential tracks from 1969 to 1976, it sequences them chronologically: always the sign of a careful mind behind the scenes.I note that “Witchwood-The Very Best Of” was issued in 2014, the same year as the excellent Dave Cousins autobiography, “Exorcising Ghosts: Strawbs & Other Lives". A handy coincidence!

The best of the best