DAVE LAMBERT

1966 - 1970 Fire
1971 - 1972 King Earl Boogie Band
1972 - present day Strawbs.

1966 was the year I formed my first pro band. We started off as Fridays Chyld and soon changed the name to Fire. The band was signed up by Decca and I signed a song writing contract with Apple Publishing. In 1968 Fire released their first single ‘Father’s Name Is Dad/Treacle Toffee World’ and in 1970 an album ‘The Magic Shoemaker’ both of which have, so I’m reliably informed, become cult classics.

When Fire split up in 1970 I spent a year doing colleges and universities as a solo act. Eventually that led to a 1971 UK tour supporting Mungo Jerry who, sadly, were in the process of breaking up. Ray Dorset went off to a different Mungo line-up and the rest of the band asked me if I’d come in as singer/guitarist to form The King Earl Boogie Band. We recorded two singles, ‘Plastic Jesus’, ‘Starlight’, and an album ‘Trouble at Mill’.

In 1972 after playing and singing some parts on Dave Cousins’ solo album, ‘Two Weeks Last Summer’, Dave asked me if I’d join Strawbs who at that time were looking to change direction and strengthen their sound for the US market.

The first single with the new line-up, ‘Lay Down’, gave us our first top 20 record in the UK and many other countries. The 1973 follow up, ‘Part Of The Union’, was our biggest single reaching number one in most parts of the world, a couple of smaller hits followed but it was the albums we decided to concentrate on.

In Europe and the USA Strawbs albums were chart regulars throughout the 70’s, the biggest seller being ‘Hero and Heroine’ recorded in 1973. That same year I played some guitar on Rick Wakeman’s ‘Six Wives of Henry VIII’ album. Rick and I had worked together many times before, among other things we did the theme for the TV show Ask Aspel and part of the sound-track for the Elizabeth Taylor/Michael Caine film ‘X,Y and Z’. Strawbs spent most of the 70’s touring the USA and Canada.

Those were the days of the package tours and we toured with people like; Santana, King Crimson, The Eagles, Frank Zappa etc they were great times full of priceless experience.

In 1978/9 I recorded my first solo album, Framed, in LA with a great set of guys; John Entwistle, Denny Seiwell, Richard Bennett, Lee Sklar and Tom Hensley.

Nowadays I tour constantly with Strawbs and Acoustic Strawbs. A remark I hear after almost every Strawbs show; ‘we were taking bets on when you’d break a string, how is it you never do?’ I’m not exactly what you would call ‘easy’ on my guitar, I like to get stuck in when power is required.

From my early days with Fire, recording our 1968 single ‘Father’s Name Is Dad’ and the 1970 album ‘The Magic Shoemaker’, through to the present day Strawbs album ‘The Broken Hearted Bride’ I’ve played Rotosound strings.
These days I’m fortunate to be able to play both electric, with Strawbs, and acoustic, with Acoustic Strawbs and I’m still enjoying every minute.