Dave Cousins 1994 album with Brian Willoughby, The Bridge, gets new makeover

Blue Weaver, Dave Cousins, Mary Hopkin, Brian Willoughby and Chas Cronk in 1993

(Image credit: Susie Denton)

1994's obscure recording The Bridge, by Strawbs leader Dave Cousins and his guitarist friend and sometime Strawbs member, Brian Willoughby, is to be reissued in remastered form through Witchwood Records and distributed by RSK Entertainment on November 28.

Only 1000 copies of the album, the second collaboration between Cousins and Willoughby, were produced, making it a real rarity in Strawbs circles. The new 2025 version has been remastered with the late Cousins' consent, by his former Strawbs colleague Blue Weaver. Cousins died after a long illness earlier this year.

"The most important thing was to just get these great songs out there again for all to hear," says Weaver of the new remaster.

As well as Cousins, Willoughby and Weaver, The Bridge also featured fellow Strawbs alumni Chas Cronk, Richard Hudson and Tony Fernandez, as well as vocalist Mary Hopkin and harmonica player Rod Demick. The album was originally recorded in 1993 and released a year later.

The new version also features new artwork, showing Venice's Bridge Of Sighs, as Willoughby has pointed out, the album provided a bridge between a Strawbs’ recording and the duo’s approach to the songs.

The Bridge will be available on CD and for pre-order from Burning Shed soon.

Cousins &amp; Willoughby The Bridge 2025 reissue cover — (Image credit: Witchwood/RSK Entertainment)

Artists

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.

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