String Driven Thing

String Driven Thing
Origin	Scotland
Genres	folk rock
Years active	1967-present
Labels	Concord Records Charisma Records Backshop Records
Website	www.stringdriven.com

String Driven Thing were a 1970s folk-rock band from Scotland^[1] led by husband and wife Chris Adams and Pauline Adams and featuring the electric violin of Graham Smith.^[2]

History

Formation

String Driven Thing formed in Glasgow in 1967 as a three part harmony folk band with the Adamses and guitarist John Mannion and after paying their dues on the Scottish folk circuit, they put out a self-titled album on the independent Concord label (copies of which are collectable and difficult to find) although a long way from their later Charisma label output. The group moved to London in 1970, and Chris Adams began to steer the band towards the electric folk-rock genre where his song writing abilities, which often feature hard-bitten, bitter observations capturing the harsher side of life, would be seen to better effect. By 1972 he had recruited classically-trained violinist Graham Smith and guitarist Colin Wilson on bass, but soon afterwards Mannion left, citing musical differences.

Record deal and tour

Adams then secured a deal with Tony Stratton-Smith's Charisma label^[3] and another eponymous album came out, produced by Shel Talmy at London's IBC Studios, with the songs "Circus", "Jack Diamond" and "Easy To Be Free" amongst the standout tracks. With Smith's high octane violin and Adams' distinctive vocals, the band toured the UK and Europe with Charisma stablemates Lindisfarne and Genesis. This exposure raised their profile and led to TV appearances and an American tour. A second album, The Machine That Cried, was recorded in February 1973 at IBC, but now with the addition of a drummer, Billy 'The Kid' Fairley. This was a much bleaker and rockier offering and though reviews were mixed at the time, it is now regarded as a forgotten classic. Standout tracks include "Heartfeeder", "The Machine That Cried" and "Sold Down The River". The song "Night Club", which opened Side Two, was inspired by the cover of their first Charisma album, designed by Hipgnosis, famous for their work with Pink Floyd. Recorded while Chris Adams was suffering health problems, including a collapsed lung and depression attendant thereon, the album is on the whole a very dark affair, but despite its cult status, it did not sell well at the time.

By 1974 the constant touring was taking its toll, and Wilson was replaced by Bill Hatje on bass, then Billy Fairley gave way to his namesake Colin Fairley (ex Beggar's Opera but no relation.) Soon afterwards, disillusioned with life on the road, the Adamses quit and returned to their native Glasgow. With their departure, the band disintegrated, but Charisma recruited three musicians to continue touring with Smith and Fairley. Singer Kim Beacon, [now deceased], and guitarist Andy Roberts were joined by bassist James Exell, who with Roberts did much of the writing, including the single "Cruel To Fool" produced by Shel Talmy. Two albums followed. Please Mind Your Head, recorded by engineer Tony Taverner at Escape Studios in Kent, and Keep Yer A'nd On It, produced by Andy Johns, including the song "Starving in the Tropics", recorded at Island's Basing Street studios.

String Driven Thing put out a number of singles on the Charisma label, some of which are not on any of the vinyl albums but appear as bonus tracks on Ozit Records CDs. Two of these are the Chris Adams compositions "It's a Game" and "Eddie". "It's A Game" was covered by the Bay City Rollers in 1977 and became a chart hit in the US, Japan and Germany. Chris and Pauline Adams put out a few singles on the Charisma label both as "Chris and Pauline Adams" and just "Adams". The b-side of their first single, "The City at Night", features Graham Smith. Colin Wilson went on to put out a solo folk album called Cloudburst on the Tabitha label which is also hard to find and has recently been reissued. The Chris Adams/Graham Smith String Driven Thing line up has reconvened on several occasions, most notably in 1991, 2001 and in 2004 which also saw an appearance from Pauline Adams.

Breakup

The American tour of 1975 highlighted issues that the new personnel had with continuity and finding an appropriate audience.^{[citation needed]} In October that year, they opened for Lou Reed, after which drummer Colin Fairley left the band and Charisma withdrew their support. Fairley went on to enjoy a career as a studio engineer and record producer, for Elvis Costello and The Bluebells, amongst others. Andy Roberts became guitar tech for Jeff Beck and Stevie Winwood, while Jimmy Exell still plays in Denmark. Beacon sang lead on Tony Banks' solo debut, A Curious Feeling, in 1979 and also had solo material issued. He died in 2005.

Violinist Graham Smith joined Charisma labelmates Van der Graaf in 1977 and also featured on some Peter Hammill albums. He later joined the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, and put out three solo albums in Iceland, later reissued on CD by specialist progressive label Ozit Morpheus Records.

All early String Driven Thing, Chris Adams and Graham Smith albums are available on CD (Ozit Morpheus Records). Some live material and some hard to find tracks and outtakes appear on a German CD called Dischotomy with some alternate takes and rare material not found anywhere else. There are several BBC transcription discs of String Driven Thing live performances featuring both line-ups and two of these sets are on a German live bootleg CD called It's a Game.

Reformation and recent career

After fifteen years of silence, Chris Adams released a solo album, "The Damage" in 1991 and subsequently reformed String Driven Thing for a German tour, the Berlin leg of which was released on Ozit as "$uicide, Live in Berlin.". Variations of that band toured sporadically throughout the nineties, but since 2001 the lineup has stabilised, with Andy Allan on Bass, Dick Drake on drums and either George Tucker or Chris' son Robin Adams on guitar, with Pauline Adams and Graham Smith occasionally joining them live.

In 2007, the band released "Moments of Truth", their first studio album in over 30 years, featuring ten new Adams songs. April 2009 brought the Americana tinged, "Songs From Another Country", (released for contractual reasons as String Driven) on Backshop Records. The new material was first heard publicly at Fifestock in March 2009. A new website was launched at the same time as the album release to help promote it. More recently, the Adamses have gigged with original member John Mannion, to celebrate the first album's 40th Anniversary.

Discography

Albums

• String Driven Thing (1968) (Concord)
• String Driven Thing (1972) (Charisma)
• The Machine That Cried (1973) (Charisma)
• Please Mind Your Head (1974) (Charisma)
• Keep yer 'and on it (1975) (Charisma)
• Dischotomy
• Suicide (Live in Berlin) CD (Ozit)
• In the Studio '72 (first Charisma album plus) CD (Ozit)
• The Early Years (all of the Concord first album plus) CD (Ozit)
• Moments of Truth (2007) (Soundseed)
• Songs From Another Country (2009) (Backshop Records)

Singles

• "Another Night in this Old City" / "Say What You Like"
• "Eddie" / "Hooked on the Road"
• "Are You a Rocknroller" (demo)
• "Circus" / "My Real Hero"
• "I'll Sing One For You / "To See You"
• "It's a Game" / "Are You a Rocknroller"
• "Overdrive" / "Timpani for the Devil"
• "Mrs O'Reilly" / "Keep on Moving"
• "Stand Back in Amazement" / "But I Do"
• "Cruel to Fool" / "Josephine"

Solo releases

• Chris Adams - The Damage
• Chris Adams - The Damage II (Ozit)
• Graham Smith - Med Töfraboga (Touch of Magic) (Ozit, 1980)
• Graham Smith - Arrival of Spring (Ozit)
• Colin Wilson - Cloudburst
• Graham Smith - Kalinka (Ozit)

References

1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p20821
2. ^ Christopulos, J., and Smart, P.: "Van der Graaf Generator - The Book", page 259. Phil and Jim publishers, 2005. ISBN 0-9551337-0-X.
3. ^ http://www.dinosaurdays.co.za/Groups/stringdriventhing.html

External links

• StringDriven.com - official website