Stuart Adamson
Encyclopedia
Stuart Adamson born William Stuart Adamson, was an English-born Scottish guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, described by legendary music journalist John Peel
as “Britain’s answer to Jimi Hendrix
”. He founded the Scottish art-punk band The Skids
and later the more mainstream rock group Big Country
, as well as the 1990s alternative country
rock act The Raphaels
.
, about a mile to the east of Dunfermline
in Fife
.
Adamson founded his first two bands in Dunfermline and they both started out playing Dunfermline and across the Firth
in Edinburgh
. He went to school with Ian Rankin
, who was two years younger and went on to become a fan of The Skids. Adamson was a life-long supporter of Dunfermline Athletic Football Club.
Adamson's father was in the fishing industry and travelled the world. He encouraged his son Stuart to read literature
, and both parents shared an interest in folk music. As such they were strong influences on Adamson's art.
Adamson founded his first band, Tattoo, in 1976 after seeing The Damned play in Edinburgh
. Besides Adamson, Tattoo included his friend William Simpson, who would also play bass guitar
for his next band, The Skids
.
in 1977, when he was 18. Adamson and Simpson first recruited drummer Thomas Kellichan. They played as a trio around Dunfermline and Edinburgh until running into "the only other punk in town" on a street corner, 16-year-old Richard Jobson
. Jobson was recruited as a frontman; Adamson and Jobson both wrote songs for the band.
The Skids' biggest success was the single "Into the Valley" in 1979, which did well in the UK charts, and still regularly appears in anthologies. The band had four singles chart in the UK that year. Adamson was involved with three of their four albums, leaving in 1980 before Joy (which many fans considered "non-canonical", though Adamson did play guitar on one memorable song of the album, 'Iona'). Jobson's influence had increased in the band, which may have led to the increasing disputes between the two artists.
Six years later, Adamson reported he had suffered a nervous breakdown
at around this point in his life. He seems to have kept any such problems deeply private though. Jobson later said "This was a guy who had a mortgage, a wife and a family when we were all trying to live some mythic punk lifestyle. He seemed level-headed, grounded."
Adamson was a large part of The Skids' sound, which set it apart from many of the punk
/New Wave
bands of the period, including slow riffs, as opposed to speedily played ones, which anticipated Black Flag
and Grunge
's "slow punk".
. Adamson constructed the band with friend and fellow-guitarist Bruce Watson
(then employed as a cleaner on submarines at Rosyth naval base) and a rhythm section of well-established studio musicians Mark Brzezicki
and Tony Butler, whom he found with the help of his record company. He founded the band in 1982, the same year his first child was born.
Big Country's first hit, 1983's "Fields of Fire", reached the UK's Top Ten, and was rapidly followed by the album The Crossing. The album was a crossover hit in the United States, powered by the single "In a Big Country". They are sometimes considered a one-hit wonder in the U.S., but remained popular in the UK and the rest of Europe, and still have a devout following in their homebase of Scotland.
Their second album Steeltown
appeared in 1984, and was again a success with both fans and critics, although not quite to the same heights as their debut. The band's third album The Seer continued along somewhat familiar territory. The first two albums were produced by Steve Lillywhite
. The band continued to record studio albums, and to tour until 1999. In many ways, Adamson was the sound of Big Country, supplying much of its distinctive guitar work, as well as being lead singer and main songwriter (both music and lyrics). The band's lineup never really underwent changes, the exception being a brief departure of drummer Mark Brzezicki
.
Adamson was also a keen motorcyclist and regularly purchased new machines for riding around Fife. His interest extended to the race track where he sponsored British Championship rider Iain Duffus in the late eighties.
. There he remarried, and founded his final band, the alternative country band The Raphaels
, a duo of Adamson and Nashville songwriter Marcus Hummon
.
On 16 December 2001 he was found dead on the floor of a closet in his room at the Best Western
Plaza Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii
after committing suicide by hanging
. At the time of death he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.279%.
U2's The Edge delivered the eulogy at Adamson's funeral which was held at Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline. He told the mourners that Big Country wrote the songs that he wished U2 could write.
In 2006, Adamson's music achieved an unexpected success when U2
and Green Day
covered The Saints are Coming
as a charity single. The Edge
paid tribute to the guitarist by exactly replicating his original solo for the single. The single led to a revival of interest in Adamson's earlier material. Richard Jobson
, in an interview with the Sunday Post, said that he was upset Adamson had not been alive to see it.
Big Country
The Raphaels
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
as “Britain’s answer to Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
”. He founded the Scottish art-punk band The Skids
The Skids
Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and new wave band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson , William Simpson , Thomas Kellichan and Richard Jobson...
and later the more mainstream rock group Big Country
Big Country
Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife in 1981. They were most popular in the early to mid-1980s, but they still release material for a cult following...
, as well as the 1990s alternative country
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
rock act The Raphaels
The Raphaels
The Raphaels were an alternative country music band, fronted by Scottish guitarist Stuart Adamson, formerly of The Skids and Big Country. The duo also featured Nashville songwriter Marcus Hummon. The duo never toured, however, their debut album, Supernatural, was released on August 14, 2001 via...
.
Early life
Although Adamson was born in Manchester, both his parents were Scottish, and the family returned to Scotland when he was four. The family settled in a small mining town, CrossgatesCrossgates, Fife
Crossgates is a small village in Fife, Scotland.It is located close to the junction of the M90 and A92, about two miles east of Dunfermline and a similar distance south west of Cowdenbeath...
, about a mile to the east of Dunfermline
Dunfermline
Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...
in Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
.
Adamson founded his first two bands in Dunfermline and they both started out playing Dunfermline and across the Firth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. He went to school with Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin, OBE, DL , is a Scottish crime writer. His best known books are the Inspector Rebus novels. He has also written several pieces of literary criticism.-Background:He attended Beath High School, Cowdenbeath...
, who was two years younger and went on to become a fan of The Skids. Adamson was a life-long supporter of Dunfermline Athletic Football Club.
Adamson's father was in the fishing industry and travelled the world. He encouraged his son Stuart to read literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, and both parents shared an interest in folk music. As such they were strong influences on Adamson's art.
Adamson founded his first band, Tattoo, in 1976 after seeing The Damned play in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. Besides Adamson, Tattoo included his friend William Simpson, who would also play bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
for his next band, The Skids
The Skids
Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and new wave band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson , William Simpson , Thomas Kellichan and Richard Jobson...
.
The Skids
Adamson founded The SkidsThe Skids
Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and new wave band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson , William Simpson , Thomas Kellichan and Richard Jobson...
in 1977, when he was 18. Adamson and Simpson first recruited drummer Thomas Kellichan. They played as a trio around Dunfermline and Edinburgh until running into "the only other punk in town" on a street corner, 16-year-old Richard Jobson
Richard Jobson (television presenter)
Richard Jobson is a Scottish singer-songwriter and film-maker, best known as a television presenter, film director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:...
. Jobson was recruited as a frontman; Adamson and Jobson both wrote songs for the band.
The Skids' biggest success was the single "Into the Valley" in 1979, which did well in the UK charts, and still regularly appears in anthologies. The band had four singles chart in the UK that year. Adamson was involved with three of their four albums, leaving in 1980 before Joy (which many fans considered "non-canonical", though Adamson did play guitar on one memorable song of the album, 'Iona'). Jobson's influence had increased in the band, which may have led to the increasing disputes between the two artists.
Six years later, Adamson reported he had suffered a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
at around this point in his life. He seems to have kept any such problems deeply private though. Jobson later said "This was a guy who had a mortgage, a wife and a family when we were all trying to live some mythic punk lifestyle. He seemed level-headed, grounded."
Adamson was a large part of The Skids' sound, which set it apart from many of the punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
/New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
bands of the period, including slow riffs, as opposed to speedily played ones, which anticipated Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
and Grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
's "slow punk".
Big Country
Adamson came to greater international prominence with Big CountryBig Country
Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife in 1981. They were most popular in the early to mid-1980s, but they still release material for a cult following...
. Adamson constructed the band with friend and fellow-guitarist Bruce Watson
Bruce Watson (guitarist)
Bruce Watson is a Canadian-born Scottish guitarist, best known for being a founding member of the Scottish-based rock band Big Country....
(then employed as a cleaner on submarines at Rosyth naval base) and a rhythm section of well-established studio musicians Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki is a rock drummer, who is primarily known for his work with Big Country, and was a member of the groups The Cult, Ultravox, and Procol Harum. He has also played with Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Midge Ure, Fish, The Pretenders and many others...
and Tony Butler, whom he found with the help of his record company. He founded the band in 1982, the same year his first child was born.
Big Country's first hit, 1983's "Fields of Fire", reached the UK's Top Ten, and was rapidly followed by the album The Crossing. The album was a crossover hit in the United States, powered by the single "In a Big Country". They are sometimes considered a one-hit wonder in the U.S., but remained popular in the UK and the rest of Europe, and still have a devout following in their homebase of Scotland.
Their second album Steeltown
Steeltown
Steeltown is the second studio album by Scottish band Big Country. The album was recorded at ABBA's Polar Studios in Stockholm with Steve Lillywhite producing. It was released on October 29, 1984, in the United States and 19 October 1984 in the UK. It was released on CD only in Germany, as well as...
appeared in 1984, and was again a success with both fans and critics, although not quite to the same heights as their debut. The band's third album The Seer continued along somewhat familiar territory. The first two albums were produced by Steve Lillywhite
Steve Lillywhite
Steve Lillywhite is an English Grammy Award winning record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited for working on over 500 records and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including XTC, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Dave Matthews Band, U2, Peter Gabriel,...
. The band continued to record studio albums, and to tour until 1999. In many ways, Adamson was the sound of Big Country, supplying much of its distinctive guitar work, as well as being lead singer and main songwriter (both music and lyrics). The band's lineup never really underwent changes, the exception being a brief departure of drummer Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki is a rock drummer, who is primarily known for his work with Big Country, and was a member of the groups The Cult, Ultravox, and Procol Harum. He has also played with Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Midge Ure, Fish, The Pretenders and many others...
.
Adamson was also a keen motorcyclist and regularly purchased new machines for riding around Fife. His interest extended to the race track where he sponsored British Championship rider Iain Duffus in the late eighties.
Final years
Adamson was married twice. He also had two children, born to his first wife Sandra in 1983 and 1985. In 1996, Adamson split with Sandra and moved to NashvilleNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. There he remarried, and founded his final band, the alternative country band The Raphaels
The Raphaels
The Raphaels were an alternative country music band, fronted by Scottish guitarist Stuart Adamson, formerly of The Skids and Big Country. The duo also featured Nashville songwriter Marcus Hummon. The duo never toured, however, their debut album, Supernatural, was released on August 14, 2001 via...
, a duo of Adamson and Nashville songwriter Marcus Hummon
Marcus Hummon
Marcus Spencer Hummon is an American country music artist. After several years of playing in various bands, he eventually found his way to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was signed to a songwriting contract, and subsequently a record deal with Columbia Records, which released his debut album All...
.
On 16 December 2001 he was found dead on the floor of a closet in his room at the Best Western
Best Western
Best Western International, Inc. is the third largest hotel chain, with over 4,195 hotels in nearly 80 countries. The chain, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, operates more than 2,000 hotels in North America alone. Best Western has a marketing program involving placement of free...
Plaza Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
after committing suicide by hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
. At the time of death he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.279%.
U2's The Edge delivered the eulogy at Adamson's funeral which was held at Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline. He told the mourners that Big Country wrote the songs that he wished U2 could write.
In 2006, Adamson's music achieved an unexpected success when U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
and Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
covered The Saints are Coming
The Saints Are Coming
"The Saints Are Coming" was the third single by the Scottish punk rock band Skids, featured on their 1979 debut album, Scared to Dance. The song became an international #1 hit when it was covered in 2006 by Green Day and U2...
as a charity single. The Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
paid tribute to the guitarist by exactly replicating his original solo for the single. The single led to a revival of interest in Adamson's earlier material. Richard Jobson
Richard Jobson (television presenter)
Richard Jobson is a Scottish singer-songwriter and film-maker, best known as a television presenter, film director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:...
, in an interview with the Sunday Post, said that he was upset Adamson had not been alive to see it.
Discography
Skids- Scared to DanceScared to Dance-Bonus tracks :All tracks composed by Jobson/Adamson unless indicated otherwise.-Personnel:* Richard Jobson — vocals / guitar* Stuart Adamson — guitars / vocals* William Simpson — bass guitar / vocals...
- Days in EuropaDays in Europa-1980 re-release:All tracks composed by Jobson/Adamson unless indicated otherwise.This second release's cover includes the controversial first cover as a picture on the wall behind the woman in white's head. On the back of the cover the illustration is repeated, only with the withdrawn release's...
- The Absolute GameThe Absolute Game-Strength Through Joy:All tracks composed by Skids.-2008 re-release:All tracks composed by Skids unless indicated otherwise.-Personnel:* Richard Jobson — vocals / guitar...
Big Country
- The Crossing
- SteeltownSteeltownSteeltown is the second studio album by Scottish band Big Country. The album was recorded at ABBA's Polar Studios in Stockholm with Steve Lillywhite producing. It was released on October 29, 1984, in the United States and 19 October 1984 in the UK. It was released on CD only in Germany, as well as...
- The Seer
- Peace in Our TimePeace in Our TimeFor the Eddie Money song, see Greatest Hits: The Sound of Money.Peace in Our Time is the fourth studio album by Scottish band Big Country, released in 1988...
- No Place Like Home
- The Buffalo SkinnersThe Buffalo SkinnersThe Buffalo Skinners is the sixth studio album by the Scottish band Big Country, released in 1993. .-Track listing:-Chart performance:-Personnel:*Stuart Adamson — guitar, vocals*Colin Berwick — keyboards...
- Why the Long Face?Why the Long Face?Why the Long Face is the seventh studio album by Scottish band Big Country, released in 1995. .-Track listing:-Chart performance:-Personnel:*Stuart Adamson - guitar, vocals*Mark Brzezicki - drums, percussion...
- Driving to DamascusDriving to DamascusDriving to Damascus is the eighth and final studio album by Scottish rock band Big Country. It was released in 1999 and with bonus tracks in 2002. In the U.S. it was released under a different name, John Wayne's Dream.- Tracklisting :...
The Raphaels
- Supernatural