Stuart Adamson

{{Short description|Scottish guitarist, songwriter and vocalist (1958–2001)}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Stuart Adamson

| background = solo_singer

| image = Stuart Adamson Big Country 1 (51412969472).jpg

| caption = Adamson in 1983

| birth_name = William Stuart Adamson

| alias =

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1958|4|11}}

| birth_place = Manchester, England

| origin = Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2001|12|16|1958|4|11}}

| death_place = Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.

| genre = Punk rock, new wave, Celtic rock, alternative rock

| occupation = Singer-songwriter, musician

| instrument = Vocals, guitar, keyboard, bass guitar

| years_active = 1976–2001

| label = No Bad, Virgin, Phonogram, Mercury, Vertigo, Compulsion, Fox, Transatlantic, Track

| past_member_of = Skids, Big Country, the Raphaels

| website =

}}

William Stuart Adamson (11 April 1958 – 16 December 2001) was a Scottish rock guitarist and singer. Adamson began his career in the late 1970s as a founding member and performer with the punk rock band Skids. After leaving Skids in 1981, he formed Big Country and was the band's lead singer and guitarist. The group's commercial heyday was in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he was a member of the alternative country band the Raphaels. In the late 1970s the British music journalist John Peel referred to his musical virtuosity as a guitarist as "a new Jimi Hendrix".{{cite book|last=Glen|first=Allan|title=Stuart Adamson – In A Big Country|date=February 2011 |publisher=Birlinn, Limited |isbn=978-1846971426|url=http://www.bigcountryinfo.com/pages/albums/comp_notw.htm}}

Early life and career

Adamson was born in the city of Manchester, England, to Scottish parents Anne (née Muir) and William Adamson. When he was four, his family relocated to the small mining village of Crossgates, about a mile east of Dunfermline in Fife.[http://www.stuart-adamson.co.uk/news/page/26/] {{dead link|date=March 2024}} Adamson's father, a fishing industry executive who travelled the world, encouraged his son to read literature, and both parents shared an interest in folk music. Adamson received his formal education at Beath High School.{{cite news |first=Stuart |last=Reid |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/celebrity/rock-star-adamson-dies-in-hotel-1-936409 |title=Rock Star Adamson dies in hotel |work=The Scotsman |date=17 December 2001 |access-date=8 May 2018}}

Adamson started playing rock music during the British punk rock movement of the mid-1970s, forming a Dunfermline band called Tattoo in 1976 after seeing the Damned at a gig in Edinburgh. Besides Adamson, Tattoo included his friend William Simpson, who would also play bass guitar in their next band, Skids, which began performing in the local area and in Edinburgh.

Skids

Adamson founded Skids in 1977 when he was 18. He and Simpson first recruited drummer Thomas Kellichan and performed as a trio until meeting the 16-year-old Richard Jobson,Sean O'Hagan, [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/screen/story/0,6903,1242759,00.html Jobson's Choice], The Observer, 20 June 2004. who became the act's lead singer/frontman, Adamson and Jobson being the principal songwriters for the act.

Skids' biggest success was the single "Into the Valley", released in 1979, which reached number 10 in the UK Singles Chart.{{Cite web|url=https://www.https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/17144/skids/|title=Skids : Skids Songs|website=Officialcharts.com}} The band had four chart singles in the United Kingdom that year. Adamson was involved with the band's first three long-players, before quitting the act in 1981 after disagreements with Jobson, whose personality was increasingly dominating the band's output.Simon Goddard, [http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/critique.cfm?id=243052007 Once more into the valley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030054140/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/critique.cfm?id=243052007 |date=30 October 2007 }}, The Scotsman, 17 February 2007. Jobson later said of Adamson: "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."

Big Country

File:Stuart Adamson 91.jpg

Adamson found international fame with Big Country, a band formed with friend and fellow guitarist Bruce Watson, then employed as a submarine cleaner at Rosyth naval base, and a rhythm section of studio musicians Mark Brzezicki and Tony Butler, found with the help of his label.

Big Country's first hit, 1983's "Fields of Fire", reached the UK's Top 10, and was rapidly followed by the album The Crossing. The album was a big hit in North America (Canada number 4,{{cite journal |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.6720a&type=1 |title=RPM 100 Albums |date=12 November 1983 |journal=RPM |volume=39 |issue=11 |publisher=archived at Library and Archives Canada |access-date=15 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024090555/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.6720a&type=1 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |url-status=dead }} United States number 18) powered by the single "In a Big Country", which was performed on Saturday Night Live and the Grammy Awards. The video for "In a Big Country" received frequent airplay on MTV and featured the band riding all terrain vehicles in the countryside.

Their second album Steeltown appeared in October 1984. The band's third album The Seer (1986) featured Kate Bush on the title track. The first two albums were produced by Steve Lillywhite. The band continued to record studio albums and tour until 2000. Adamson supplied much of the distinctive guitar work, as well as being the lead singer and main songwriter (both music and lyrics). The band's lineup rarely underwent changes, the exception being the departure of drummer Mark Brzezicki who left in the summer of 1989 and was replaced by Pat Ahern. Brzezicki re-joined the band in 1993.

Personal life

Adamson was married twice. He had two children with his first wife Sandra in 1982 and 1985. His son Callum Adamson is the guitarist of the band Ahab, and his daughter Kirsten has a solo musical career. In 1996, Adamson split with Sandra and moved to Nashville, US.[https://web.archive.org/web/20121020172843/http://www.scotsman.com/news/celebrity/stardom-life-and-times-of-punk-hero-1-589819] {{cite web |title=Daughter of Big Country legend Stuart Adamson is happy the world still loves his music as she prepares to release her debut album |url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/daughter-big-country-legend-stuart-5166654 |publisher=Daily Record |access-date=29 November 2018 |date=15 February 2015}} There he married his second wife in 1999, a hairdresser named Melanie Shelley,{{cite web |title=Ex-wives feud over fortune of Big Country suicide star |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/jan/27/theobserver.uknews2 |work=The Guardian |access-date=28 November 2018 |date=27 January 2002}} and founded his final band, the alternative country band the Raphaels, a duo of Adamson and Nashville songwriter Marcus Hummon.

Adamson was a keen motorcyclist who regularly purchased new machines for riding around Fife. His interest extended to the race track where he sponsored the career of the British Championship rider Iain Duffus in the late 1980s.{{Cite web|url=http://www.stuart-adamson.co.uk/1716/04/2012/|title=Stuart Adamson and Motor bikes | Stuart Adamson|website=Stuart-adamson.co.uk|access-date=2020-07-02}}

Death

In 1999, Adamson briefly disappeared, causing the band to miss performances.{{Cite web |date=1999-11-26 |title=Singer lost in the big country Concern over Adamson |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12205714.singer-lost-in-the-big-country-concern-over-adamson/ |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=The Herald |language=en}} In 2001, Adamson was again reported missing by his wife Melanie. He had left his son a note on November 7 saying, "back by noon Sunday."{{Cite news |date=2001-12-09 |title=Big Country singer missing again |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/1700268.stm |access-date=2024-10-07 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} Adamson and his wife had been estranged for several weeks, and Melanie filed for divorce on the day he had disappeared. He had been due to face DUI charges in March 2002, and had been ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). He had previously experienced problems related to alcoholism, and had begun drinking again after having been sober for over a decade. His manager had hired a private investigator to search for Adamson and two fans also volunteered to help out.{{Cite news |last=Daranciang |first=Nelson |date=2001-12-18 |title=Global stir caused by singer's death in isles |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-global-stir-cause/156690140/ |access-date=2024-10-07 |work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |pages=2}} By early December, he had last been reported as having seen a football match between Iran and Ireland in Atlanta.

On 4 December 2001, Adamson checked into the Best Western Plaza Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii. On 16 December 2001, Adamson was found dead in his hotel room.{{Cite web |last=NME |date=2001-12-17 |title=BIG COUNTRY STAR'S DEATH RIDDLE |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/big-country-3-1382528 |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=NME |language=en-GB}} According to a local police report, he had died by hanging himself with an electrical cord from a pole in a wardrobe.{{cite news|url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2001/Dec/18/ln/ln05a.html |title=Death of rocker Adamson likely suicide, official says |newspaper=The Honolulu Advertiser |date=18 December 2001 |access-date=2 January 2012}}Jeevan Vasagar, [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/18/jeevanvasagar Big Country's Stuart Adamson dead in hotel], The Guardian, 17 December 2001. A subsequent Coroner's Office report found that he had consumed a large amount of alcohol around the time of his death.Mike Wade, [http://news.scotsman.com/stuartadamson/Autopsy-shows-star-was-drunk.2297294.jp Autopsy shows star was drunk at time of suicide], The Scotsman, 26 January 2002. A legal dispute over his estate ensued between Adamson’s ex-wife Sandra and Melanie after his death.{{Cite news |last=Membery |first=York |date=2002-01-27 |title=Ex-wives feud over fortune of Big Country suicide star |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/jan/27/theobserver.uknews2 |access-date=2023-07-12 |issn=0029-7712}}

His body was flown back to Scotland, where after a private funeral service at Dunfermline Crematorium in Fife, he was cremated.{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1734441.stm|title=Singer Adamson's funeral held|date=30 December 2001|website=News.bbc.co.uk|access-date=2020-07-02}} On the evening of 27 December 2001, a public memorial service was held to celebrate his life and career at Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline, attended by Richard Jobson and a crowd of several hundred mourners, including Adamson's family and friends, and former members of Big Country. Messages of condolence were publicly read out, including one from U2's the Edge, stating that Adamson with Big Country had written the songs that he wished U2 could write.{{Cite web|url=http://www.stuart-adamson.co.uk/adamson-remembered/01/2002/|title=ADAMSON REMEMBERED | Stuart Adamson|website=Stuart-adamson.co.uk|access-date=2020-07-02}}

Memorials

In April 2009, a mural of Adamson was unveiled at East End Park, the home of Dunfermline Athletic Football Club of whom Adamson was a fan: the mural was painted by art students from the local Queen Anne High and Dunfermline High Schools, and adorns the wall of the north stand.{{cite web |title=Stuart Adamson Mural, East End Park, Dunfermline |url=http://www.stuart-adamson.co.uk/information/stuart-adamson-mural/ |website=Stuart-adamson.co.uk |access-date=28 November 2018}}

In September 2011 a commemorative bench to Adamson was unveiled at Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline. It was paid for by fans and is inscribed with some of his lyrics chosen by fans in an online poll.{{cite web |title='Spiritual home' pays tribute to rock legend Stuart Adamson with a little help from Wigan |url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/fife/91689/spiritual-home-pays-tribute-to-rock-legend-stuart-adamson-with-a-little-help-from-wigan/ |publisher=The Courier |access-date=27 November 2018 |date=26 September 2011}}

Adamson was the inspiration behind the song "3 Ways To See Despair" by Manic Street Preachers.{{cite news|title=Interview: Manic Street Preachers, still fired up |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/music/interview-manic-street-preachers-still-fired-up-1-3115995/ |newspaper=The Scotsman}}

A housing development in Crossgates, opened in 2021, is named "Stuart Adamson Crescent".

Equipment

According to Skids bassist Bill Simpson, Adamson's first real guitar was a Gibson Flying V. He is usually associated with the Yamaha SG2000 guitar, which he used extensively during the Skids years, as well as on the first two Big Country albums. He also used Fender Stratocasters in this period to achieve lighter tones. Around the time of The Seer, Adamson began to lay his SG2000s aside{{Cite journal|url=http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/overalls/4735|title=Overalls (12T Nov 1983)|date=23 November 1983|journal=One Two Testing|issue=Nov 1983|pages=24–27}} and experimented with other models. Among these were several Les Pauls,{{Cite web|url=https://www.lespaulforum.com/index.php|title=The Les Paul Forum|date=29 December 2023|website=Lespaulforum.com}} a Gretsch Duo-Jet, and a number of ESP Model 901 Stratalike with humbucking pickups (in distinctive yellow and red colours). Adamson also had several guitars made for him by the Glasgow guitar-maker Jimmy Moon.

Big Country's distinctive 'Scottish' sound was created using an MXR pitch transposer,{{Cite web|url=https://equipboard.com/submissions/97496|title=Stuart Adamson | Equipboard|website=Equipboard.com}} which pushed the guitar notes up an octave and created a shrill, bagpipe-esque whine. This can be heard in the lead guitar passages in the song "In a Big Country". Adamson was also noted for his use of the E-Bow, a device that magnetically vibrates guitar strings and generates unique tones with infinite sustain.{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/in-praise-of-the-ebow-553486|title=IN PRAISE OF: The EBow|first1=Ed|last1=Mitchell|date=18 July 2012|website=Musicradar.com}} The e-bow is most prominent in the introductions to the songs "The Storm" and "Lost Patrol".

The Scottish flavour is also present due to Adamson (and other co-writers in the band) using an open 'drone' string when writing and playing songs.

Adamson used Session 'Sessionette:75' amplifiers mainly for live performances and recordings.

During his time in Skids, Stuart used HH amplifiers. In early Big Country he used Marshall but moved to Fender Showman twin amps, including two with silver eagles stencilled on the grilles (a reference to cover art of their third album, The Seer). Later he moved to Mesa Boogie amps and often displayed a small Saltire badge on the corner.

Discography

;Skids discography

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title ! Label ! Notes
rowspan=2\| 1979 \|Scared to Dance \|rowspan=6\| Virgin \|
Days in Europa \|
1980 \|The Absolute Game \|
1981 \|Joy \|Guitar on Track 5 only.
1982 \|Fanfare \|
1987 \|Dunfermline: A Collection of the Skids' Finest Moments \|
2007 \|The Saints Are Coming: The Best of The Skids \|EMI/Virgin \|

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

! Label

! Notes

rowspan=2| 1979

|Scared to Dance

|rowspan=6| Virgin

Days in Europa

1980

|The Absolute Game

1981