BY KEITH GLASS STRING DRIVEN THING
KEEP YER ‘AND ON IT.
Charisma 636992 UK / 20th Century T 503 USA In the 60’s/70’s/80’s major record labels worldwide maintained a massive album release schedule. Only a comparatively few artists scored a hit, others became ‘cult’ classics. Beyond that exists an underbelly of almost totally ignored work, (much never reissued) that time has been kind to. This is a page for the crate diggers. By the mid 70’s the worldwide record company juggernauts were pushing recorded product like never before. Chains such as Virgin and Tower were making hay (no matter the sunshine) and many UK bands were constantly touring the lucrative US market. How else could a minor league Scottish ‘folk/prog rock’ group with a number of low selling albums behind them (and now with an almost totally non original member line-up) still be ‘viable’ or gain a release on US label 20th Century? The original SDT were formed in Glasgow by husband/wife team Chris and Pauline Adams and heavily featured the electric violin of Graham Smith. However, only Smith remained by the time of this album
and he was joined by Kim Beacon (vocal) Alun Roberts (guitar) James Exell (bass) and Colin Fairly (drums). Gone was any real trace of folk but the new members proved to be very capable songwriters with a mix of all three supplying all but one of the songs – the album finale being a near seven-minute loping rhythm interpretation of the Lennon and McCartney composition ‘Things We Said Today’. Their own songs do not pale in comparison, the opener ‘But I Do’ is a fine roughhouse proggy pop workout and that and the third cut ‘Ways Of A Woman’ (both written in entirety by bass player Exell) more or less prove him to be the dominant writer with shares in all but one other original. That one fell to lead singer Kim Beacon to provide and as a relaxing second up ballad ‘Old Friends’ doesn’t disappoint. Beacon went on to provide lead vocals for Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks’ first solo album A Curious Feeling shortly afterwards. Alas, Beacon’s subsequent two solo albums remain hard to find even for his admittedly few dedicated fans. The fascinating thing is a full-time musical career was pretty much hardscrabble for all involved. It was an era when bands were most reliant on their record labels to get somewhere and the magic elixir of success in the world market; especially the USA was an absolute crapshoot. Adding to the enigma
and salt to the wounds is that founders Chris and Pauline Adams and fiddle player Smith re-united some time afterwards to more or less write this somewhat poppier version of ‘The Thing’ out of the history books. To die-hard fans this would then appear to be treated as a band version of mid-life crisis rather than what it most always is…simply a good group looking for a hit. For the not so dedicated this album, produced by the redoubtable Andy Johns comes across as pretty much a breath of fresh air. It has a timely but still curious ‘glam’ aspect but with some serious musicianship and none too shabby songs much more could have been achieved if someone/somewhere really believed. Time capsule wise it arrived in an era where Metal was making a mark, pure Pop was rife and Punk was just around the corner. The folk/prog vanguard (Jethro Tull for example) had secured their positions – so in essence there was just no room left at the inn. The greatest shame seems to be main songwriter / bassist James Exell became next to invisible with nothing significant song writing-wise appearing to come from him past this work, when there obviously could have been so much. While hardly a unique case in the world pantheon of music, the adventures of String Driven Thing provide a textbook example of “there but for the fickle finger of fate” was a great world famous highly individual musical combo. 71
