01	Heartfeeder						06:39
	02	To See You						03:58
	03	Night Club						05:05
	04	Sold Down The River						04:29
	05	Two Timin' Mama						03:10
	06	Travelling						02:55
	07	People On The Street						06:03
	08	The House						02:37
	09	The Machine That Cried						05:19
	10	River Of Sleep			a. The Sowee b. Search In Time c. Going Down			11:00

(p) 1973 Mooncrest Ltd
(c) 1991 Repertoire Records


String Driven Thing

Personnel:
CHRIS ADAMS vcls, gtr A B
PAULINE ADAMS vcls, perc A B
JOHN MANNION 12-str gtr, vcls A
BILL HATJE bs B
GRAEME SMITH violin B C
COLIN WILSON bs, gtr, banjo B
KIMBERLEY BEACON vcls C
JAMES EXELL bs, vcls C
ALUN ROBERTS gtr, vcls C
COLIN FAIRLEY drms, vcls C

ALBUMS:
1(A) STRING DRIVEN THING (Concord CON 1001) 1970 R3
2(B) STRING DRIVEN THING (Charisma CAS 1062) 1972
3(B) THE MACHINE THAT CRIED (Charisma CAS 1070) 1973 SC
4(C) PLEASE MIND YOUR HEAD (Charisma CAS 1097) 1974
5(C) KEEP YER 'AND ON IT (Charisma CAS 1112) 1975

NB: (1) reissued with a few demos from 1972 before they signed to Charisma on The Early Years 1968-72 (Green Tree TRC-GTR-CD-007) 1993. (2) reissued on CD (World Wide Records SPM-WWR-CD-0027) 1992. (3) reissued on CD (World Wide Records SPM-WWR-CD-0026) 1991, (Repertoire REP 4207-WP) 1991 and (Ozit OZCD 00021) 1996. Also of interest is Discotomy - The Rarities 1971-74 (World Wide Records SPM-WWR-CD-0038) 1992. This interesting collection of their material, contains an interview with Chris Adams which gives a very good albeit brief history of the group and a 'where are they now' slot invaluable to trivia freaks. There are also at least two live CDs, recorded in Berlin and Manchester, but both are after the time frame of this book.

45s:
1 Another Night/Say What You Like (Concord CON 7) 1970
2 Circus/My Real Hero (Charisma CB 203) 1973
3 It's A Game/Are You A Rock'n'Roller (Charisma CB 215) 1973
4 I'll Sing This One For You/To See You (BC CB 223) 1974
5 Mrs O'Reilly/Keep On Moving (Charisma CB 239) 1974
6 Overdrive/Timpani For The Devil (Charisma CB 247) 1975
7 But I Do/Stand Back In Amazement (Charisma CB 276) 1976
8 Cruel To Feel/Josephine (Charisma CB 286) 1976


An archytypal progressive rock outfit, formed in mid-1968 by husband and wife Chris and Pauline Adams. Although their debut album bears little resemblance to their subsequent work, being full of US West Coast-influenced breezy harmony-pop, only 100 copies were pressed and it's now inevitably rare and sought-after.

In 1972 they expanded the line-up, with Graeme Smith a classically trained violinist from the Scottish National Orchestra, Bill Hatje and Colin Wilson. The same year they signed to Charisma and released an eponymous album which enjoyed considerable critical acclaim. Characterised by Chris Adams' hard bitten lyrics and doomy vocals and Graham Smith's wailing violin playing, their 'sound' had built up a strong following on the club/college circuit. 1972 also saw them on tour in the U.S. with Genesis.

There is no doubt that The Machine That Cried although musically far stronger than their first Charisma release, was very doom-laden and apparently written while Chris Adams was hospitalised with a collapsed lung. The band too were suffering problems with Charisma. They recorded the album with a drummer against the express wishes of their label who thereafter insisted that the band demo all output for their final approval. Charisma also rejected the bands original title, Heartfeeder.

Colin 'Billy the Kid' Fairley (ex-Ruby and Beggars Opera) also drummed on The Machine That Cried. Soon after the albums release, the Adams' left the band and Graham Smith took over its leadership assembling a new line-up (C). Apparently, however, an unreleased album exists featuring the Adam's, Graham Smith, Dave Mattacks and Dave Pegg. This was recorded just before the demise of the Adams-led band and examples from it are included on the Discotomy CD.

Their two subsequent albums were OK but never attracted the same attention as the previous two. One curious fact is their It's A Game 45, which was later a hit for The Bay City Rollers! The link between the two was Shel Talmy who produced String Driven Thing and also produced/managed The Rollers. You can hear the original String Driven Thing version on the One More Chance compilation.

After the band split Graham Smith went on to work with Van Der Graaf Generator in 1977 and later with Peter Hammill. Colin Wilson went on to record a solo folk rock album Cloudburst (Tabibla ) 1975. Chris Adams too made a solo album The Damage 1992. Kimberley Beacon made some solo albums as Kim Beacon. Today Colin Fairley lives in Canada and runs a tartan import/export business, Colin Wilson works in computers in the Home Counties and Graham Smith teaches the violin.

The most famous String Driven Thing song remains Circus.


String Driven Thing "The Machine That Cried"

Originally released in 1973 by Charisma Records, "The Machine That Cried" was String Driven Thing's third LP and was released at the time in a form which omitted ten minutes of the epic 12-minute track, "River Of Sleep". This version (released in 1996) is the first to ever reflect the band's intentions when the album was recorded.

Based around the nucleus of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/songwriter Chris Adams, his wife Pauline Adams (vocals) and Grahame Smith (violin, later with Van Def Graaf Generator and Peter Hammill), String Driven Thing's early style was likened to that of the Byrds, and early songs written by Chris Adams shows the influence of Bob Dylan, but the introduction of Grahame Smith made the group's sound unique.

Soon after recording this album in 1973, String Driven Thing were the opening act for the "Foxtrot" tour by Genesis, but they allegedly stole the tour after winning five encores at a show in the English Home Counties, which was regarded as inappropriate behaviour for a support act.

With 8-page booklet containing both contemporary and current photographs of band members, and with three bonus tracks from the same period, two never previously on CD, "The Machine Cried" features an alternate version of the still much played single from the 1970s, "It's A Game".
British national daily "The Gaurdian" called this LP "a staggering achievement" in 1973, and "MOJO" magazine in 1996 described it as "a much hailed album".