Big Country?

[TwiceHorn 31533]

Anyone remember this band from the early-mid 80s?  Came on the scene with U2 and The Alarm with the martial, celtic sound, and arguably did it better than both.

 

 

 

One of the keys to their sound may have been drummer Mark Brzezicki and bassist Tony Butler, two pretty prolific Brit session guys, who have at times replaced Moon and Entwistle.

Edited December 14, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[tbone_ 14147]

Yep. Good band.

Didn’t the bass player also play C for Okie State?

[Guest Lobo]

Something about the bass player doesn't look as Celtic as the rest, dunno know why.

They were definitely a staple of my older sister's 80's parties back in the way.  I still have several tracks on my iTunes library. 

You're insane if you can't admit to me that the lead singer doesn't look like a young Hans Gruber.  

And that "Fields of Fire" video.  The song is one of their weaker hits, but that video is a straight influence to Traveling Wilbury's "End of the Line."  I love the Wilbury's more than anyone, but their vide is an almost frame-for-frame remake of this video, down to the percussionist just playing snare drum in the middle of the old timey steamtrain.  it's uncanny.  

Finally, their song about Bryant Reeves was as big a disappointment than was Reeves' shitty career mark of just 0.8 blocked shots/game despite getting 31 minutes/game.  Your name is "Big Country" and you're 7'0" and you're making $13mm/year in the NBA?  You get down low and you block that fucking shot, you hear me?!?!?!?  

Anyway, solid 80's act that I would have expected to get bigger.  

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13587]

One of my friends on a BC wave started a back and forth text exchange on them a couple of weeks ago. I liked them then and the exchange confirmed it. They definitely had their signature sound.

[Steel Shank 9430]

Brian Setzer calls bullshit on Adamson.

 

[quote][i]Originally posted by marie3[/i]
<br>I remember hearing on WLIR that Brian Setzer from the Stray Cats and Stuart Adamson from Big County didn't like each other. in the 80's Stuart was saying that the music coming out of the USA didn't compare to the music abroad. Brian Setzer was not happy about the statement and they were back and forth for awhile.
[/quote]

You're correct. In a interview, in the early '80s Stuart claimed that the roots of Rock and Roll originated in English and Scottish pop music of the 50s, instead of as generally thought of by the rest of the known galaxy, taken from R'n'B and Western Music. Setzer read this and, understandably, wasn't very happy about it. They traded barbs for most of the early '80s in various zines.

[Buzzrock 14937]

Before this thread I could not have named more than one BC song. 
 

I’ve heard that first song a million times but never really paid attention to the harmonizing vocals. They are unusual. 

[NWBuck 8584]

8 hours ago, tbone_ said:

Yep. Good band.

Didn’t the bass player also play C for Okie State?

And his kid played for TBoonePickens U as well.

[ajax 2620]

I saw them play live in one of their last shows. They were awesome.

[TwiceHorn 31533]

They came up in a playlist on Spotify based on my already liked songs.  I had kind of forgotten them.

High school TwiceHorn was kind of famous for being drunk at a party when they came on the radio and I started yelling "Big Country!"

[TwiceHorn 31533]

14 hours ago, Steel Shank said:

Brian Setzer calls bullshit on Adamson.

 

[quote][i]Originally posted by marie3[/i]
<br>I remember hearing on WLIR that Brian Setzer from the Stray Cats and Stuart Adamson from Big County didn't like each other. in the 80's Stuart was saying that the music coming out of the USA didn't compare to the music abroad. Brian Setzer was not happy about the statement and they were back and forth for awhile.
[/quote]

You're correct. In a interview, in the early '80s Stuart claimed that the roots of Rock and Roll originated in English and Scottish pop music of the 50s, instead of as generally thought of by the rest of the known galaxy, taken from R'n'B and Western Music. Setzer read this and, understandably, wasn't very happy about it. They traded barbs for most of the early '80s in various zines.

Adamson may have been ultimately correct, if drawing too straight a line between UK pop of the 50s and rock and roll.

I think it's indisputable that R/B and country draw directly from earlier folk and bluegrass music with origins in the British Isles. British music may have skipped the blues and country in getting to rock n roll, although they certainly have variants of both.

[Steel Shank 9430]

50 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Adamson may have been ultimately correct, if drawing too straight a line between UK pop of the 50s and rock and roll.

I think it's indisputable that R/B and country draw directly from earlier folk and bluegrass music with origins in the British Isles. British music may have skipped the blues and country in getting to rock n roll, although they certainly have variants of both.

You just made Setzer's list, buddy.

[freyguy 4284]

I thought it was already established that Robert Johnson is at the core of all this?

[jimmyjazz 46109]

I never really liked the band all that much, but I liked that they figured out how to get that Celtic bagpipe sound into their music.

I agree that the harmonies were really unique.  Same feeling I got when I first heard Alice In Chains.

[TwiceHorn 31533]

6 hours ago, Steel Shank said:

You just made Setzer's list, buddy.

I'm actually a pretty huge fan.

[TwiceHorn 31533]

7 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I never really liked the band all that much, but I liked that they figured out how to get that Celtic bagpipe sound into their music.

I agree that the harmonies were really unique.  Same feeling I got when I first heard Alice In Chains.

Back in the day, I was quite taken with "all of them," U2, The Alarm, Big Country.  I quit liking U2 that much as they shifted and promptly forgot all of them, so I guess it didn't make that big an impression on me.

Just kind of a nostalgia trip.

Edited December 16, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[Steel Shank 9430]

12 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I'm actually a pretty huge fan.

Then you'll enjoy meeting Setzer and the whuppin' he's bringing. 😃

[TwiceHorn 31533]

25 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

Then you'll enjoy meeting Setzer and the whuppin' he's bringing. 😃

I am enough of a fan to know that he's a pretty little fella.

Somewhat ironically, the Stray Cats left the US for England, where they enjoyed their first success.

Edited December 16, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[Steel Shank 9430]

[Buzzrock 14937]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

I never really liked the band all that much, but I liked that they figured out how to get that Celtic bagpipe sound into their music.

I agree that the harmonies were really unique.  Same feeling I got when I first heard Alice In Chains.

Yes. I thought the same thing. What is that AiC vocal harmonic interval anyway? Major 3rd?

[jimmyjazz 46109]

Just now, Buzzrock said:

Yes. I thought the same thing. What is that AiC vocal harmonic interval anyway? Major 3rd?

Not sure, I've never broken it down.  

Another instantly recognizable harmony technique is Doyle Bramhall, Jr.  He just has a certain way of singing below the lead to give it a really unique thickness.  I love his harmony singing.

[tbone_ 14147]

The Alarm

Strength is an all time great in my book.

[ajax 2620]

If you like the Alarm, here's Mike Peters talking about beating cancer and why the song In a Big Country is so important to him.

 

 

[ajax 2620]

One more thing and I guess that makes this thread very timely. 19 years ago today Stuart Adamson died by hanging himself in a hotel room. He had fallen into a pit of alcoholism after a decade of being sober, and he disappeared. The band even put out a message on their website saying that his life was in danger, and for everyone to be on the lookout for his whereabouts.

He's mostly known here for that one song, but they had so much more material.

Here's another one of his songs.

Stuart is missed.

Edited December 17, 2020 by ajax
19 years, not 20

[PDX_Horn 24]

Damn shame they pulled the music video for this song on YouTube. 

These guys kicked all sorts of ass

 

[CHIEF 5095]

On 12/13/2020 at 8:15 PM, TwiceHorn said:

Anyone remember this band from the early-mid 80s?  Came on the scene with U2 and The Alarm with the martial, celtic sound, and arguably did it better than both.

 

 

 

One of the keys to their sound may have been drummer Mark Brzezicki and bassist Tony Butler, two pretty prolific Brit session guys, who have at times replaced Moon and Entwistle.

Their debut video reminds me of the Banana Splits, but with three wheelers instead of Argos.

CHIEF

[jimmyjazz 46109]

Woah.  The story about Mike Peters & The Alarm was terrific. I always had an affinity for that band, but they were never fully on my radar.  They just seemed legit.  Turns out they were.

[hullabelew 3724]

I've talked about this before, but when The Alarm did that show at UCLA in 1986, I thought it was going to spring them in to super stardom.  It was a huge deal with the love broadcast on MTV.  What a great show that was.  But It just never happened for them.  That 3 album stretch of Declaration, Strength and Eye of the Hurricane was as good as any band at the time.  This was in the midst of great runs by R.E.M, the end of The Police and U2.    

Full UCLA show.

 

[BrickHorn 18283]

On 12/15/2020 at 11:25 AM, TwiceHorn said:

British music may have skipped the blues and country in getting to rock n roll

Say what? Aside from maybe the Beatles, damned near every major British rock band in the 60s and 70s was heavily blues influenced. Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Yardbirds, Kinks. Even guys like Van Morrison and Rod Stewart started off in blues influenced bands (Them and Jeff Beck Group).  

[jimmyjazz 46109]

10 hours ago, BrickHorn said:

Say what? Aside from maybe the Beatles, damned near every major British rock band in the 60s and 70s was heavily blues influenced. Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Yardbirds, Kinks. Even guys like Van Morrison and Rod Stewart started off in blues influenced bands (Them and Jeff Beck Group).  

Hell, The Beatles dabbled in the blues during their early Hamburg days.  It's what Brit-rock is most known for:  taking our musical creations and selling them back to us.

[TwiceHorn 31533]

11 hours ago, BrickHorn said:

Say what? Aside from maybe the Beatles, damned near every major British rock band in the 60s and 70s was heavily blues influenced. Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Yardbirds, Kinks. Even guys like Van Morrison and Rod Stewart started off in blues influenced bands (Them and Jeff Beck Group).  

Not what I meant.  In the US, you had British/Irish origin mountain music that evolved into bluegrass and country and evolved/recursed with blues of slave origin and jazz into early rock and roll.  I'm talking what happened in the 20th century before the 50s.

The Brits didn't have native blues or jazz and basically went from jigs and reels into folk and skiffle and then rawk.

All of which ignores the influence of American music on British and vice versa.

The Brits assuredly incorporated blues into rock and roll, but it was after rawk started, rather than part of the evolution.

 

[BrickHorn 18283]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

All of which ignores the influence of American music on British and vice versa.

But that’s ignoring a lot, seeing as British rock was basically just Brits playing American blues and rock ‘n roll. 

[TwiceHorn 31533]

12 minutes ago, BrickHorn said:

But that’s ignoring a lot, seeing as British rock was basically just Brits playing American blues and rock ‘n roll. 

True enough.

[dogbreath 434]

I heard the Skids on George Gmarc's show in 1980 and loved Into the Valley and bought the album, Scared to Dance.  Another great song is Saints are Coming later covered by U2, but the original is better.  Adamson left the Skids to form Big Country.

 

[tbone_ 14147]

+1 for George Gimarc reference.

[yoladu 4094]

On 12/14/2020 at 8:57 PM, Steel Shank said:

Brian Setzer calls bullshit on Adamson.

 

[quote][i]Originally posted by marie3[/i]
<br>I remember hearing on WLIR that Brian Setzer from the Stray Cats and Stuart Adamson from Big County didn't like each other. in the 80's Stuart was saying that the music coming out of the USA didn't compare to the music abroad. Brian Setzer was not happy about the statement and they were back and forth for awhile.
[/quote]

You're correct. In a interview, in the early '80s Stuart claimed that the roots of Rock and Roll originated in English and Scottish pop music of the 50s, instead of as generally thought of by the rest of the known galaxy, taken from R'n'B and Western Music. Setzer read this and, understandably, wasn't very happy about it. They traded barbs for most of the early '80s in various zines.

ah, pre-twitter beefs!

[CHIEF 5095]

American Blues artists and Elvis Presley were probably the biggest influence on British Rockers. Pink Floyd was named after Pink Anderson, from North Carolina, and Floyd Council from South Carolina, both black blues musicians. Both the Beatles and Led Zeppelin were heavily influenced by Elvis Presley.

CHIEF

 

[tbone_ 14147]

Interesting on Pink Floyd. They might be the least bluesy band I could think of.

[jimmyjazz 46109]

1 hour ago, tbone_ said:

Interesting on Pink Floyd. They might be the least bluesy band I could think of.

Actually, I think their music derives a great deal from the blues, but it gets scrubbed and polished.  "Money" is a blues tune, it's just in 7/4 time with no grit.  (No slam on the song, I love it, but it's not "bluesy" even though that's the genesis.)

Edited December 22, 2020 by jimmyjazz

[jimmyjazz 46109]

On 12/15/2020 at 8:15 PM, jimmyjazz said:

Another instantly recognizable harmony technique is Doyle Bramhall, Jr.  He just has a certain way of singing below the lead to give it a really unique thickness.  I love his harmony singing.

Not that anyone cares, but this clip makes it clear how Doyle gets that feel, at least some of the time.  Listen to the chorus.  The song is in D major, but Sheryl Crow sings the 7th (C) on "day".  That's cool, it's still D F# A supporting her choice of the 7th (C) in the melody.

At the same time, Doyle sings the MINOR 3rd (F).  That minor 3rd adds a ton of color to the song.  He "should" be singing F#.  Just goes to show you.

 

[smuggs 9353]

^ I'd like to party with those two female back up singers.

[tbone_ 14147]

Actually, I think their music derives a great deal from the blues, but it gets scrubbed and polished.  "Money" is a blues tune, it's just in 7/4 time with no grit.  (No slam on the song, I love it, but it's not "bluesy" even though that's the genesis.)

Fair point.

Counter point: I’m not hearing a whole lot of Muddy Waters in Several species of small furry animals gathered together in a cave and grooving with a pict.

[jimmyjazz 46109]

21 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

Counter point: I’m not hearing a whole lot of Muddy Waters in Several species of small furry animals gathered together in a cave and grooving with a pict.

I actually laughed.

[hullabelew 3724]

18 hours ago, smuggs said:

^ I'd like to party with those two female back up singers.

My infatuation with background singers is actually at an unhealthy level and has been for quite sometime.  

[tbone_ 14147]

I assume you have seen 20 Feet From Stardom then?

[RDCanecutter 26466]

This thread has inspired me to order a Big Country The Crossing cassette tape from eBay. Because the replacement radio I installed in my vintage Geo Tracker has a cassette player.

[RDCanecutter 26466]

This opening guitar lick. Damn. Time to spit in the Devil's eye.