King Biscuit Flower Hour

Liner Notes		by Bruce Pilato
		If they are known for one thing, Big Country should always be remembered for its BIG sound. Huge sound. Massive sound. In fact, everything about the band has always been BIG: big vocals, big drum and bass mixes, and big guitar blends. Featuring guitarist/vocalist Stuart Adamson, guitarist Bruce Watson, bassist Tony Butler and drummer Mark Brzezicki, Big Country have remained one of the few bands to emerge from the era that launched the birth of MTV that has survived through the 90s. This energetic King Biscuit Flower Hour Show was recorded on New Year's Eve 1983/84 in Glasgow, Scotland, near their hometown. "That was a memorable show," says Adamson. "It was New Year's Eve, and everyone was out of their heads. I remember in the middle of the show—at midnight—an entire bagpipe band came on stage and did a few numbers. It sounded so cool, we decided to keep it in the recording." "New Year's in Scotland is a huge event," says Tony Butler. "In many ways it's a bigger holiday than Christmas. It's called Hogmany. They always have parties and the like and people leave their houses open and everyone just goes partying from home to home. "For that show, we decided to put this traditional bagpipe band on at 12 midnight," adds Butler. "It was quite an emotional sound. It was the biggest night of the year. At midnight, everyone was hugging and kissing each other." The show opens with the sounds of rain, thunder and lightning. After a thunderous crash, the effects slowly fade and the band breaks into "1,000 Stars." Big Country's guitars (in their trademark "bagpipe" mode) cut through the song's intro, leading into Adamson's passionate vocals. The rest of the show is propelled by the band's powerful rhythm section and the interplay between the twin guitar action of Adamson and Watson. "We recorded that show at a venue called Barrowlands in Scotland," said Mark Brzezicki. "When we tour, the gig we always look forward to is the gig on our home turf. The response at that gig is always exceptional." "I was aware that I had to play me arse off during that period," Brzezicki adds, "because we were coming off an important tour for us. Everything kept getting moved during that gig. The was a surge of people from the front of the stage. Complete mayhem, and the hottest gig I have done ever." "Angle Park", "Lost Patrol", "Fields Of Fire" and the signature, "In A Big Country", are all here, making this recording a true testament to the quintessential Big Country live show of that era. "The excitement going on in the room that night was really a Scottish thing," says Watson. "We tried to make it a huge party, as much as possible. We had just gotten back after three months in America. We loved America but we were missing home. And this show was a homecoming." The performance was held in a hired ballroom, or dance hall, similar to the legendary Roseland dance hall in New York City. "I had a bootleg of this show for many years," says Watson. "I thought the quality was amazing when I first heard it and I think it sounds even better now." Steve Lillywhite (the platinum producer best known for his work with The Rolling Stones and U2) was the engineer for the recording of the show. Lillywhite had produced the band's first two albums, and wanted to be there as part of this historic performance. "We knew that the show was going to be taped and shot on video and it was going to be broadcast live around the world and in the States on The King Biscuit Flower Hour," says Stuart Adamson. "We knew it was going to be an important show," adds Adamson. "and it was. We had just come off a successful U.S. tour, we had a single that was huge in America, and we were on a real high. I think our enthusiasm is evident in the performance." The roots of Big Country go back to the highlands of Scotland in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The band was formed initially by Stuart Adamson, who had come from a band called The Skids—a group that had seen success in England with a handful of hits. "Around late 1981 or early 1982, I knew I wanted to move on," says Adamson, who formed the first version with Watson and another rhythm section, replaced quickly after the band's onset with Brzezicki and Butler. "I knew what I wanted to do, and I knew what I wanted it to sound like and the image," says Adamson. "Mainly, I wanted to work with the other three guys. These were people that were all friends of mine and were great musicians, too. We jelled very, very quickly. It only took about two weeks to come together. That song, 'In A Big Country' came together very quickly. Of particular note was the band's infectious blend of barroom rock and traditional Celtic music. "I remember when we were trying to get a record deal, "says Watson. "Every company showed us the door. It was like that scene in The Rutles. The labels were saying 'Guitar music is dead.' We were determined to prove them wrong…and we did." "We did demos," adds Adamson. "At the time the music industry was leaning toward synth bands. We were this loud, ethnic rock band. People from the label said they liked it but they couldn't do anything with it." "I didn't notice a trend difference when we came along," adds Brzezicki "What I noticed was the distinct Celtic vibe and that was what made them different." "Tony and I were working with Simon Townshend in a band called On The Air," says Brzezicki. "We toured with the Skids. That's how we met up. Then we went on to work with Pete Townshend and Big Country's manager, Ian Grant saw us. He felt the original line up of the band needed a stronger rhythm section, and we were recommended." "It's a chemistry that just works," says Brzezicki of his work with Tony Butler. "I have worked with Tony since I was 16. My bass playing was developing at the same time Tony's bass playing was developing." "We've always been very good at what we do," says Butler, talking about how the rhythm section of the band meshes with the guitars of Adamson and Watson. "The sound is because of the spectrums we use in the music. We are conscious to be very melodic and very powerful. We all know where our downbeats land and we all have the same groove." "Eventually, a guy from PolyGram came down and heard us," says Adamson. "He gave us the money to do four demos. He loved the songs and three of them ended up on the album." "The name of the band was there first, before we had written the song," remembers Adamson. "I wanted a name that gave you a wide, open expansive feeling, because I thought the music fit the name. There was also a movie of the same name, but the band really wasn't named because of that." "Our success didn't come as easily in America, but things were starting to happen there at the time we made this recording," adds Adamson. "We had already four hits in England, and we had only been together a year and a half." The band released its debut album The Crossing to critical acclaim and commercial success in 1983. The Crossing scored a Top 5 hit, "In A Big Country", garnered the band rave reviews, placed them on huge tours opening for U2, David Bowie, and Elton John, and eventually lead to appearances at the Prince's Trust and Knebworth concerts, and a European tour with the Rolling Stones. The group did two more albums for PolyGram, including Steeltown (1984) and The Seer, (1986) and then spent much of the late 1980s and 1990s moving from label to label without equaling its earlier commercial success. The band signed to Warner Brothers/Reprise Records and released one album in 1988, Peace In Our Time. "We went over to that label and they put us with a producer named Peter Wolf," says Adamson. "The songs were good, but the production was unsympathetic." Brzezicki, however, counters: "I think the production was good and the songs were not as commercially viable as they could have been." Big Country returned in '91 with the European only release, No Place Like Home, but were determined to get back on track in the U.S. In 1993, they returned to the US with an album called The Buffalo Skinners, on the short lived, RCA-distributed label Fox Records. Unfortunately, it too, would fall through the cracks. "We did an absolutely fantastic record for them, but they were an off-shoot of the TV network and really didn't have it together as a label," says Adamson. "They fell out with RCA and things got changed around, and our project simply just got stopped. It's a shame, because I think it was the best record we ever made." "The first couple of albums really hit the big time, worldwide," says Butler. "And that was unfortunate for us. People kept setting a standard for us. You're not thinking about that commercial standard when you're hanging out, writing songs." In 1995, Big Country moved to the indie label Pure Records, where they recorded the critically acclaimed studio LP, Why The Long Face followed by a European-only released acoustic live LP. In 1996, the band went on hiatus. "Every label that has had us for the last five years has had a quandary about what to do with us," says Watson, "because they are trying to buck very big trends like grunge or techno." "We're on hold for the moment, but we will be together again," says Adamson. "At least, I hope so. It's always been a fantastic band to work with. We have a great love respect for each other, and I think we will keep it going." Adamson is using the time off to launch a solo career, based primarily in Nashville, where he now regularly collaborates with other songwriters. Watson has worked with U.K. vocalist Fish and is recording a project of his own. Butler and Brzezicki remain studio and live support musicians in high demand, working outside of Big Country with such musicians as The Who's Pete Townshend, Sting, Peter Gabriel, the Cult, and Ultravox's Midge Ure. Brzezicki is currently a member of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. "We were in these endless business hassles with record companies," says Adamson. "It was always a fun thing playing-wise but not always business-wise." "The one thing that the band always had," says Butler, "was a belief in its self-perpetuation. We always believed in our music and we know we can always produce good music, whether or not it is commercially successful, we feel it will endure." "At the end of the day," says Butler, philosophically. "it's the music that always keeps it together."