Image sourceI first encountered the work of Stuart Adamson through his songwriting masterpiece Shattered Cross.
It was covered by the singer Darrell Scott. Ever since I heard the song I became obsessed with Adamson as a poet.
Like many brilliant poets before him, Adamson was also a tortured soul. They say pain makes good art, but Adamson took this phrase as words to live by. Everything I have heard gives the impression that Adamson had a serious fetish for the booze.
Never one to bash the dead though, I think a person should be remembered more for their successes than their sins. Stuart was born in 1958, a year before my father, maybe that is why I feel a more powerful connection to him than I do to most "celebrities"
Stuart first came to major success with the band Big Country, although according to the ever questionable source Wikipedia, he also founded a band called the skids.
The band that I heard him perform with was the Raphaels, via a youtube video made by a fellow Adamson fan. When I mentioned him to a friend, she complained that his accent made him hard to understand, but I think his accent makes him sound unique.
Sadly, Adamson killed himself in December 2001. He was only 43 I think he had more to contribute to the world of music and that he robbed the world of brilliance.
Here are Stuart's song, along w/Darrell's cover.
