String Driven Thing – String Driven Thing(1972)

Biography
String Driven Thing are a folk rock band from Scotland,originally formed in the 1960s and led by husband and wife Chris Adams and Pauline Adams. The band also featured the electric violin of Graham Smith and guitarist John Mannion. After paying their dues on the Scottish folk circuit they put out an eponymous album on the independent Concord label (copies of which are collectable and difficult to find) although a long way from their later Charisma label output. The group moved to London in 1972 and Chris Adams began to steer the band towards the electric folk-rock genre where his song writing abilities, which often feature hard-bitten and bitter observations capturing the harsher side of life, would be seen to better effect. By 1972 he had recruited classically trained violinist Graham Smith and guitarist Colin Wilson on bass, but soon afterwards Mannion left, citing musical differences. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Driven_Thing

Album & Cover
Recorded in two weeks in August 1972 with producer Shel Talmy, the album landed rave reviews across the music press, with Melody Maker in particular leaping onto the group’s side. 

The idea for this cover came from some of the songs on the album such as Circus, Fairground and Jack Diamond. According to Aubrey Powel, he and Storm Thorgerson were fans of the 1967 film ‘Le Grand Meaulnes (The Wanderer) in which a young man comes across a fancy-dress party. They replicated the scene in a restaurant  on Walton Street around Chelsea, and needing characters for the shoot they used actors and actresses from London’s theatre world. One character from the photograph went on to win an Oscar in 2007 for her portrayal of the Queen in the movie The Queen. She is in the foreground and she is none other than Helen Mirren… Other actors include Patrick Mower from Emmerdale Farm, Terry Taplin was a member of Peter Brook’s Royal Shakespeare Company. The waitor is Matthew Scurfield who worked with the directors Steven Berkoff and Steven Spielberg.

Location: A camp restaurant on Walton Street, Chelsea, London, UK
Who Did What: Photography – A. Powell.
Label: Charisma CAS 1062 US & UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powell

Tracklist

Credits
Bass Guitar, Guitar, Banjo – Colin Wilson 
Engineer [1st] – Damon Lyon-Shaw
Engineer [2nd] – Hugh Jones
Producer – Shel Talmy
Violin – Graham Smith
Vocals, Guitar – Chris Adams 
Vocals, Percussion – Pauline Adams
Written-By – Chris Adams , Pauline Adams (tracks: A2)