Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

hello,
can you please tell me something about Billy Adamson? It looks like he's been in the band for almost 30 years but no information on him, even the year he was born. What bands did he play with before he joined the Searchers? What were his favorite tricks on drums? Where's he now? After all, what are his other contributions to the band apart from 30 years of hanging around and funny look, how do you think?
Little curious Sheena.

Hope this helps, sorry for being so late, but I didn't quite remember where the article about Billy was.
Michael
BIOGRAPHY DETAILS - BILLY ADAMSON NAME...........................William John Adamson
DATE & PLACE OF BIRTH..........27th May 1944 - Peebles, Scotland
HEIGHT & WEIGHT................5ft Pins - lOst
COLOUR OF HAIR.................Brown and Grey
COLOUR OF EYES.................Blue
PARENTS........................ Both
FAMILY.........................Four brothers and two sisters
MARITAL STATUS.................Divorced
SCHOOLS ATTENDED...............Lightburn Comprehensive
FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE........1957 - School hall in Glasgow
FIRST PROFESSIONAL APPEARANCE..1963 - Goteburg, Sweden
OTHER MUSICAL VENTURES.........The Nashville Teens, backing P. P.
Arnold, Jet Harris and Emile Ford
FAVOURITE COLOUR(S)............Yellow and Green
" FOOD(S)..............Vegetarian Curries
" DRINK(S)..............German Beer
" CLOTHES..............Anything casual and comfortable
" ACTOR(S)/ACTRESS(ES).Bob Hoskins / Margaret Rutherford
" GROUP(S)/SINGER(S).. .James Ingrain, James Taylor, Elvis,
Beatles, George Benson, Peter Gabriel, Steve Winwood
" SINGLE OF ALL TIME..."Lucille" by Little Richard
" SEARCHERS' SONG(S)..."Sing Singer Sing" & "Goodbye My Love"
" T.V. PROGRAMME(S)....Yes Minister
" ANIMAL...............All animals
HOBBIES........................Reading and Gardening
HAPPIEST MEMORY................Tax rebate!
SADDEST MEMORY.................1st January & 1st July (Tax bill days!)
MOST THRILLING EXPERIENCE......Meeting the Queen
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT.........Not getting lead role in "Who Framed
Roger Rabbit"
IF NOT A SEARCHER I'D BE.......Interior Designer
MY AMBITION....................To be richer and happier than I am now

I remember doing biographies, like this, of The Searchers for the first issue of the Appreciation Society Newsletter back in the Spring of 1985.

hello,
thank you Michael, that's the best biography anybody could think of, especially the biggest disappointment.
By the way, is there any biographies of this kind for the other band members? that'd be interesting...
More curious Sheena.

We have them for John, Frank, Spencer and Eddie.

I forgot to mention that it from Tim`s Magazine. Sorry for that.

Michael

PS Your Magazine is a good source for many things.

Sometimes think Billy Adamson is the forgotten man of The Searchers, after all whilst he joined after their hit period, he was with them for 30 years, albeit I gather a bit disillusioned for many of the latter years. Always found Billy a friendly enough guy, but Billy was not someone who seemed to enjoy the smiling through gritted teeth bit if you get the drift, if he liked you, he was a nice guy to chat with if he didn't he did not pretend otherwise, which is a trait I admire to some degree. Last I heard he was content just to help out his wife in her business, Catering/Florists I think. Perhaps Tim has more info.

A little confusiness there, as marital status is given as "divorced" in Michael's survey. So I guess that "divorced" is of the past, and that he still is with the catering wife?
Was his departure from the Searchers 100% friendly?
I think BA was a good, average, steady drummer, but not adding the little extra attraction that some drummers do. This is not a question of technique. He could possibly do things that Curtis couldn't. Still, there's not a shadow of doubt which of the four serving drummers was the best man for the Searchers! In this respect, there's at least two leagues between CC and the rest of the field.
But it should be remembered that BA ranks third as the longest serving Searcher! Spencer will be a challenge to him in about 12 years!

Merry Christmas!

Einar, Trondheim

All such biopics have to be taken lightly in my view, not the factual stuff but the rest of it, surely Billy was being tonque in cheek when saying Sing Singer Sing was one of his favorites.

He's still married as far as I know and in answer to the other question Einar, answer is not 100%.