Adrian Gurvitz was born in London, the son of Sam and Marie Gurvitz. At the age of 8 he started playing guitar. In the 60's his father was a tour manager for bands like Cliff Richard and the Shadows and the Kinks, and it was this that introduced Adrian to the music business. As well as he’s brother Paul who had started a while before Adrian After about a year of traveling with various bands all over England, He then formed his own band with he’s brother Paul.
THE GUN
THE GUN The Gun had instant success. Adrian, in a fit of inspiration, had written a song called "Race with the Devil" that took the band high in the charts and became an international hit reaching number 8 in the UK. They did two albums for CBS called "Gun" and "Gunsight" .. The band toured for two years and put out four more singles "Race with the Devil" was subsequently reissued in 1979 and 1982. The follow-up, "Drives You Mad", was similar in style. Their first album cover was designed by Roger Dean which was also his first music cover. It was very much part of the first wave of British hard rock. Both albums were psychedelic/progressive crossover items and could potentially also appeal to fans of either of these genres. Collectors should note that their original 1968 album, together with 3 bonus tracks, has been re-issued on cd as "Gun" (Repertoire REP 4562-WY)
THREE MAN ARMY
Once Adrian Gurvitz had disbanded from the trio Gun, he rushed immediately, with his brother Paul and former Spooky Tooth drummer Mike Kellie, into a new heavy rock adventure - a project which proved to be well ahead of its time. It was Adrian's first solo record and he called it "Three Man Army" which made it's debut in 1971 on "A Third Of A Lifetime". The record was produced by the late Lou Risner who had Buddy Miles guest star and play on the record. The easily written Adrian Gurvitz material made people sit up and take notice, above all because the excellent song's rhythm craft sounds shaped the most dramatic hard rock sounds of the highest caliber. Adrian was elevated to the level of cult star on the British underground circuit.
BUDDY MILES BAND
While Adrian was making the record he met Buddy Miles who had also been produced by Lou Risner. Buddy had played with Hendrix in The Band of Gypsies. Adrian was friends with Jimmy Hendrix and they had Jammed together in the Speakeasy and Blazes also at the Isle of Wight pop festival Jimmy played Adrian's song "Race with the Devil" to over a million people. Soon after making the record Buddy called Adrian and asked if he would come to stay in Los Angeles and play guitar in his new band The Buddy Miles Band. Adrian accepted and flew off to the States. Once there he recorded and wrote songs with Miles and toured the USA for two years playing football stadiums. On one of the tours he met Ginger Baker from Cream who was playing in his new band called Salt. Adrian's guitar playing had now been given a strong funk and blues influence but Adrian was now beginning to miss the British music scene and after two years he returned to London Adrian wanted to reform Three Man Army so he recruited his brother Paul and the well-in-demand session drummer Tony Newman for the recording of the second record "Mahesha" and "Three Man Army II". In 1973, on their second outing, this British band sounded rougher and bluesier than on their debut record, which sparked frequent comparisons to Cream and Grand Funk Railroad. Center-stage was Adrian Gurvitz, a true guitar wizard, whose intricate, hard-driving solos had gained notoriety since his days with Gun, aided and abetted by the heavy, precise rhythm section. Yet proper commercial success continued to elude them. They toured the States with the Doobie Brothers and the Beach Boys.
The band was often praised for their tight and professional live performances, yet, at the end of the day, none of their records had made it into the charts. The last crack at big time was attempted in 1974, with the release of Three Man Army II which was never released in the UK and Newman left the band to join David Bowie.
BAKER GURVITZ ARMY
Adrian then embarked on yet another venture - the brand new Baker Gurvitz Army, featuring legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker. Adrian had bumped into Ginger at the Speakeasy (an after hours club for rock stars in the 70's) and after a very short hello they had decided to form the band and record their first record which they made at Ramport, The Who's studio. for the blues.. He was a much better guitarist than many of his more publicized contemporaries.
MOODY BLUES -THE GRAEME EDGE BAND featuring ADRIAN GURVITZ
Later, in the mid-70's Adrian also played and wrote all the songs on the two records by the Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge. Both records "Kick Off Your Muddy Boots" and "Paradise Ballroom" featured Adrian as a singer song writer. Both records charted in the states.
JET RECORDS
Later still, in 1979 and 1980, Adrian released two solo albums for Jet Records, "Sweet Vendetta" backed by Toto and "Il Assanio". This record featured a softer side of Adrian, with the slickly produced, mellow funky soul, in the style of later Average White Band and Phil Collins.
CLASSIC
In 1982, for Micky Most's RAK label and Geffen in the USA Adrian recorded "Classic". A true classic it charted the top ten in the UK and Europe and became one of the most played ballads in England and Europe. The follow up "It's Your Dream" also charted but only made the top 40. There were two other singles "Clown" and "Corner of Love". Adrian also wrote the World Cup football song in 1984 for fun which went to number 1 in the UK chart.
NO COMPROMISE
Adrian had teamed up with a new manager, Harvey Wolfinger, and together they built a studio in Hampstead, North London and started a production company for Adrian to record new records.
He made two singles "Always" and "Keep the Faith" plus an album "No Compromise" but these records were never released. Adrian's mother was sick and after twenty years of feeling like nothing could stop him, this did.
SONG WRITING
Adrian had been making trips to the States to write songs and on one of the trips he wrote a song "The Love in your Eyes". Eddy Money recorded it and the song was a top 20 on the billboard chart and No1 Rock. Adrian thought it was time to make a move and came to live in America in 1989. On his arrival he signed a publishing deal with Warner Cappell Music where he became a staff writer and worked with artists John Wait ,Steve Perry ,REO Speedwagon, Henry Lee Summer, Jason Sheff (Chicago), David Foster, Meredith Brooks, Sheryl Crow ,Paul Young ,Terry Reed, Jonathan Cain & David Cassidy and Sarah Brightman. He was writing songs with various writers such as Steve Kipner, Linda Thompson & Frannie Goldie. Kenny G and Aaron Neville covered "Even if My Heart Would Break", a song he collaborated with Frannie Goldie on. The song was on the Bodyguard soundtrack and Kenny G's "Breathless" cd. CC Wynans You’su N dour and Stevie Ncks. Other writers Charlie Midnight, Lauren Cristy.
Adrian wanted to do another recording but felt that this time a guitar record would be just the thing to celebrate a special moment in time. He wrote "Acoustic Heart" which he dedicated to his wife Elaine. Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide 1996 wrote : "When the Wave in Los Angeles started defining its approach in station IDs as smooth jazz, no doubt the programmers had in mind the kind of easy breezy passion they'll hear on Adrian Gurvitz's smoothest "Acoustic Heart". In both his keen melodic sensibilities and silky way with an acoustic riff, Gurvitz pours on the romance with a vengeance, giving the format any number of solid individual cuts. Best of all, within each tightly seemed arrangement, he plucks around with ever so much improv to let us know how jazz-efficient he is. ... Gurvitz is a skilled player and composer, that's a given".
PRODUCER/WRITER
Adrian is now producing artists and writing songs.
I’d like to thank some guitar players who showed me what guitar meant
Django Reinhardt
Jimmy Hendrix
Eric Clapton
Jeff Beck
Segovia
John Williams
John Mc Glocklin
Peter Green
Dwayne Allman
Dickey Betts
Jimmy Page
BB King
Buddy Guy
Joe Walsh
Pete Townsend
Mark Knopfler
The guitars I have displayed help me carve out a career in music. A life without guitar would be a spoiled life.
Adrian Gurvitz 2006
