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Automatic Man was an American 1970s progressive rock quartet from San Francisco which also featured elements of funk, space music, psychedelic rock, heavy metal, Krautrock, Musique concrète, art rock and Santana-inspired jazz fusion. Initially a side project of Santana's drummer Michael Shrieve, Automatic Man brought together well respected musicians of diverse backgrounds within the rock, funk and jazz communities of the mid-1970s.
Despite a well reviewed 1976 eponymous début on Island Records and a lone charting single, 1977's "My Pearl", which reached #97 on the Billboard Hot 100., the line-up of Automatic Man was not cohesive. After a second album entitled Visitors, they disbanded in 1978, retaining a small but very loyal, global cult following.
With both releases being reissued on CD in 2004 after twenty eight years of only being available in vinyl format and with the advent of the internet, Automatic Man are being rediscovered and roundly praised for their genre defying, boundary breaking musical sound and unique lyrics.
Automatic Man formed in San Francisco around 1975 when drummer Michael Shrieve decided to quit Santana to explore other musical avenues. That led him to work with ex-Traffic/Spencer Davis group singer/keyboardist Steve Winwood, percussionist Stomu Yamashta, and synthesizer player Klaus Schulze on the Go album, an album of experimental progressive rock that had been released by Island Records a year later. It was at those sessions guitarist Pat Thrall met Shreive, and the two decided to work together. Lou CasaBianca, who had originally managed Eddie Money and who had also been a recording session engineer on GO, became their manager and producer.
Next to join Automatic Man was 25-year-old keyboard player and singer, Todd Cochran, then known under the alias of "Bayete" (pronounced Bay-yet-tay). Cochran was a child prodigy and formally trained keyboard player attending the Trinity College of Music in England as a teen. Cochran had also been part of the jazz scene for nearly a decade, playing with renowned jazz artist Julian Priester. He also released two jazz-funk solo albums on Prestige Records in 1972 and 1973. Completing the lineup was bass guitarist Doni Harvey, who performed around the SF/Bay Area with his brothers and in blues, jazz, and soul bands, playing both bass and guitar. According to Harvey's brother, Regi Harvey, Doni joined the band sheerly by chance.
The final line up played around the Bay Area building up a fan base performing many high profile gigs including the Cow Palace with Poco, and Rush. Impressing Chris Blackwell, president of Island Records, he signed the band to a two record deal.
Debut album
Rather than continue to build on their burgeoning following in the San Francisco/Bay Area, Automatic Man headed for London under the direction of producer and manager Lou CasaBianca. Automatic Man made Chelsea's King's Road in London their base of operations recording at Olympic Studios in Barnes with renowned recording engineer Keith Harwood. The self titled debut album contains a mix of progressive space-rock and jazz fusion, with hard guitars and layered synthesizers. Allusions to space travel, Atlantis, astral projection, karma, angels, aliens, belly dancers and other mystical and exotic subjects are covered on nearly every album track. Cochran wrote the tracks "Atlantis Rising-Fanfare", "Coming Through", "One and One", "Newspapers", "Geni-Geni" and Turning of the Axis ". He shares co-writing credits with CasaBianca on "Automatic Man", "Interstellar Tracking Devices" and "Right Back Down." The entire band and CasaBianca share writing credits on "There's A Way." Steve Winwood who worked with Thrall, Shrieve and CasaBianca on GO, is rumoured to have contributed an uncredited keyboard and vocal appearance on the title track.
Personnel on Automatic Man
Pat Thrall - Guitar, vocals
Todd Cochran - Keyboards, vocals
Doni Harvey - Bass guitar, vocals
Michael Shrieve - Drums
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