Automatic Man was an American rock band from San Francisco. Consisting of well-respected musicians of diverse backgrounds within the rock, funk and jazz communities of the mid-1970s, Automatic Man played progressive rock and space rock.
Despite a well-reviewed 1976 eponymous début on Island Records and a lone charting single, 1976's "My Pearl", which reached No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100., the line-up of Automatic Man was not cohesive. After a second album entitled Visitors, they disbanded in 1977, retaining a small but very loyal, global cult following.
With both releases being reissued on CD in 2004 after 28 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.
Formation
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. Pat Thrall was approached by Michael Shrieve in 1975 to audition for a band he was forming with Todd Cochran.
Cochran, then known under the alias of "Bayete" (pronounced Bye-yet-tay), was a child prodigy and formally trained keyboard player who had attended the Trinity College of Music in England as a teen. Cochran had already been part of the jazz scene for nearly a decade, playing with renowned jazz artists Bobby Hutcherson and 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,
During the break we heard a band practising in the big space. We went in to see who it was. It turned out to be "Automatic Man". That night the bass man wasn't working out and stomped out of the room. They spotted Don and asked him to sit in and to finish rehearsing. He stepped up to the plate that night. When they stopped for a break we went back in the small space we were practising in to finish. During that time they asked him to join the band. One of the reasons was that he played so well that they were that impressed. The other was that Doni and I had gone to Junior College with the keyboard player and main writer "Bayete" at the newly opened "Skyline College".
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 following in the San Francisco/Bay Area, Automatic Man headed for London. Automatic Man made Chelsea's King's Road in London their base of operations recording at Basing Street Studios now Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill and the legendary Olympic Studios with renowned recording engineer Keith Harwood. The self-titled debut album featured 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 [Theme from Atlantis Rising]". He shares co-writing credits with band manager Lou CasaBianca on "Automatic Man", "Interstellar Tracking Devices" and "Right Back Down." The entire band and CasaBianca share writing credits on "There's A Way."
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Todd Cochran (as "Bayete"), except as noted. Side one "Atlantis Rising-Fanfare" – 1:37 "Comin' Through" – 3:35 "My Pearl" – 3:34 (Automatic Man) "One and One" – 5:57 "Newspapers" – 3:57 "Geni Geni" – 5:32 Side two "Right Back Down" – 5:55 (Bayete/CasaBianca) "There's a Way" - 5:14 (Automatic Man/CasaBianca) "I.T.D. (Interstellar Tracking Devices)" – 5:14 (Bayete/CasaBianca) "Automatic Man" – 3:55 (Bayete/CasaBianca) "Atlantis Rising Theme (Turning of the Axis)" – 3:16
(My Pearl was released with a B-side entitled "Wallflower")