Into The Valley by The Skids 

The opening to this song makes it so explosive when all hell kicks in. Tremendous song. That riff is up there with the beginning of New Rose ( the damned )

From a guy who plays a ton of cool stuff, this might be among the coolest. Stuart Adamson was a genius. Thanks, Adrian!

Who else liked this video before they even viewed it? I knew Adrian would have nailed it again, Brilliant breakdown of the song and background information.

Can anyone listen to this without shouting ‘ahoy! ahoy! ’ Another great lesson. Way cooler to say I’ve seen the clash, but the skids were fantastic live.

Thank you, Adrian. May god rest Stuart in peace.

A really great rendition of a punk anthem. The key to some of Stuart’s playing was that essential tonic element which he referred to as an “Open Sound”; using drone strings to forge the fuller lead lines with descant backing built-in akin to bagpipes and not limited by their fixed key signature. Also his love of rock players like Nils Lofgren, comes through. He pays homage to Bill Nelson sometimes in subtle ways other times quite overtly (Maid in Heaven). As you’ve mentioned, gliss slides of chords feature in part of the “Wonderland” lead riff and that tremendous hammer-on/off also part of the post-chorus part of, “Fields of Fire”. A great loss, as well as John McGeogh, they chose beautifully engineered and built guitars to express their admirable talent.

Finally!!! Someone gives Skids/Stuart A some love! And you should check out HH amps...everybody used them back in the day at one point or another. Stuart used to run a pair onstage! His guitarsound with The Skids was unparalleled.Great video!!

Great tutorial. Really great to see you cover a Stuart Adamson guitar part. I was one of the ones that requested this song via your website🎉 I think Stuart is underrated as a guitarist (not by Skids and BC fans) and doesn’t get the plaudits that other great players like McGeoch and Marr rightly do. Thanks for the excellent video. A Big Country song would be great.

I read a great article with Richard Jobson and the Skids on a very early tour with the Stranglers Jobson hadn't quite finished his education, the only way he was allowed on the tour was by having Hugh Cornwell a qualified teacher to vouch that he Cornwell would make Richard Jobson keep up with his studies whilst on tour. Needless to say the education he received according to Jobson wasn't part of the National Curriculum.

Watching this without a guitar in my hand, I tend to take more in and not go off. Will come back to this. Great choice of tune.

A wonderful lesson Adrian, thanks for spending the time to work it out. You can clearly hear the influence of Bill Nelson in Stuarts work on this track, particularly the solo. Of course Stuart used HH combos in the Skids and later on Mesa Boogies and I'm pretty sure Bill Nelson used to combine these amps in Be Bop Deluxe. PS..A lesson from Bill Nelsons repertoire would certainly be greatly appreciated.

love this guy, his videos are truly excellent

Great video Adrian - Think you've captured it perfectly. Skids were one of the first bands I saw live in 1978...with my chin on the stage watching from a position right in front of Stuart, I can confirm he used a pair of solid state 70s HH 2 x12 amps...even then a truly inspirational guitar player.

Great video. As a proud owner of a 1982/3 SG1000 - it brings a tear to my eye 🫶

Another song from the soundtrack of my youth! Thanks so much 🙏🙏🙏

Just hearing those opening notes makes me smile! Seeing/hearing a Yamaha SG used for the song is a joy too. Thanks very much.

This is simply brilliant. I own a Yamaha SG200 an old punk form 1979 that still plays with a street punk band called Jack the Lad. I have Into The Valley on original vinyl and can't wait to get stuck into this. Thank you Adrian.... If you happen to be about Dublin Castle, Camden Saturday 13 Aug 2022.. Your most welcome to have a pre show play of my SG :)

Fantastic lesson thanks for your work and sharing , Definitely a project i,ll be trying , One of the great rock songs in my opinion .Another Unappreciated classic song by The Skids was "The Saints Are Coming "

Thanks Adrian, for doing a great lesson on one of my favourite bands songs. Stuart Adamson is possibly my favourite guitarists, loved The Skids and Big Country.

Great great stuff. Would love to hear more Skids/Big Country on this channel because especially with the latter I think there's a lot to be gleaned! Also re: his amps -- Stuart played an HH VS Musician combo in the Skids and early BC. Moved on to solid state Fenders and Mesa/Boogie rack amps later on.

Thanks so much for this. I learned to play this after seeing The Skids live in 1978 supporting The Stranglers then seeing Stuart play it "live" on TOTP to work out the positionings. Incidentally, the same chord shapes of the main riff are also used for the main riff of Working For The Yankee Dollar.

Xcellent job Adrian, love the channel 😊

Without a doubt, you have the coolest and most original tutorials on RU-vid!

Seen the skids at 12 year's old, mum took me, they were supporting the stranglers

Thx Adrian - have waited a long for this - great lesson

Thanks Adrian, another classic I had not heard for a long time. Now I can have a crack at actually playing it.

Yay, once again Adrian knocking this out of the park in song/band choice and execution of lesson! Please do also give a lesson on Big Country, that would be awesome!

What a riff. What a song. So pleased to see this. Thank you, Adrian *round of applause*

Many thanks Adrian. I could never get that main riff right and, thanks to you, now I can. Classic song and one of my all time favourites.

Absolutely brilliant, I lost myself in this video today. I’m a huge fan of The Skids and also John McGeoch and am currently waiting for my Eastwood SG1000 (same colour) to arrive this month, was ordered a while back. Looking forward to playing these riffs when it arrives.

Totally awesome, one of my all time favourite tracks, thank you so much

Great thanks. Look forward to having a go at this iconic track. Wonderful breakdown for us.

This is one of the best tuition videos I've ever seen - very patient, clear explanation of the notes/style, quite inspirational. Big Country song suggestions: Save Me, I'm Not Ashamed or Ships, please.

One of the first singles I ever bought. White Vinyl!! Great work Adrian!

That was the first single I ever bought and I never bothered to learn the riff. Thanks for that, most informative.

Great lesson,I really enjoy your content and have learnt quite a few songs that you have demonstrated. I saw The Skids a couple of times, a fantastic band live, on one occasion i asked Stuart Adamson for his plecky at the beginning of the show, and he remembered and gave it to me at the end of the gig. A superb guitarist and greatly missed. Thanks, Charlie.

memories of school discos and coins flying out of pockets everywhere. great stuff Adrian!

Another great breakdown. Thank you

Thanks, I’m so glad you have done this , I have been hoping you would once you got the Eastwood and your excellent John McGeoch lessons . Stuart was an outstanding guitarist .

Brilliant, Thanks Adrian. What a player he was.

Great tune! I saw Big Country at Reading Rock Festival in '83. They more than held their own in what was an amazing line up of acts that year.

Wow. Thanks Adrian! This is one of the first things I learned on guitar, not long after the song came out. Been playing it ever since. And I now realise, completely wrong. At least I can learn the right way now.

Love it, many thanks, I have played this, Masquerade and Look away, in various bands down the years. Never right though so it seems, I had never realised that they were drop tuned, a revelation to me Adrian, thanks again. Like deployed 👍 😎🎙🎸✅

Cannot wait to do this one

What a riff! How have I never heard this song before? Being a huge post-punk fan I'm amazed this one slipped through the cracks somehow. Excellent work as usual, Adrian!

Thanks Adrian. Good choice. Stuart was a great musician. Echoes of my youth. Thanks so much

Nice one I’m a skids fan maybe some Stiff Little Fingers next

Superb lesson. Nailed the track, and used all the correct fingering. Great job.

Brilliant, Stuart Adamson was superb, great lesson

Great lesson thanks..saw the Skids Oct '79 in St Austell. Fields Of Fire would be a good Big Country song to look at! Swirling bagpipe was guitar riffs.

I think I asked you to do this ages ago It’s brilliant

Really good, thanks.

Spot on... I never knew McGeoch favoured the 1000 model. Great video.

Great song!!!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Great choice.

Haven’t watched yet but know I am going to like this👍

Verse and chorus : I'll have a go. Solo? Feeeerget it! 😀 Thanks for the vid

This was great, thanks!👍

Amazing. Thanks

Adrian, thanks for breaking down “Into the Valley” I went to see the Skids at Surrey University Guildford Shorty after the single was released. I became a huge Adamson fan and have tried to replicate his sound on and off for many years. If you could do more Skids / Big County songs. I guess I like players who used the Yamaha SG line of guitars. I appreciate all the time you spend reviving some of these great songs

Into the valley, peas sure sound divine. That sissy suffered you, but what can viv iron, the soldiers go marching there's masses of lamb. His disease is catskin my picture is Hughes toe. Ahoy Ahoy barman and soda, Ahoy Ahoy Jucy men embalmed her, Ahoy Ahoy lung nearly gave. Best misheard lyrics ever......

Before the Yamaha SG 2000, including on the Into The Valley video, Adamson was using a Gibson Marauder. So that's what I got 😊

This took me straight back to the 6th year common room. Mooching about trying to be cool and this on the record player all the time. Absolutely marvellous, although I've come over a bit melancholy. So long ago. Sigh...

Killer song choice!

Fantastic .....

Thank you

Great work! As for Big Country songs that might be interesting there are quite a few: Inwards, Lost Patrol, Close Action, Porrohman, Flame of the West, Just a Shadow, The Seer, The Red Fox, The Sailor!

Stuart was one of my personal musical heroes growing up

Great stuff Adrian! Loved that riff as a young punk, and so did Graham Coxon from Blur on his solo single "Freakin' Out". Loved it enough to pretty much copy it! A tribute from him to Stuart Adamson I'm sure.

Punk classic 👌

Catching up with a lot of your stuff Adrian, this is great. I'd love to see you covering more Stuart Adamson, some of the parts on the first 2 Big Country albums are just fabulous; I always assumed it was quite e-bow heavy but you might have a different take on it (I have an ebow but it's not a particularly common thing for people to have kicking around these days). Anyway, I really enjoy your videos, thanks for all the time and effort you put into them.

thank you Adrian for doing this always suspected it was dropped tuned, but never played it that way. even though I've seen it live many times and assumed it was played in a higher key live. seems a bit stupid now I know

Would definitely like to see you explain more Stuart Adamson songs. EDIT - Went to the Eastwood shop. That SG replica costs 813 quid. Not bad at all.

Yes!!! A Big Country song would be amazing... Restless Natives is my personal favourite. Stuart Adamson is sorely missed...

How weird - have been playing this one over and over for the last 2 or 3 weeks - and now having watched you I found a third variation / approach to playing it.

Thanks for doing this it is one of my favourite riffs and I have had great fun in the sun blasting through my Marshall JCM 900 some Big Country stuff would be great as well but just keep up the good work. I have thoroughly checked but have you ever done any 999 songs. If you get the chance I would love to see one and thanks for doing Shake Some Action by The Flaming Groovies that is a great song and I have really enjoyed playing it since you did the lesson thank you very much!

There’s a hint of freakin’ out by Graham Coxon in this

I stilll have the 45 lol ....Also Magazine was amazing 👏 to see.

Brilliant lesson as always but given the late, great and sorely missed Stuart Adamson is my guitar hero this is just extra fab. Would love it if you could do other stuff by Stuart given how innovative he was - Fields of Fire? Just a Shadow? Woman in Winter? Loving the Yamaha SG as well btw. Paul

What a tune, first heard this when I was wee on an album my parents had called 20 Of Another Kind, I think Suspect Device was the opener on the compilation, also fantastic, in terms of delivering lessons on less appreciated tracks would you consider doing Rough Night In Jericho by Dreams So Real? There are a good few guitar parts in it to break down. Cheers

When this came out, I and most of the people around me, were firmly in the "double denim, hair like a burst settee " territory, we went apeshit over this Then we we saw them on the telly, with jobbo's dancing, well we tried!

Please do some Big Country stuff too! Their first albums were absolutely brilliant

Difference between 1000 and 2000 was brass sustain block under the bridge and thru-neck, whereas 1000 was lighter without the brass block and had a set neck. Otherwise essentially the same.

Great stuff, you really pick some great songs. Maybe you could do Mantovani’s Hits by the Yachts some time 👍

ALBERT TATLOCK!

I thought The Skids were a Welsh band, shows how much I know LOL

Yes please to Big Country. Fields of Fire would be a good one.

A-hoy Ahoy - Barman and Soda A-hoy Ahoy - Lung nearly gave

Appropriate guitar choice. All hail Stuart Adamson.

As a punk in the day, The Skids never did it for me but I did like Stuart Adamson's guitar playing and the intro to Into the Valley was one of the earlier attempts I made playing guitar (along with Hong Kong garden and Alternative Ulster). I always thought that Richard Jobson was a tosser (to put it mildly) and he went on to prove me right when he became a television presenter. I'm not in the least surprised that Stuart Adamson had to quit.

FECKIN ACE MAN CHEERS.

👍🏻👍🏻

Poor Stuart such a talented guy

Dat Eastwood McGeoch guitar

Have you ever done "In A Big Country"? I would love to see a lesson on that!

Love that solo piece……typical Adamson 🇬🇧🫡

Yet another excellent choice of guitarist,in my view up there with j mcGeoch but sadly not as rated by other guitarists. They had so much in common as you said, dont forget the unhealthy relationship with alcohol that sadly added to their untimely departure of this world. RIP

45 years on and still scared to dance

another great lesson! 😃first single i ever bought...well that and the sex pistols silly thing ..at the same time .21p each !

It may be a basic question, Iam a beginner player, and i really like your channel, it inspired me to play guitar, but i bought classic(nylon)guitar not electric, can i use your tutorials and videos on the classic guitar?