Today would have been the 65th birthday of Stuart Adamson, the brilliant leader of Scottish rock group Big Country. Sadly, Adamson left us far too soon in 2001, losing a battle with depression and alcoholism - so perhaps it is fitting that today we bring the news of Cherry Red expanding the last work by the classic line-up of the band.

Following similar releases for the band's material through the '90s from the label (including the expansive Out Beyond the River set and a deluxe edition of 1995's Why the Long Face), 1999's Driving to Damascus will be celebrated with a 4CD box set that collects the album, B-side material, remixes included on a belated U.S. release titled John Wayne's Dream and 36 demo recordings. The newly-redesigned package, sporting new cover art and packaged in a clamshell box like the others, also includes new liner notes by Ian Grey, the band's manager from 1981 to 2013.

The classic Big Country line-up was reunited and revitalized shortly after the release of 1993's The Buffalo Skinners, with drummer Mark Brzezicki rejoining Adamson, bassist Tony Butler and guitarist Bruce Watson. Driving to Damascus was more of the classic shimmering guitar-driven sound the band had become known for in the '80s, with some trace elements of the alternative country Adamson had dived into as part of his side band, The Raphaels. (An EP from this era, offered in a previous deluxe edition, found the group re-cutting some songs from this album and a few choice cuts from their back catalogue in Nashville instead of the Welsh studio the album was initially recorded in.)

Despite the positive critical and fan reception - and a killer pedigree in two of the songs, "Somebody Else" and "Devil in the Eye," being written by Adamson and Ray Davies of The Kinks - neither Driving to Damascus or its U.S. equivalent John Wayne's Dream  (featuring a handful of B-sides and eight of the tracks notably remixed) made much of an impact on the U.K. charts. Within a year, Big Country would launch a farewell tour; a year later, Adamson was gone.

As ever - 65 years from his date of birth and some 40 years from when "In a Big Country" became one of the most unique and moving songs of its era - the music is what lives on. The deluxe Driving to Damascus will be available from Cherry Red on June 30. Full track lists and pre-order links are below.

Driving to Damascus (4CD Deluxe Edition) (Cherry Red CRCDBOX133 (U.K.), 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: Original album and Nashville Sessions

1. Driving to Damascus
2. Dive Into Me
3. See You
4. Perfect World
5. Somebody Else
6. Fragile Thing
7. The President Slipped and Fell
8. Devil in the Eye
9. Trouble the Waters
10. Bella
11. Your Spirit to Me
12. Grace
13. Driving to Damascus (Nashville Session)
14. Perfect World (Nashville Session)
15. Fragile Thing (Nashville Session)
16. Dive Into Me (Nashville Session)
17. Chance (Nashville Session)
18. Look Away (Nashville Session)

Tracks 1-12 released as Track Record TRK1000CD (U.K.), 1999
Tracks 13-18 released as Track Record WWW4 (U.K.), 2000

Disc 2: B-sides and Alternate Mixes

1. I Get Hurt
2. John Wayne's Dream
3. Dust on the Road
4. Loserville
5. This Blood's for You
6. Camp Smedley's Theme
7. Sleep There Till Dawn (Sleep Until Dawn)
8. Another Misty Morning
9. Fragile Thing (Single Edit)
10. Somebody Else (Single Edit)
11. Dive Into Me (Rafe Mix)
12. Perfect World (Rafe Mix)
13. The President Slipped and Fell (Vocal Up Mix)
14. Devil in the Eye (Vocal Up Mix)
15. Bella (Vocal Up Mix)
16. This Blood's for You (Rafe Mix)
17. Fragile Thing (Vocal Up Mix)
18. Your Spirit to Me (Vocal Up Mix with Middle 8 Vocal In)

Tracks 1-2 and 9 from "Fragile Thing" U.K. CD single - Track Record TRACK0004A, 1999
Tracks 3-4 from "Fragile Thing" U.K. CD single #2 - Track Record TRACK0004B, 1999
Track 5 from "See You/Perfect World" U.K. CD single - Track Record TRACK0005A, 1999
Track 6 from "See You/Perfect World" U.K. CD single #2 - Track Record TRACK0005B, 1999
Tracks 7-8 and 10 from "Somebody Else" U.K. CD single - Track Record TRACK0011, 2000
Tracks 11-18 from John Wayne's Dream - Track Record TRK1017CD (U.S.), 2001

Disc 3: Demos

1. Driving to Damascus (1st Version)
2. Dive Into Me
3. See You
4. Perfect World
5. Somebody Else
6. Fragile Thing
7. The President Slipped and Fell
8. Devil in the Eye
9. Trouble the Waters (1st Version)
10. Bella
11. Your Spirit to Me
12. Grace
13. I Get Hurt
14. Loserville
15. This Blood's for You
16. You Want Me to Go
17. I'm on This Train
18. Small Town Big News

Disc 4: Demos

1. Driving to Damascus (2nd Version)
2. Trouble the Waters (2nd Version)
3. This Blood's for You (Alternate Mix)
4. You Want Me to Go (Alternate Mix)
5. I'm on This Train (Alternate Mix)
6. Ages of a Man
7. Birmingham
8. Sun and My Shadow
9. Living by Memory
10. Don't You Stay
11. Cimarron
12. Second Time Around
13. Without Wings
14. Daystar
15. Medicine Show
16. Sweet November Nothings
17. Simple's Always Best
18. Soldier of the Lord

Disc 3, Tracks 1, 3-14 and 17 and Disc 4, Tracks 1-10 from Rarities VII (Damascus Sessions) - Track Record TRA1053 (U.K.), 2004
Disc 3, Tracks 2 and 15 and Disc 4, Tracks 11, 13 and 15 released on In the Scud - Track Record WWW2 (U.K.), 1999
Disc 3, Track 16 from Rarities II - BCR BCRTRK002 (U.K.), 2001
Disc 3, Track 18 and Disc 4, Tracks 16-18 from Rarities VIII - Track Record TRA1056 (U.K.), 2005
Disc 4, Track 12 previously unreleased
Disc 4, Tracks 5 and 14 released on One in a Million - BCR BCRTRK003 (U.K.), 2001