Iain Matthews Appreciation Thread--solo, album by album + track by track (pg. 18)*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by lemonade kid, Jul 19, 2017.

  1. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    What are your favorite albums, vinyl LPs, or anything Iain you want to discuss. And his work with the very talented Andy Roberts too.

    I have all the vinyl thro his Windham Hill LP...and many digital albums since.

    IAIN [Ian] MATTHEWS

    [​IMG]

    Iain is a good friend of a friend of mine in California. Share your stories, and love for Iain's music.





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    Last edited: Jul 19, 2017
  2. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

  3. funknik

    funknik He who feels it.

    Location:
    Gorham, ME, USA
    'Gospel Oak' is his finest hour IMO. I like the first and second Matthews Southern Comfort LPs (although the sound quality is pretty rough), and the Amelia Earhart album, too.

    I wish he had written more material. His original songs always outshine the covers he leaned so heavily upon for his LPs. He would have a stronger catalog, I reckon, if he had produced more albums with all original tunes.

    Of course the first couple of Fairport albums are great for that faux-West Coast rock sound.
     
  4. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    Love this LP...have my rare vinyl still.

     
  5. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    and this...I have a white label promo--sweet.

     
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  6. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    Love this vinyl cover art..and the music if course

     
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  7. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    Ahh, but Iain (Ian then) covered others tunes better than most and his appreciation of those artist's tunes is undeniable in his interpretations. "Ol 55" is wonderful and my first exposure to Tom Waits (better cover than The Eagles' cover IMHO).

    An album that is one of my faves is this:

     
  8. DEAN OF ROCK

    DEAN OF ROCK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hoover, AL
    Walking A Changing Line!
     
  9. funknik

    funknik He who feels it.

    Location:
    Gorham, ME, USA
    I don't think that's a good cover. At all. In fact it's was the one I was specifically thinking of when I said I wish had done more original material. I know his cover of 'Woodstock' was a big hit overseas, but it just pales compared to the CSNY version. I don't find him to be a superlative interpreter of other's material and I'm not impressed with a lot of his covers of contemporary artists. I like the country stuff on Gospel Oak, but for the most part, I could leave all the covers.
     
  10. funknik

    funknik He who feels it.

    Location:
    Gorham, ME, USA
    For his solo albums under his own name, 'Hi Valley' (produced by Wool Hat) and 'Tigers' are both good, but the covers really weigh down 'Some Days You Eat the Bear...' for me.
     
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  11. SquaRoots

    SquaRoots The North Star Grassman

    Location:
    AM✫dam.nl
    In the late 00's and 10's Iain broadened his output to jazz tinged stuff.
     
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  12. SquaRoots

    SquaRoots The North Star Grassman

    Location:
    AM✫dam.nl
    Love this track off the Joy Mining album:

     
    Trey A and lemonade kid like this.
  13. jemilroy

    jemilroy New Member

    Location:
    OMAHA, NE USA
    Shake It! Catchy MOR song that looking back almost 40 years captures the feel of 1978..
     
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  14. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    I've always enjoyed Iain Matthews wonderful vocals - they're always so distinctive.
    One of my brother's records that I recall "claiming" as my own as a child, and playing repeatedly, was "Darcy Farrow" by Matthew's Southern Comfort.
    I must have been 5 or 6.
    Since then, I've always been impressed and amazed by his constantly seeking new avenues to record his music.
    He doesn't seem complacent to just rest on his past catalog.
     
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  15. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Saw him with Plainsong this year. Still an amazingly good singer.

    I'm with the consensus that Valley Hi is his best album. I really do enjoy the late 70s sellout period though!
     
  16. danasgoodstuff

    danasgoodstuff Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR


    the over reverence is simultaneously absurd and touching!
     
  17. erikdavid5000

    erikdavid5000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I've had his Discreet Repeat double album (best of his Yacht Rock stuff) for years and years (and loved it) before finally realizing he was the same Ian/Iain from those first 2 amazing Fairport Convention albums. It's been extremely rewarding getting to discover all the Southern Comfort stuff and the rest of his solo output. One of my favorite singers/artists ever.
     
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  18. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    I saw him with Plainsong reduced to a duo last year touring Richard Farina tunes in a very small club in Asheville. Great show.

    I made some comment afterwards about Judy Dyble coming out of retirement and got the impression he didn't like working with her that much!
     
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  19. HarborRat

    HarborRat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    I've been a fan since I first heard "Book Song" in 1969. I have about 20 of his albums in my collection, counting solo, MSC, and Plainsong. Here's one of my favorites (out of dozens I could have chosen) - "The Only Dancer" from Tigers Will Survive:
     
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  20. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    My favorite early tune is "Meet On The Ledge" by Fairport Convention...Sandy & Ian. Perfect harmonies. Ian must be about 17. A Richard Thompson penned tune...classic...was Richard maybe 20 when he wrote this?

     
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  21. klaatuhf

    klaatuhf Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    By far Ian's best album IMHO is "If You Saw Thro My Eyes" followed closely by "Valley Hi" and Plainsong's "In Search of Amelia Earhart". Sadly, for me, he never regained the quality of his songwriting after the 70's but his album of Jules Shear songs "Walking a Changing Line" from the late 80's is quite magnificent. Then he changed the way he sang to more of a half spoken style that was extremely annoying especially since he has such a great and unique voice to begin with. His best album of the 90's was one he did with a couple of other great Texas songwriters under the group name "Hamilton Pool". Then came the new century and with it Ian went almost all Avante Garde Jazz and he lost me as a fan of his studio work although his live shows occasionally were excellent. His last ever album from a few years ago was a huge dissapointment and a terrible way to finish his solo recording career. I think some of the cover songs he's done over the years are all excellent. His arrangement of "Seven Bridges Road" is exactly what the Eagles stole to make "their own". All his versions of Richard & Mimi Farina songs are the best versions of those songs by far. A truly talented singer-songwriter who has been largely overlooked by the music community for 50 years.
     
  22. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    you should hear the original by terence boylan, even better.
     
  23. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    iain matthews is very difficult to collect, many different labels, and some very hard to find OOP stuff.
     
  24. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    I first heard him during his late '70s period, and I thought he was awful -- uber-wimpy yacht rock.

    Only many years later did I hear his great work with Fairport Convention.

    IMHO his best non-Fairport song is this outtake from Amelia Earhart:

     
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  25. Graham

    Graham Senior Member

    Location:
    Perth, Australia
    I think he's a bit easier to collect over here - I recently found Gospel Oak in NM- condition on eBay for a very reasonable price. But, yes, the early albums are hard to pin down.
     
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