Dinner with Ian (now Iain) Matthews...

Wow, k-tel Chick is purty! Beautiful eyes there, chickadee...

 

Good for you!

I honestly had completely lost track of him since the collection of Jules Shear songs ("Walking A Changing Line") that came out in 1988. Was always a fan of the early Southern Comfort material, but have to confess of being ignorant of his standing with Fairport Convention and Thompson.

What a wildly varied and interesting career he's had!

His teaming w/Thompson sounds really promising--hope they can get it out on a decent label with some marketing push. With all the music biz problems he's had, it's nice to know he still has the desire to perform.

doug

 

I know this information is of absolutely no use to anyone, but I can't resist mentioning that just yesterday I attended the christening of a baby whose first and middle names are Ian Matthew. I doubt the parents chose the names as an homage to Mr. Matthews, though...

Incidentally, why did Iain leave Fairport in the first place? Was he eager for a solo career or were there compatibility problems within the FC ranks? I really like the combination of his and Sandy's voices on "What We Did On Our Holidays" and wish they could have done more together. But it's nice to hear that he and Richard are collaborating after all these years.

 

I prefer his Matthew's Southern Comfort version of Woodstock above all others.

 

Wow, KTC! I'm envious that you had a chance to hang out with an original member of Fairport Convention. I like them a lot.

Great news that he's reuniting with Richard Thompson. RT is playing here next month and I'm planning on going. If I meet him, I'll ask him about that.

Evan

 

Lisa,

Thanks for sharing this...

Bob

 

Love his version of "Woodstock" !!!

 

I bought a double LP called 'Discrete Repeat'. It has some great songs on it, including lovely versions of Da Doo Ron Ron and Gimme An Inch Girl (by Robert Palmer).

I still have the Matthews Southern Comfort 'Woodstock' single.
JG

 

Was it BJ Cole that played peddle steel on MSC "Woodstock"?

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Wow, K-Tel, how did this come about? I went and pulled out my "Pure and Crooked" CD for another listen, useta play it all the time. Great songs.

 

Great picture, K-tel Chick! "Shake It" was a favorite of mine back in '78, '79 - one of the best feel-good, turn-it-up radio songs ever.

 

Lucky you, K-Tel! I sure hope that Iain and Richard can get together to make music again. Their "Book Song" (from the "What We Did On Our Holidays" album) is one of my favorite Fairport tracks.

Jim W

 

I read it was because he didn't like the English folk direction that was starting to dominate the band's sound and setlist particularly with the arrival of Sandy Denny and that encouraged Ashley Hutchings and we fans got the immortal "Liege & Lief" album,which is why IM only appears on one track of FC's 3rd album "Unhalfbricking"."

 

His first solo LP, If You Saw Through My Eyes, has some great stuff on it, especially his versions of two Richard Farina songs, Reno Nevada, and Morgan The Pirate. Reno features Richard Thompson and Tim Renwick on electric guitars, the first time I'd ever heard either of them. Valley Hi, produced by Mike Nesmith and featuring O.J. "Red" Rhodes on pedal steel, is also nice.

 

Was Ian involved with the Emitt Rhodes and Eric Anderson songs with Fairport Convention ?

 

I thought that might have been the case. (My other theory was that he was getting sick of all the Dylan covers.)

 

That's pretty Cool K-Tel Chick ! I really like the Matthews Southern Comfort "Woodstock" version as others mentioned here as well. I been trying to find the "Same Time Next Year" on CD for awhile which is OOP. The Rhino "Best Of" also is OOP and hard to find at a decent price now. I did find the Rhino "Super Hits Of The 70's Vol. 4" which includes that song though awhile back.

Thanks for posting the photog of Ian & yourself.

 

Yep, he sang lead on ER's "Time Will Show The Wiser" on the debut album.

 

The Elektra anthology CD of a few years ago, which I bought on a whim, quickly became my most-listened to CD for several months thereafter. It's a great collection of Eagles-like music (they apparently got "Seven Bridges Road" via his version) that, to me, has depth that the Eagles doesn't always have. Just my opinion, and I do like the Eagles. Not to say that Matthews' music is always that way, but the Elektra CD is a very strong compilation, in my opinion.

 

over the years i have amassed a fair amount of iain matthews cd's, but i have never found his last album "the tiniest wham". any opinions?

renny

 

I'm listening to it now (actually the CD is from over 10 years ago -- time flies!). I agree, "The Soul of Many Places" is a great compilation of his Elektra years 1972-74.

Jim W

 

Matthews has always been one of the most interesting and idosyncratic figures in popular music IMO. One of my favorite things of mine which he took part in H I FI and Moods For Mallards which also featured the semilegendary David Surkamp. Their version of Prince's "When You Were Mine" matched if not surpassed Mitch Ryder's version in pathos and raw emotion. He didn't happen to mention that time period of his musical history, did he? I really envy the opportunity you had to converse with him.