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

    Five albums in less than three years. That is prolific indeed. We're lucky to get one album every fives years from artists today. And Iain's work in those three years was consistently high quality music, wonderful originals and brilliant covers..

    Iain always seems to attract the best session artists, from former Fairport members (If You Could See Thro' My Eyes) to the likes of Mike Nesmith and the immortal Red Rhodes (Valley Hi). The uniquely talented Andy Roberts has been a stalwart on a ton of Matthews' Plainsong.

    Extremely rare albums
    Nina and The Dream Tree

    [​IMG]


    Check out Andy's solo work if you can:

    Andy Roberts (born Andrew Jonathan Roberts, 12 June 1946, in Hatch End near Harrow, Middlesex) is an English musician, guitarist and singer-songwriter, perhaps best known for his 37-year partnership with singer Iain Matthews in the English folk rock band, Plainsong.

    He was a backing guitarist in the "surrogate band"[3]
    during Pink Floyd's The Wall tour in 1981 -wiki

    .............................................

    This is especially beautiful by Andy...
    from a favorite album, Nina and The Dream Tree 1971

    Keep My children Warm



    Solo albums


    • Home Grown (RCA SF8086, 1970)
    With: Roger Powell, Mike 'Ace' Evans, Gordon Huntley, Ian Whiteman - Arrangements by Dave Palmer - Produced by Sandy Roberton.
    Original 14-track vinyl release on RCA Records 1970. Released on CD by Strange Days Records in 2005 with one bonus track.

    • Home Grown (B&C CAS1034, 1971)
    With: Roger Powell, Mike 'Ace' Evans, Gordon Huntley, Ian Whiteman - Arrangements by Dave Palmer - Produced by Sandy Roberton.
    A shortened 10-track vinyl release 1971 on B&C Records in the UK, and Philips in the Netherlands. A different 8-track version of Home Grown was also released in 1971 on Ampex Records in the US and Canada.

    • Nina And The Dream Tree (Pegasus PEG 5, 1971)
    With: Iain Matthews, Roger Powell, Charlene Collins, Gerry Conway, Zoot Money, Mac and Katie Kissoon, Mike London, John Pearson, Dave Richards, Ray Warleigh - Produced by Sandy Roberton.
    Original vinyl release on Pegasus 1971, also released on Philips in the Netherlands. Released on CD by Strange Days Records in 2005.

    • Everyone (band project) (B&C CAS1028, 1971)
    With: Dave Richards, John Pearson, John Porter and Bob Sargeant - Produced by Sandy Roberton.
    Original vinyl release on B&C Records 1971 in the UK, as 'Andy Roberts With Everyone' in the US on Ampex Records.

    • Urban Cowboy (Elektra K42139, 1973)
    With: Iain Matthews, Dave Richards, Bob Ronga, Timi Donald, B.J. Cole, Richard Thompson, Dick Parry, Mike Kellie, Neil Innes, Martin Carthy, Gerry Conway - Produced by Sandy Roberton.
    Original vinyl release on Elektra 1973. Released on CD by Fledg'ling Records in 2012.

    • Andy Roberts And The Great Stampede (Elektra K42151, 1974)
    With: Zoot Money, B.J. Cole, Pat Donaldson, Sonny Francis, Ollie Halsall, Mik Kaminski, Ray Wehrstein - Produced by Sandy Roberton.
    Original vinyl release on Elektra 1974. Released on CD by Fledg'ling Records in 2007 with five bonus tracks.

    • Loose Connections - Not Exactly A Love Story (Virgin Records V2306, 1984)
    With: Keith Nelson, Peter Dennis, B.J. Cole, Howard Tibble, Steve Simpson, Ricky Cool, Graham Preskett, Pete Wingfield, Bobby Valentino.

     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2020
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  2. oboogie

    oboogie Forum Resident

    Location:
    U.S.A.
    Some Days You Eat The Bear And Some Days The Bear Eats You is one of my favorites from Iain. Some the very best lap & pedal steel guitar work is on this album. Congrats on having this promo treasure in your collection.
     
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  3. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    Thanks...one of my all times faves too. Have you checked out Andy Roberts material?
    My Andy Roberts thread has been closed for posts but I posted a lot of information there:

    ANDY ROBERTS-Dream Tree Sequence, Iain & Plainsong, Nick Drake & Pink Floyd
     
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  4. oboogie

    oboogie Forum Resident

    Location:
    U.S.A.
    I luckily have the Andy Roberts “Anthology” cd release.
     
  5. Chemically altered

    Chemically altered Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ukraine in Spirit
    [​IMG]The only one I like. :hide:
     
  6. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    6) Valley Hi (1973)

    AllMusic Review by Brett Hartenbach

    With ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith at the helm and an array of C&W sidemen on hand, Ian Matthews recorded what is probably his most overtly country album to date, 1973's Valley Hi. The record opens with a pair of tracks -- his own "Keep on Sailing" and the traditional "Old Man at the Mill" -- that had been scheduled to appear on the second release by his former band Plainsong, which Elektra chose to shelve.


    Matthews then proceeds to cover rarities by Randy Newman and Richard Thompson, whose "Shady Lies" had only surfaced before on an obscure 1969 recording by Fairport crony Marc Ellington, as well as chestnuts by Jackson Browne and country legend Don Gibson. Elsewhere, he delivers terrific versions of Nesmith's tale of friendship turned to love, "Propinquity," and Steve Young's now classic "7 Bridges Road." Matthews' excellent rendition of the latter set the standard for the song, which became a hit in the early '80s for the Eagles, using an identical arrangement.

    He also added one new original, along with two (including "Keep on Sailing" and "Save Your Sorrows") from the aborted Plainsong release, all three of which rank with his best. Though he has since stated his dissatisfaction with the album, Valley Hi nonetheless remains among Ian Matthews' finest.

    Keep On Sailing

     
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  7. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    It is indeed a great one, but have you explored every one by Iain? There is a lot to discover that is quite good.
     
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  8. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    Pitchfork review:

    [​IMG]

    One of these nights, I'm going to realize that I have become an Eagles fan. It will be easy to blame modern practitioners like Wilco, Will Oldham, or Calexico for getting me infatuated with that country-rock sound, slightly fried in the sun, yet mellow enough for the most Cuervo and Columbian-shriveled mind, but the biggest culprit will be Ian Matthews. He alone has made that peaceful, easy feeling of loathsome So-Cal sound palatable to my ears by masticating songs that Frey & Co. would one day cop and make more famous on their own.

    A player on the first two Fairport Convention albums, Matthews saw the similarity between the folk revival in England and the emerging singer/songwriter scene in L.A., and after a few group efforts as Plainsong and Matthews Southern Comfort, he left the UK's clammy chill for good to reside in the eternally sunny clime of California, hooking up with producer Michael Nesmith to record his fifth solo album, Valley Hi. Nesmith, of course, is better known as the lanky, wool-capped Monkee, but his career also took turns into weird film/television projects like Popclips (which would one day morph into the behemoth known as MTV) and Elephant Parts, as well as a modest stake in that gilded-country sound of his solo career (his greatest success still being the pen behind Linda Ronstadt's "Different Drum").

    Fans of Being There or The Royal Tennenbaums soundtrack can imagine a mashing of the two for Ian Matthews' exquisite, swooping country-take of "These Days", his reedy voice replacing Nico's morphine drip. As a collector of songs, his ear was excellent, with many of his covers being turned into gold for other MOR artists. Without the help of the songwriter credits, it'd be hard to glean what songs are the traditional folk standards and which are 50s country two-step. Then there's the rare Richard Thompson song and the rare Randy Newman one. Not to mention that Matthews' is an adept writer, too, slipping his originals into the running order. He commingles the disparate strands effortlessly, infusing them with his laidback pacing and quivering, gentle voice until they're all of a piece. His take on Nesmith's concise friendship-into-love song "Propinquity" gets delivered with a tender lilt, while his cover of Steve Young's "7 Bridges Road" was lifted wholesale by the Eagles in the early 80s.

    They also made a hit out of Tom Waits' "Ol' 55", a song which opens Ian Matthews' sixth album, Some Days You Eat the Bear and Some Days the Bear Eats You, released a year later. Without Nesmith's Texas twang touch behind the board, the album hangs a little more precariously, less cohesive than its predecessor. Matthews' "Keep on Sailing" (which opened Valley Hi) gets slowed to a sluggish, sax-stuffed pace. The covers still stun, though. Crazy Horse's heartbreaking "I Don't Wanna Talk About It" (Rod Stewart hit with it) and Gene Clark's "Tried So Hard" (covered back in his days with Fairport Convention) are delivered with a mastery that stands along with the originals while also sounding refreshed in Matthews' throat. The second side of the album, however, falls off with the Steely Dan and Jesse Winchester covers lost under that ever-increasing smog of adult contemporary radio. Still, for a good part of this two-fer collection of his Elektra solo albums, Matthews' recasts the future hits with effortless grace, reaching into his English past and his American country present to amalgamate something distinct, never once sounding like he's just out riding fences.

    Ian Matthews: Valley-Hi / Some Days You Eat the Bear and Some Days the Bear Eats You Album Review | Pitchfork
     
  9. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    A rarity on the used vinyl scene, but well worth the search. But I suppose it costs a pretty penny nowadays...I have a NM copy and love it always.

    [​IMG]

    from Discogs:

    [​IMG]

    Ian Matthews ‎– Valley Hi

    Label:
    Elektra ‎– EKS-75061
    Format:
    Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold
    Country:
    US & UK
    Released:
    1973
    Genre:
    Folk, World, & Country
    Style:
    Folk Rock, Country Rock
    Tracklist
    Hide Credits

    A1 Keep On Sailing
    Written-By – Ian Matthews
    4:38
    A2 Old Man At The Mill
    Arranged By – Matthews*Written-By – Trad.
    2:34
    A3 Shady Lies
    Written-By – Richard Thompson
    3:54
    A4 These Days
    Written-By – Jackson Browne
    4:20
    A5 Leaving Alone
    Written-By – Ian Matthews
    3:30
    B1 7 Bridges Road
    Written-By – Steve Young
    4:01
    B2 Save Your Sorrows
    Written-By – Ian Matthews
    2:20
    B3 What Are You Waiting For
    Written-By – Randy Newman
    4:45
    B4 Propinquity
    Written-By – Michael Nesmith
    2:52
    B5 Blue Blue Day
    Written-By – Don Gibson
    3:15
    Credits
     
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2020
  10. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    7 Bridges Road is by far the best cover of this Steve Young song.

    The Eagles ripped off Iain's version almost verbatim (if I may misuse that description to apply to music).
    But then if you want to explore the better side of what the often tiresome Eagles later came to be, Iain was and is the
    original best of that gentle country rock sound, and does it better with a freshness that never fades...

     
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2020
  11. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    Shady Lies...pure Iain Matthews. This is a Richard Thompson song,
    but beats me how Iain can take anyone's song and make it his own.




    Your faves from "Valley Hi"?

    :tiphat:
     
  12. Chemically altered

    Chemically altered Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ukraine in Spirit
    Yup, tried the early Mathews Southern Comfort albums as well as Tigers Will Survive, Plainsong, and the album that followed The Raw And Crooked. None of them did much for me. But my sister loved that Shake It album. Whatever it's title is. :)
     
  13. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    In a bit I will jump backwards a bit...to Plainsong.
    Sorry I missed it in the proper place, being released in 1972.

    Although it had the great Andy Roberts and a wonderful cast, it is still, first and foremost, Iain Matthews.

    :tiphat:
     
  14. oboogie

    oboogie Forum Resident

    Location:
    U.S.A.
    One of my faves is his cover of Jackson Browne’s “These Days”.

     
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  15. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    Red Rhodes' cosmic country steel playing is so great...and Iain gives the song such an understated melancholy feel.
    Best cover for sure!... beats another favorite cover of this great Browne song by a hair... by Tom Rush.
     
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2020
  16. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    7) Journeys From Gospel Oak (1974)

    [​IMG]

    Journeys from Gospel Oak is the 1974 solo album by country rock/folk rock musician Ian Matthews.
    It was recorded in November 1972 as Matthews' expected third solo album of a three-album record deal on the Vertigo label and was originally set for release in mid-1973. Vertigo, however, lost interest in the project and it was signed over to and released by Mooncrest Records in 1974 who had also released albums by other ex-Fairport Convention colleagues, Ashley Hutchings and Sandy Denny. The album was recorded at Sound Techniques studio in Chelsea and took its title from Matthews' commute to the studio from where he then lived in North London.
    The album was first released on CD in 1988 by Line Records in Germany, and then again by Mooncrest in 1991 with new liner notes by John Tobler. An expanded version of the album, featuring seven extra tracks, was released by the Sanctuary Records Group in 2006 on the Castle Music label. -wiki

    1. "Knowing The Game" (Ian Matthews) - 2:34
    2. "Polly" (Gene Clark) - 4:02
    3. "Things You Gave Me" (Glen D. Hardin) - 2:32
    4. "Mobile Blue" (Mickey Newbury) - 3:27
    5. "Tribute To Hank Williams" (Tim Hardin) - 2:57
    6. "Met Her On A Plane" (Jimmy Webb) - 3:33
    7. "Bride 1945" (Paul Siebel) - 3:07
    8. "Franklin Avenue" (Ian Matthews) - 2:51
    9. "Do Right Woman" (Dan Penn, Chips Moman) - 3:35
    10. "Sing Me Back Home" (Merle Haggard) - 3:36


    Extra Tracks (2006 Expanded Version)

    1. "Met Her On A Plane" (7" single mix)
    2. "Devil In Disguise" (album outtake)
    3. "Knowing The Game" (2006 re-recording)
    4. "Polly" (2006 re-recording)
    5. "Franklin Avenue" (2006 re-recording)
    6. "Tribute To Hank Williams" (2006 re-recording)
    7. "Devil In Disguise" (2006 re-recording)

    Personnel[edit]




     
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  17. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    "Deeply Satisfying In Its Elegance..."


    [​IMG]



    AllMusic Review by Mark Deming


    In 1972, several years after leaving both Fairport Convention and his own group, Matthews Southern Comfort, Iain Matthews was once again struck with a case of musical wanderlust and decided to pack in his solo career and form a new group, Plainsong.

    At the time,
    Matthews still owed an album to Vertigo Records, and rather than give them Plainsong's debut, he booked a studio for five days and cut a solo album dominated by covers of songs from American tunesmiths, with only two original songs appearing on the set. By all rights, the album that resulted should have been a tossed-off trifle (especially since Vertigo opted not to release it after all, eventually selling it to the independent Mooncrest label), but Journeys from Gospel Oak turned out to be one of Matthews' most satisfying solo efforts, a lovely fusion of airy country rock and pastoral British folk that captured some of Matthews' most beautiful and heartfelt vocal work.


    Matthews' two new songs, "Knowing the Game" and "Franklin Avenue," are fine tunes inspired by his experiences in the music business, but the covers he chose for the set are inspired; he manages to bring something fresh and affecting to well-worn numbers like "Do Right Woman" and "Sing Me Back Home," and lesser known compositions like "Bride 1945" and "Things You Gave Me" prove his interpretive instincts were to be reckoned with.


    The compact band Matthews put together for the sessions is superb: Jerry Donahue's lead guitar is subtle but gently reinforces the country accents of the melodies, and bassist Pat Donaldson and drummer Timi Donald (who played on many of Richard Thompson's early solo sessions) give the tracks a rock-solid foundation.


    Journeys from Gospel Oak is a simple album, but there's something deeply satisfying in its elegance, and it captures a soulful and touching spirit that's found in Iain Matthews' best music.


     
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  18. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    Knowing The Game (Ian Matthews)

     
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  19. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    Polly (Gene Clark)...a beautiful reading of Gene's wonderful song.

     
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  20. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    Mobile Blue (Newbury)

     
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  21. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    Met her On A Plane (Webb)

     
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  22. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing Thread Starter

    Bride 1945 (Paul Siebel)

     
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  23. averica

    averica infinite rider on the big dogma

    i was heavily into Jules Shear in the early 90's and picked up the record Ian did of all Shear covers..exposed to me some songs i hadnt heard yet(i eventually amassed all of the Shear records) but i enjoyed..and still do..his versions.i have a comp from his 70's stuff too and also an album he did with Elliott Murphy.and of course Shake It on the Have A Nice Day cd
     
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  24. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    Coming at this as a Nesmith fan not terribly familiar with Matthews (But I am going to get this album and start there).

    I know this song well from Nez’s own, wonderful Nevada Fighter album, his earlier demo’d versions under the Monkees banner, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band version. All are excellent, and so is Iain’s:

     
    Last edited: Feb 29, 2020
  25. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    Always loved Jackson’s original, but for me Gregg Allman’s cover will always be the definitive one. Iain’s is also great though... It certainly rivals Gregg’s.

    I noticed Iain’s version has a verse I’d not heard before: “And I’ve stopped my ramblin, I don’t too much gamblin’ these days...” etc.

    It’s not in either Jackson’s or Gregg’s versions. Is it a verse Jackson left off or did Iain write his own?

    Really excited to pick up this album!
     
    Last edited: Feb 29, 2020
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