Ian Matthews reissues - worth it?

Ian Matthews is the most underrated member of Fairport Convention, yes?
Holy shit are his record good. I think "Valley Hi" is an incredible album, even if there is some "filler" the playing throughout is great and should be more than enough to keep you interested, if you're a fan of Gilded Palace or similar fare.

Everyone needs to fucking hear his version of "These Days."
It doesn't look like it's on last.fm unfortunately.

if you don't have the plainsong record, in search of amelia earhart, that was reissued with a "lost" second record and tons of extra tracks, get it now. there is another guy in the band who sings some songs and he's not as good as matthews but the good stuff on it is matthews' best imo

http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/12/ian_matthews_british_folk_alsoran

I'll definitely have to keep an eye out for the Plainsong reissue!

I don't understand how Tigers Will Survive can be so nondescript when If You Saw Thro My Eyes is so amazing. I blame the backing musicians.

I need to hear Valley Hi and the Plainsong record.

I think he's a tie with Hutchings for most underrated in Fairport, I far prefer H's bass style to Pegg's more trad sound.

Tigers Will Survive was kinda forgettable for me too. I own it, but I don't think I can sing ya the hook to any of the songs on it. Have you heard "Later That Same Year"? That one's great too.

You might be right about Hutchings.

jeez, allmusic lists like 25 albums for Matthews! I have heard three. The other one is that SOmetimes You Eat The Bear record, which I have only given one listen and remember nothing about (dollar record).

Sometimes You Eat The Bear is not that great. I think I've probably only listened to it once or twice.
The good ones IMHO are

valley hi
later that same year
if you saw through my eyes
journeys through the gospel oak
tigers will survive (yeah not so memorable.)

and the plainsong record.

oh, and i just looked and i also have Second Spring. I guess you can file that along with Tigers Will Survive as "pleasant but nothing special." I will re-listen to it though and report back.

am relistening to Bear album now, it has covers of Tom Waits, Danny Whitten, Gene Clark, and Steely Dan. and what looks to be a bunch of session dudes in the band.

there was a real good one cd comp of the elektra years, including plainsong, called "the soul of many places"
out of print but it shows up in used stores. good starting point for the uninitiated

I'm enjoying Second Spring. Halfway through side one I'm detecting more of a grateful dead feel. There are jammy instrumental passages but also nice studio technique in a folk rock/rural pop setting a la American Beauty.

I was not as taken by Sometimes You Eat The Bear. those damn slick sidemen ruin everything.

Yeah that's how I remember that one. Stealin' Home continues in that vein and is maybe only worth it if it's a dollar or less.

i love second spring.

i like all the southern comfort stuff. and the plainsong album. and valley hi. and if you saw thro' my eyes.

i still need gospel oak, some days you eat the bear, and tigers will survive. i'll get them eventually.

i have the the later go for broke/hit and run/stealin' home albums, but i don't play them much.

I think Valley Hi & Gospel Oak are his peak. the first Matthews Southern Comfort is really nice too, tho it's more "English" folk/rock than LA country.

I got 'If You Saw...' the other day. It's nice, but I was hoping for something to match 'Moses in the Sunshine' from Second Spring. What a beautiful song.

Still loving "Valley Hi" over here. Such a great sound, such great songs, great singing.

You're hiding your smile for the last time,
So don't mention my name when I'm gone.
If you've handed me one,
you've handed me a thousand shady lies.

big fairport fan, but have not really delved into Ian's solo career -- listening to "If You Saw Thro My Eyes" for the 1st time now -- sounds awesome! Great vibe, and I think I like his vocals here better than on the Fairport stuff he sings lead on ...

be sure to dig out "Later That Same Year" and "Valley Hi"--they should be relatively easy to find around.

also the Plainsong record

cool! will check em out ....

The Performing Gibsons BBC set from April 1971 is great. It's Matthews + Andy Roberts and Richard Thompson. The sound could be better but it's good enough. Thompson on harmonies is excellent ("Where Will You Go") and the guitars are, as you'd expect, terrific.

ooh that sounds great. was actually just listening to "Later That Same Year" for the first time. Really lovely production/vocals.

is the Performing Gibsons thing an official release or a bootleg?

I listened to the Plainsong album afterward and it's great too for the most part. I'm going to try If You Saw Thro My Eyes and Valley Hi later today.

xp bootleg and I can't even find very much info about it online.

yeah, not a whole lot happening on the net with that one, though I think I had read about the version "It Takes A Lot To Laugh" as having one of Thompson's best solos or something ...

yeah it's fabulous! My friend tells me he may have a better source for the set; I just asked him for more info, and I hope he'll turn something up.

hook me UP. will share rare muslim R&L Thompson jazzrock on my blog in exchange.

I'll let you know what my friend says, o/w I can just get you the set I have.

Valley Hi is very very good, maybe my favorite of the bunch. In fact I like it so much that I'm kinda leery of trying other albums by him at this point, besides the four I've listened to today. I don't want to water down this sound too much. But Valley Hi sounds so great; the double-tracked vocals on the chorus of "These Days" is a highlight.

the debut Matthews' Southern Comfort is also great and basically a Fairport album (w/ Thompson, Hutchings and Nicol). perfect 1969 folk/rock with a slight psychedelic edge.

!! need that one

yeah this shit is great

i mean, REALLY mellow. but great.

yeah, I've been digging "If You Saw Thro" the most ... and it's got a song called "Sylvie" which I've been singing to my new baby. Works pretty well for a baby: "Sylvie, don't you cry ..."

I've convinced myself that Valley Hi is the greatest fairport-related LP of all time, totally destroying Fotheringay, Sandy, Pour Down Like Silver, Bright Lights, Henry The Human Fly, or any of the Fairport LPs.

Can we do a POX ian matthews covers? Cuz he's a great interpreter of other folks songs. The version of "These Days" and "Propinquity" on Valley Hi are just beautiful. mike newsmith produced, red rhodes on steel and dobro; could listen to this stuff forever.

I've convinced myself that Valley Hi is the greatest fairport-related LP of all time, totally destroying Fotheringay, Sandy, Pour Down Like Silver, Bright Lights, Henry The Human Fly, or any of the Fairport LPs.
wanna say this is crazy talk, but i haven't heard Valley Hi so maybe you're right!
love his version of Neil's Tell Me Why -- not a radical rearrangement by any means, but his voice sounds great on it.

it's an intentionally challopy argument, but it's a lush country rock record with great playing, an excellent selection of material, and matthews is a hell of a singer. and that's basically all i want to listen to at this time of year.

$0.99
http://cgi.ebay.com/IAN-MATTHEWS-VALLEY-HI-1973-gtfd-LP-w-MIKE-NESMITH_W0QQitemZ390178404892QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMusic_on_Vinyl?hash=item5ad871fa1c

buy it now $3.99
http://cgi.ebay.com/IAN-MATTHEWS-LP-Valley-Hi-Elektra-Records-EKS-78061_W0QQitemZ390178098352QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMusic_on_Vinyl?hash=item5ad86d4cb0

thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxs3EKwcUU8&feature=related

I've convinced myself that Valley Hi is the greatest fairport-related LP of all time, totally destroying Fotheringay, Sandy, Pour Down Like Silver, Bright Lights, Henry The Human Fly, or any of the Fairport LPs.

dude ian i'm totally into ian matthews but better than bright lights, really?

Man, it's real close..

it's because his name is ian, right?

Holy crap. This stuff is unbelievable. It's like discovering a trove of Gene Clark records you never knew existed.

What about the 80s, 90s stuff?

Not so hot, but not horrible either. worth a few bucks if you see 'em.

worth A buck, maybe.

wanted to post "you fell through my mind" but no luck, this is pretty good too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIEicazzQkI

ian matthews rules, imo.

just sold two ian matthews records (and a morris on record!) to a beardo in a Sunn t-shirt.

valley hi! thanks to this thread for getting me into this record. playing it this morning and it is perfect.

It is perfect! And sadly I can't find my copy of it.

great fuckin record.

dude doesn't do anything terribly fancy with it but i was struck by how well matthews double (triple?) tracks his vocals. he gets a really nice sound.

This guy is playing in a pub near here soon. Anyone seen him in the recent past?

this guy has great fucking taste. it's like he had some mainline into singer-songwriter records in the 1970s and covered the dopest songs before anyone else knew of them.

i mean it's weird that his M.O. was basically scouring singer-songwriter records and treating them like someone in previous decades would treat cole porter/gershwin/etc. with some exceptions he's almost purely an "interpretive singer" in an era when this was kind of uncool if you were traveling in "rock" or "folk" circles. and contrary to a lot of interpretive singers his vocals are not incredibly distinctive or idiosyncratic; they're pretty mellow. and yet it works.

dude was amazing interpreter but wrote some good ones too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGxL8s2p73Q

Just discovering this stuff and totally not surprised by this thread's contributers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THXEhiAu978

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmleieGIEu4

IAIN MATTHEWS’ FIRST NEW ALBUM IN 15 YEARS,
THE ART OF OBSCURITY,
COMING JANUARY 28 ON OMNIVORE RECORDINGS

“Will be my last solo album.
It will however, not be my final recording,”
says the U.K. singer/songwriter of session recorded in Austin.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — While probably best remembered in the United States for his 1978 smash “Shake It” (#13 Billboard Pop Singles), Iain Matthews has been a worldwide music icon for more than 45 years. Whether as a founding member of Fairport Convention, Matthews Southern Comfort (who hit #23 with their cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” in 1971), Plainsong or as a solo artist, Matthews has taken listeners on a journey with each recording.

Welcome to The Art of Obscurity, Iain Matthews’ first new release in his staggering fifth decade of recording and performing music, and his first American album in 15 years, due out January 28, 2014 on Omnivore Recordings. Recorded in his adopted home of Austin, Texas with producer Bradley Kopp (Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Tish Hinojosa), this 12-track release highlights Matthews’ knack for acoustic folk with jazzy undertones — capped off by his rich singing voice and reflective and insightful lyrics.

Matthews declares that The Art of Obscurity “absolutely sits up there with my four or five finest recorded moments.” In his liner notes, he states, “The Art of Obscurity will be my last solo album. It will however, not be my final recording. Music is in my blood. Music motivates me. Music is my mistress.”

We hope Iain reconsiders. If not — he has left us with a glistening gem in his crown of musical achievements. While “obscurity” translates as “the state of being unknown,” The Art of Obscurity will put you in a state of bliss.

“The realization that The Art of Obscurity is my 25th solo album prompted me to do some deep thinking about where I am, where I’m going and what I still want to achieve from this life in music,” says Matthews. “In my heart I feel vital and passionate about the creative process and that my best work is the next one I finish. It doesn’t necessarily work out that clean, but for me, it can be the only touchstone.”

Matthews will launch the new album with a PledgeMusic campaign
http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/iainmatthews.

Through PledgeMusic, he will offer his fans opportunities to talk directly to him, buy his new music (with access to additional bonus material), and acquire rare personal treasures from his archive.

Big article where Ian talks about his career - http://www.goldminemag.com/news/artist-news/search-iain-matthews-mastering-art-obscurity

❤ that dude

I'm enjoying a lot of 'Some Bears...' yes its smooth session musos - but when it's David Lindlay and Skunk Baxter i cannot beef with the results. great song choices too.

some bears? I mean Some Days The Bear... obviously

BJ Cole, too ... love that version of the Dan's "Dirty Work."

Me, stumbling across his 80s albums on spotify, and coming to this thread to find out he was in Fairport. :O

Anyway, Spot of Interference (1980) and Shook (1984) are very much my shit.

Will work backwards.