Iain Matthews

The following is a partial discography; a comprehensive discography is available [3] (http://www.iainmatthews.com/disco.htm) on Matthews' personal site. He performed a duet with singer Tom Jones on the 1999 album Reload and with musical legend Ray Charles on his 2004 album Genius Loves Company. Since that time, Matthews has had a moderately successful career, releasing records on a number of small labels in Germany, the UK, and the U.S., before moving to Amsterdam in 2000, where he continues to be involved in various indy projects and collaborations, including the Sandy Denny tribute band No Grey Faith and yet another revival of Plainsong. In 1990 he joined many other guests for Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin. He also appeared with Andy Roberts at the 1992 Cambridge Folk Festival, which led to the first of what were to be several reformed version of Plainsong. Many consider his performance of "Caravan" to be the climax of The Last Waltz, Martin Scorsese's 1978 film of The Band's farewell concert. It also led to his first truly solo performances: his previous "solo" outings had always been as a front man for a one-shot band. His work is thoughtful, often spiritual in nature, and combines elements of jazz, R&B, Celtic traditions, and stream-of-consciousness.

It led, however, to hooking up with producer Mark Hallman — a longtime fan — moving to Austin, Texas, and recording several albums for a series of German independent labels. Morrison has expressed a general disdain for the opinions of the press and critics. This led to Walking a Changing Line (1988) on Windham Hill, an unlikely album-length tribute to Jules Shear of Jules and the Polar Bears. Among his other hits are "Domino," "Moondance," "Wild Night," and "Tupelo Honey.". Matthews was invited to join them to perform, both with them and in other configurations, at the 1986 Cropredy Festival. Throughout the rest of his career, he pursued a successful and idiosyncratic musical path. Since 1974, Fairport Convention had been staging the annual Cropredy Festival; since 1979, this annual reunion had been pretty much their only activity as a band, but in the mid-1980s several of them were interested in reviving the band and had done some recording. Released in 1968, the album was critically acclaimed, but received an indifferent response from the public.

He worked for a while in an A&R capacity at Island Music and then new-agey Windham Hill Records. His first album for them was Astral Weeks, considered by many to be his best work. Neither this nor a return to solo recording in England turned his luck. label. Soul" and Prince's "When U Were Mine". After Berns’s death, Morrison started recording with the Warner Bros. As Matthews' official web site writes, at this point he "had been struggling for nearly 15 years now and was still living hand to mouth, with nothing to show for his efforts but a string of out-of-print albums, and the loyalty of those musicians and fans who shared his vision." [2] (http://www.iainmatthews.com/bio.htm) He moved from Los Angeles to then-inexpensive Seattle, where he teamed up with David Surkamp, formerly of the Seattle band Pavlov's Dog, to form the New Wave band Hi-Fi, whose repertoire included Matthews originals, but also covers of Neil Young's "Mr. From these early sessions emerged one of his best-known songs, "Brown Eyed Girl." Master session drummer Gary Chester played on that song.

Label-owner Shelly Siegel, died suddenly in 1979, leaving the label rudderless. Them’s producer, Bert Berns, persuaded him to return to New York and record solo. However, the North American rights for his album were held by the small Canadian label Mushroom. tour in 1966. He returned to Belfast, intending to quit the music business. He bounced from Elektra to CBS Records, to the small Rockburgh label, where he finally scored a hit single in 1978 with a cover of Terence Boylan's "Shake It", and a moderately successful follow-up covering Robert Palmer's "Gimme an Inch". Morrison became unhappy with increasing emphasis on the use of studio musicians, and left the band after a U.S. After Plainsong collapsed due to a bandmate's alcohol problem, and with his career now based in Los Angeles, he released several more albums with ad hoc bands, including one produced by ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith, but none met with commercial success. He initially came to prominence fronting the band Them, which he formed in 1964 and with whom he had a number of chart hits, most notably the rock standard, "Gloria," subsequently covered by the group Shadows of Knight.

It also included "Even the Guiding Light", a spiritually positive answer to Thompson’s powerful but bleak "Meet on the Ledge". He was exposed to music from an early age, as his father collected American jazz albums, and his mother was a singer. The album included a cover of Dave McEnery's "Amelia Earhart's Last Flight", plus a song of Matthews' own, "True Story of Amelia Earhart's Last Night" based on the research that suggest that Earhart on her round-the-world flight may have been spying on Japanese bases in the Pacific islands. George Ivan Morrison, August 31, 1945 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, occasional saxophone player, and exponent of so-called Celtic Soul. After solo two albums on Vertigo Records, under the sponsorship of former Yardbird Paul Samwell-Smith and surrounded by a who's who of likeminded British semi-folkies (notably another ex-Fairporter, Richard Thompson), he formed Plainsong, who signed to Elektra Records and in 1972 produced In Search of Amelia Earhart, which solidified Matthews' songwriting reputation with the critics, if not with the general public. Van Morrison (b. The band went through several different lineups and toured extensively for the next two years, to general critical acclaim but no great commercial success. What's Wrong with this Picture? (2003).

With Thompson, Nicol, and Hutchings from Fairport, plus drummer Gerry Conway (of Fotheringay, and later to join Fairport) and pedal steel player Gordon Huntley, he formed Matthews Southern Comfort, whose sound was rooted in American country music and rockabilly; this was his first significant experience as a songwriter, although the band also covered the likes of Neil Young and Ian and Sylvia. Down the Road (2002). In 1969, as Fairport's music veered more toward British folk influences, Matthews was booted out. You Win Again (2000). He recorded a couple of singles there in 1967 with a pop band called Pyramid, before being recruited by Ashley Hutchings as a male vocalist for Fairport Convention, where he duetted first with Judy Dyble, but more famously with Sandy Denny. The Skiffle Sessions - Live In Belfast 1998 (2000; with Lonnie Donegan). He moved to London in 1966, taking a job in a Carnaby Street shoe store. Back on Top (1999).

Matthews grew up in a working class family in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, where he sang with several minor bands during the British pop music explosion of the mid-1960s. The Healing Game (1997). He later had a solo career and fronted the bands Plainsong and Matthews Southern Comfort. [1] (http://www.richieunterberger.com/matthews.html). Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison (1996). Influenced by both rock'n'roll and folk music, he has performed mainly as a solo act, alghouth he was a member of Fairport Convention during the early period where they were heavily influenced by American West Coast folk rock. How Long Has This Been Going On (1996). Iain Matthews (known in the 1960s first as Ian MacDonald, and from the late 1960s until 1989 as Ian Matthews) is a British musician and songwriter. Days Like This (1995).

Plainsong, Pangolins (2003) Blue Rose. A Night in San Francisco (1994). Iain Matthews and Elliot Murphy, La Terre Commune (2001) Blue Rose / rfect Pitch / Eminent. Too Long in Exile (1993). Iain Matthews and Elliot Murphy, The Official Blue Rose Bootleg (2001) Blue Rose. Hymns to the Silence (1991). No Grey Faith, Secrets All Told — The Songs of Sandy Denny (2000) Perfect Pitch / Unique Gravity. Enlightenment (1990).

Iain Matthews, Excerpts from Swine Lake (1998) Blue Rose. Avalon Sunset (1989). Iain Matthews, Skeleton Keys (1992) Line. Irish Heartbeat (1988). Ian Matthews, Walking a Changing Line (1986) Windham Hill. Poetic Champions Compose (1987). Hi-Fi,Moods for Mallards (1982) First American Records; live mini-album. No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (1986).

Hi-Fi,Demonstration Record (1982) First American Records; live mini-album. A Sense of Wonder (1985). Ian Matthews, Siamese Friends (1979) Rockburgh. Inarticulate Speech of the Heart (1983). Ian Matthews, Stealin' Home (1978) Rockburgh. Beautiful Vision (1982). Ian Matthews, Hit and Run (1977) CBS. Common One (1980).

Ian Matthews, Go For Broke (1976) CBS. Into the Music (1979). Ian Matthews, Some Days You Eat the Bear...Some Days the Bear Eats You (1974) Elektra. Wavelength (1978). Plainsong, In Search of Amelia Earhart (1972) Elektra. A Period of Transition (1977). Ian Matthews, Tigers Will Survive (1972) Vertigo. Veedon Fleece (1974).

Matthews Southern Comfort, The Essential Collection (1997) Half Moon (a retrospective of 1970s recordings). It's Too Late to Stop Now (1974). Matthews Southern Comfort, Later That Same Year (1970) MCA. Hard Nose the Highway (1973). Matthews Southern Comfort, Second Spring (1970) MCA. Saint Dominic's Preview (1972). Fairport Convention, Heyday(1986) BBC - a release of recordings from 1968/1969. Tupelo Honey (1971).

Fairport Convention, What We Did On Our Holidays(1968) Polydor. His Band and the Street Choir (1970). Fairport Convention, Fairport Convention(1968) Island. Moondance (1970). Pyramid, "The Summer of Last Year"/"Summer evening" (1967) Deram Records; his first recording. Astral Weeks (1968). Blowin' Your Mind (1967).