Matthews Southern Comfort Later That Same Year (Vinyl, MCA Records, 1970) ****
Genre: Country rock
Places I remember: M
Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Woodstock (From Later...)
Gear costume: Even As (From Second Spring)
Active compensatory factors: This is one of those rare things - British country rock and, let me declare from the off, it's brilliant! Given it sprang from Ian Matthews' post folky days in Fairport Convention, it also has tinges of that genre along the way (Blood Red Roses is just one example).
Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Woodstock (From Later...)
Gear costume: Even As (From Second Spring)
Second Spring is really the first MSC band effort (see below) and it sounds great, as in - it could have been recorded yesterday. It's that fresh! There are so many positive moments - Ian's gorgeous vocals, the harmony work, the guitar and banjo of Carl Barnwell (who also provides a couple of songs) and the laidback vibe is beguiling. B.T.W. my pressing of this album is American and they included the band's apostrophe throughout the album.
Clearly, Ian had an ear for classic songs - James Taylor's Something In The Way She Moves (from his first album on Apple Records that I featured recently - scroll down) gets a great full band treatment. The gentleness is still there and the pedal steel by Gordon Huntley is superb.
Cover material increases on their second album of 1970. There's a Goffin/King and Neil Young song but the big one was by Joni Mitchell.
Yes, Later That Same Year includes their great version of her song - Woodstock. That was my entry point to the band. All those years ago, I listened intently every time it came onto my radio in 1970. B.T.W. my pressing is a New Zealand one and they dispensed with the apostrophe. Weird.
Where do they all belong? I'm still trying to track down Ian Matthews' first solo effort when he left Fairport Convention - confusingly called 'Matthews' Southern Comfort' (with apostrophe). Much more Southern Comfort (without Iain Matthews - yes he changed his first name along the way) to come in the countdown.
Where do they all belong? I'm still trying to track down Ian Matthews' first solo effort when he left Fairport Convention - confusingly called 'Matthews' Southern Comfort' (with apostrophe). Much more Southern Comfort (without Iain Matthews - yes he changed his first name along the way) to come in the countdown.
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