Matthews' Southern Comfort
Later That Same Year
Album - Alternative Folk, Music, Singer/Songwriter, Rock
Ian Matthews’ third solo album following his 1969 departure from Fairport Convention furthered his foray into the sun-flared sounds of West Coast country-rock, while his former band clung closer to the historical traditions of British folk. Matthews’ cosmic cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” as well as his hazy take on Neil Young’s “Tell Me Why” impressively upstages all other versions — the former eschews the athletic vocal gymnastics of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s rendition for a beautifully plaintive performance while the latter overflows with cascading harmonies to make good on the argument that skinny English guys like Matthews, Terry Reid and the guys in Unicorn could sing this stuff better than most California canyon-rockers of the era. But original songs like Matthews’ own “Road To Ronderlin” and the drop-dead gorgeous “And Me” dispelled his reputation for recording better covers than originals. “And Me” shimmers and glows with psychedelic Brit-folk vestiges reined in from his tenure with Fairport Convention, with dazzling guitar work combining to make for the best Ian Matthews recording on this album, if not his entire discography.
Later That Same Year
Matthews' Southern Comfort
Ian Matthews’ third solo album following his 1969 departure from Fairport Convention furthered his foray into the sun-flared sounds of West Coast country-rock, while his former band clung closer to the historical traditions of British folk. Matthews’ cosmic cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” as well as his hazy take on Neil Young’s “Tell Me Why” impressively upstages all other versions — the former eschews the athletic vocal gymnastics of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s rendition for a beautifully plaintive performance while the latter overflows with cascading harmonies to make good on the argument that skinny English guys like Matthews, Terry Reid and the guys in Unicorn could sing this stuff better than most California canyon-rockers of the era. But original songs like Matthews’ own “Road To Ronderlin” and the drop-dead gorgeous “And Me” dispelled his reputation for recording better covers than originals. “And Me” shimmers and glows with psychedelic Brit-folk vestiges reined in from his tenure with Fairport Convention, with dazzling guitar work combining to make for the best Ian Matthews recording on this album, if not his entire discography.
