''Matthews' Southern Comfort'' is the debut solo album by

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

musician Ian Matthews, and was his first album after leaving

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

in 1969. The musicians who played on it with Matthews were luminaries of the British folk rock scene and included ex-Fairport colleagues Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol and Richard Thompson, plus Gerry Conway, the drummer from

Eclection Eclection were a British-based folk rock band, originally formed in 1967 in London by Norwegian-born Georg Kajanus (then known as Georg Hultgreen), Canadian Michael Rosen, Australians Trevor Lucas and Kerrilee Male, and Briton Gerry Conway. They ...

and

Fotheringay Fotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group, formed in 1970 by singer-songwriter and musician Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her 1968 composition " Fotheringay" about Fotheringhay ...

. The touring and recording band

Matthews Southern Comfort Matthews Southern Comfort (MSC) was originally a British country rock/folk rock band, formed in 1970 by former Fairport Convention singer Ian (later Iain) Matthews. The original line-up consisted of Matthews, lead guitarist Mark Griffiths (who ...

who went on to release two more albums, ''Second Spring'' and ''Later That Same Year'', would not be formed till later, with only pedal steel player Gordon Huntley and Matthews appearing on all three albums. The album was released on the Uni label (a subsidiary of MCA Records) in January 1970 simultaneously with a first single "Colorado Springs Eternal", and took its name from a song, "Southern Comfort", written by Sylvia Fricker from the Canadian folk duo

Ian & Sylvia Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. Hi ...

, which eventually appeared as the final track on ''Second Spring''. The original vinyl album was reissued on CD by Line Records in Germany in 1993 and a remastered version was issued by BGO records in 1996, not in its original form but as a 2-on-1 remaster along with ''Second Spring''.

Track listing

#"Colorado Springs Eternal" (Steve Barlby) - 3:13 #"A Commercial Proposition" ( Richard Thompson) - 3:01 #"The Castle Far" (Steve Barlby) - 2:59 #"Please Be My Friend" (Ian Matthews) - 3:23 #"What We Say" (Ian Matthews) - 3:26 #"Dream Song" (Ian Matthews) - 2:13 #"Fly Pigeon Fly" (Steve Barlby, Hamwood) - 3:22 #"The Watch" (Ian Matthews, Steve Barlby, Comford) - 2:41 #"Sweet Bread" (Steve Barlby) - 2:34 #"Thoughts For A Friend" (Ian Matthews) - 3:19 #"

I've Lost You "I've Lost You" is a song written by Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard (under the pen name 'Steve Barlby') for Iain Matthews. It was originally recorded in 1969 and released on Matthews' first solo album after leaving Fairport Convention: ''Matthews ...

" (Steve Barlby) - 2:28 #"Once Upon A Lifetime" (Ian Matthews, Steve Barlby) - 4:27

Personnel

* Ian Matthews - guitar, vocals *

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" ("Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, screenwriter, t ...

- drums, congas, tambourine * Richard Thompson - guitars *

Gordon Huntley Thomas Gordon Huntley (20 December 1925 – 7 March 1988) was a British musician and steel guitar player, best known for being a member of Matthews Southern Comfort. His early playing career was with the Hawaiian Serenaders in 1959, for whom he ...

- pedal steel guitar *

Simon Nicol Simon John Breckenridge Nicol (born 13 October 1950) is an English guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founding member of British folk rock group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the ...

- guitar *

Ashley Hutchings Ashley Stephen Hutchings, MBE, sometimes known in early years by his nickname, "Tyger" Hutchings (born 26 January 1945) is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founding member of t ...

- bass *

Marc Ellington Marc Floyd Ellington OStJ DL HonFRIAS (16 December 1945 – 17 February 2021) was an American-born British folk and folk-rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bagpiper. He recorded in Britain in the late 1960s and 1970s, and became active in ...

- finger cymbals *

Roger Coulam Roger Keith Coulam, (born 21 August 1940, Blackburn, Lancashire, England, died October 2005), was a British keyboard session musician, who formed Blue Mink in the autumn of 1969, with Madeline Bell (vocalist), Roger Cook (vocalist), Alan Parker (g ...

- piano, Hammond organ *

Poli Palmer John Michael "Poli" Palmer (born 26 May 1943 in Worcester) is an English rock musician who was a key member in the progressive rock band Family. Though he was not an original member, he was regarded as being integral to the group's sound. He p ...

- flute *

Dolly Collins Dorothy Ann Collins (6 March 1933 – 22 September 1995), was an English folk musician, arranger and composer. She was the older sister of Shirley Collins. Born in Hastings, Sussex (now East Sussex), she grew up in an artistic, socialist, ...

- flute organ (3) *Pete Willsher - fuzz steel guitar (1)

Production

*Produced by Steve Barlby and Ian Matthews *Recording Engineer: Barry Ainsworth at De Lane Lea studios. The liner notes by John Tobler for the 1996 BGO reissue revealed 'Steve Barlby' to be a pseudonym for

Ken Howard Kenneth Joseph Howard Jr. (March 28, 1944 – March 23, 2016) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in ''1776'' and as basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the television show '' The Whit ...

and

Alan Blaikely Alan may refer to: People * Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

, a successful song-writing partnership in the pop music industry and Matthews' managers at the time.

References

{{Authority control Iain Matthews albums 1970 debut albums Decca Records albums