''Matthews' Southern Comfort'' is the 1970 debut solo album by

country rock Country rock is a music genre that 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 sty ...

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It 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 re ...

musician Ian Matthews, recorded after he left

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

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. The ...

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 C ...

. The touring and recording band also named

Matthews Southern Comfort Matthews Southern Comfort (MSC) is 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 later becom ...

, which released two more albums, ''Second Spring'' and ''Later That Same Year'', was formed later, with only pedal steel player Gordon Huntley and Matthews appearing on all three albums. The ''Matthews' Southern Comfort'' album was released on the Uni label (a subsidiary of MCA Records) in January 1970 with a first single "Colorado Springs Eternal". It derived its name from a song, "Southern Comfort", written by Sylvia Fricker of the Canadian folk duo

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

, which 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 with ''Second Spring''.

Track listing

#"Colorado Springs Eternal" (Steve Barlby) - 3:13 #"A Commercial Proposition" (

Richard Thompson Richard Thompson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Richard Thompson (animator) (1914–1998), Warner Bros. cartoon animator in the 1950s * Richard Thompson (cartoonist) (1957–2016), cartoonist who also worked as an illustrator * Richard Tho ...

) - 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

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a Gibraltarians, Gibraltarian singer, songwriter and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John B ...

and

Mike Hazlewood Mike Hazlewood (died 6 May 2001)Mike Hazelwood – Credits
AllMusic (6 May 2 ...

) - 3:22 #"The Watch" (Ian Matthews, Steve Barlby, Frances Conford) - 2:41 #"Sweet Bread" (Steve Barlby) - 2:34 #"Thoughts For A Friend" (Ian Matthews) - 3:19 #" I've Lost You" (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, science ficti ...

- drums, congas, tambourine *

- guitars *

Gordon Huntley Thomas Gordon Huntley (20 December 1925 – 7 March 1988) was a British 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 played a tripl ...

- 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 t ...

- guitar *

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

- bass * Marc Ellington - finger cymbals * Roger Coulam - piano, Hammond organ *

Poli Palmer John Michael "Poli" Palmer (born 26 May 1943) 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 played the vib ...

- 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'' (1972) and as high school basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the televisi ...

and

Alan Blaikley Alan Tudor Blaikley (23 March 1940 – 4 July 2022) was an English songwriter and composer, best known for writing a series of international hits in the 1960s and 1970s in collaboration with Ken Howard, including the UK number one hits " Have ...

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

References

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