Ian Matthews
Band members Related acts
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- Ian Matthews (aka Ian Mathews McDonald) -- vocals
supporting musicians: (1971) - Gerry Conway -- drums, percussion - Sandy Denny (RIP) -- vocals, keyboards - Pat Donaldson -- bass - Tim Renwick -- guitar - Andy Roberts -- guitar - Richard Thompson --- guitar - Keith Tippett -- keyboards
supporting musicians ((1972) - Cal Batchelor -- lead guitar - Tim Donald -- drums, percussion - Wolfe J. Flywheel (aka Richard Thompson) -- accordion - Tim Renwick -- lead guitar - Andy Roberts -- lead guitar - Bob Ronga -- piano - Bruce Thomas -- bass - Ray Waleigh -- sax - Ian Whitman -- piano - John Wilson -- drums, percussion
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- Fairport Convention - Hamilton Pool - Hi-Fi - The Iain Adventure - Matthews Southern Comfort - Iain Matthews and Elliott Murphy - More Than a Song - No Grey Faith - Plainsong - The Pyramid
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Genre: rock Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: If You Saw Thru My Eyes Company: Vertigo Catalog: VEL-1002 Year: 1971 Country/State: Lincolnshire, UK Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: gatefold sleeve; swirl inner label Available: 1 Catalog ID: 4881 Price: $20.00
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It's kind of funny that I owned a bunch of Ian Matthews albums for years before I realized his connection with Fairport Convention (so much for thinking I knew so much about music).
Following two albums with Fairport Convention and two releases with Matthews Southern Comfort, 1971's "If You Could See Thru My Eyes" marked Matthews first true solo album. Here's what Matthews' own website has to say about the album:
"On his own again, Matthews hooked up with Vertigo Records and former Yardbird Paul Samwell-Smith, who signed on to produce his next album and in the process introduced him to Andy Roberts, an up-and-coming London musician who’d done an art college stint in Liverpool. After a difficult start, Matthews took over the production himself and created one of the most acclaimed albums of his career in If You Could See Thro’ My Eyes (1971). Armed with original songs like “Desert Inn” and “Thro’ My Eyes” and backed by Roberts, Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny, Keith Tippet (King Crimson), Tim Renwick (Al Stewart, Elton John, Pink Floyd), and other legendary British performers, Matthews seemed, for a moment, to have found a comfortable balance of autonomy, support, creativity, and success. He’d also discovered Richard Farina, two of whose songs (“Morgan the Pirate” and “Reno Nevada”) appear on the album."
Backed by an all star cast of friends including Fairport alumnus Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson, the self-produced album stood as one of Matthews' creative high points. Propelled by his likeable voice original material such as 'Hearts', 'Never Ending' and 'Little Known' fell under the sensitive singer/songwriter umbrella. Taken individually those numbers are quite nice, but the overarching feeling of angst and personal pain starts to get boring after awhile. The vague country-rock sound also started to get stale. That made the isolated up-tempo numbers like his Richard Farina covers 'Reno Nevada' and 'Morgan the Pirate' a welcomed change in pace.
"If You
Could See Thru My Eyes" track listing: 1.) D Desert Inn (Ian Matthews) - 3:30 2.) Hearts (Ian Matthews) - 3:12 3.) Never Ending (Ian Matthews) - 2:48 4.) Reno Nevada (Richard Farina) - 4:12 5.) Little Known (Ian Matthews) - 2:55 6.) Hinge (instrumental) (Ian Matthews) - 1:20
(side
2) 2.) Southern Wind (Ian Matthews) - 3:10 3.) If Came Without Warning (Jacobs) - 4:01 4.) You Couldn't Lose (Ian Matthews) - 3:35 5.)
Morgan the Pirate (Richard Farina) - 2:34
By the way, Matthews has a nice website located at: http://www.iainmatthews.com/
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Genre: rock Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: Tigers Will Survive Company: Vertigo Catalog: VEL-1010 Year: 1971 Country/State: Lincolnshire, UK Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: gatefold sleeve; swirl inner label Available: 1 Catalog ID: 1291 Price: $20.00
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Self-produced, 1971's
"Tigers
Will Survive"
found Ian Matthews seemingly trying to find a balance between American
styled country-rock and the English folk-rock moves he'd recorded with
Fairport Convention. Showcasing a mixture of originals and cover
tunes, this time around the album found Matthews working with the English
band Quiver. Exemplified by songs like 'Morning
Song', 'Midnight
On the Water' and 'Hope
You Know', musically most of the eleven
tracks featured sweet acoustic ballads and mid-tempo folk-flavored tunes
that were well suited for showcasing Matthews' pretty, occasionally fragile
voice. The interesting thing is Matthews was actually even better when
he stretched out on tougher rock material like the cover tune and his
version of Richard Farina's 'House of
Unamerican Blues Activity Dream'
(the latter seemingly striking a chord with his sense of
justice) Among the album's multiple highlights were the
opener 'Never Again', and The Byrds-styled folk-rocker ''Please
Be My Friend''. Was it the best Matthews release ? Nope, but it
was still worth checking out - one of those album's that actually gets
better with repeated hearings.
Tigers Will
Survive" track listing: 1.) Never Again (Ian Matthews) - 3:16 rating: *** stars 'Never
Again' opened the album with a sweet
country-rock tune that was highly commercial in a Poco/Flying Burrito
Brothers fashion. Glorious acoustic guitars. The
Eric Anderson original was a pretty stark country tune. The Fairport
Convention cover upped the pop content, while Matthews' version steered the
song to American folk-rock territory. Under the alias Wolfe
J. Flywheel the song
showcased featured former Fairport convention band mate Richard Thompson on
accordion. Yeah, it may not be the subtlest protest song you've ever heard, but Matthews turned in a nice rocked-up version of the Richard Farina tune. 4.) Morning Song (Ian Matthews) - 3:48 rating: ** stars Pretty
acoustic ballad, but a bit thick in the singer/songwriter angst vein. Nice
bouncy tune that, thanks to Thompson's killer accordion solo, had kind of a
Cajun flavor.
(side 2) 1.) Tigers Will Survive (Ian Matthews) - 4:07 rating: **** stars Another atypical rocker, the title track sounded a bit like a good Roger McGuinn tune. 2.) Midnight On the Water (Ian Matthews) - 2:47 rating: *** stars The
acoustic 'Midnight On the Water' opened up with a CSN&Y flavor.
Nice, but not particularly original or memorable. Always
loved the unconventional guitar burps that opened the tune. Tim
Renwick's licks sure sounded like Richard Thompson on this one. Even
better was Bruce Thomas throbbing
bass. Nice
background vocals for Matthews' sweet vocals.
rating: **** stars Fans seem to love this one, but gawd only knows why Matthews felt the need to record an a cappella version of this oldie. It certainly wasn't going t make you forget The Crystals' hit. Leave it to the marketers to pick the collection's absolutely worst tune as a single.
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1972's 'Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me
Home)' b/w 'Never Again' (Vertigo
catalog number VE 103) Yawner
acoustic ballad with Ray Waleigh on
sax. The opening was a bit too country for my tastes, but I can admire and appreciate the tune's pretty melody and the nice acoustic guitars; particularly when the track switched over to an electric arrangement with a killer telecaster solo. Nice Roger McGuinn and the Byrds vibe on this one.
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