In Search of Iain Matthews: Desert Inn

During the summer of 1973, I was fortunate to pick up a copy of Iain Matthews’ second album, “If You Saw Thro' My Eyes.”  Its characteristic indigo cover definitely caught my eye as I slugged through various discount bins at my local F.W. Woolworth’s. That spring, I had previously purchased an import of “The History of Fairport Convention” with Pete Frame’s lovely family tree of the band. It was my second Fairport LP and it gave me a taste of the band's music from their second LP to their yet unreleased “Rosie.”  I had been previously been given the American release of their self-titled debut album. 

It was Frame’s tree that provided me knowledge of the various Fairport Convention alumni’s extra curricular activities. These other projects included Matthews Southern Comfort, Plainsong, Steeleye Span, Strawbs, Fotheringay, Trader Horne, and others. With my heightened awareness of the various members and their activities, I set out to find these recordings. Matthews’ “If You Saw Thro' My Eyes” was my first find in my extra-Fairport quest.

The Side A Vertigo Label as used on this album.

This 1971 release is one of my favorites by Matthews and it features notable guest musicians including Fairport alumni Sandy Denny on vocals and Richard Thompson on guitar and accordion. There also were a couple members of Sandy Denny’s Fotheringay project: Pat Donaldson on bass and Gerry Conway on drums. Rounding out the lineup was guitarist Andy Roberts, who would later become Matthews’ partner in Plainsong, and guitarist Tim Renwick, a member of Quiver.

The Side B label with Side A info included.

“If You Saw Thro' My Eyes” is probably my favorite Matthews album. Today, I am featuring the lead track “Desert Inn.” I will have to admit that I don’t quite understand the lyrical content of this and several other songs on the album, but I really like the tune. What’s not to like? There’s innovative guitar leads by Richard Thompson, backup vocals by Sandy Denny, and Matthews’ impeccable voice. Listening to it “helps me keep alive and kickin’.”

In Search of Iain Matthews: An Amelia Earhart Trilogy

It’s the second week of the month and I always try to come up with a theme to play across seven days of posts. I came up with today’s selection back in May and have dubbed it “In Search of Iain Matthews.” Born as Iain Matthew McDonald, he has performed as Ian McDonald, Ian MacDonald, Ian Matthews, and finally as Iain Matthews. I took the name of this week’s special in honor of his band Plainsong’s LP “In Search of Amelia Earhart.”

Matthews got his start with a West Coast/surf sounding band called Pyramid in 1966. The band released one single in 1967, “The Summer of Last Year” backed with “Summer Evening.” A third cut, “Me about You,” was eventually released in 1999. While Pyramid’s non-charting single “The Summer of Last Year” is available on YouTube, the sound quality of that recording is not the best; therefore, I won’t be providing it as an example.

We will, however, be featuring some of Matthews’ better recordings (in my opinion) from his first decade of performance. Matthews still performs today and my brother had an opportunity to open for one of his Pittsburgh shows a number of years ago. While not generally known by the hoi poloi, Matthews’ voice is unmistakable and needs to be heard more often – that’s my mission this week.

Today, we feature a trio of songs that appeared on Plainsong’s 1972 release “In Search of Amelia Earhart.” While only three songs on the album dealt with “The First Lady of the Air,” the title was inspired by Fred Goerner’s theory that Earhart was captured by the Japanese on Saipan. According to Goerner’s theory, Earhart’s first mate Frederick Noonan was beheaded and Earhart died of dysentery during her capture. It was theorized that Earhart and Noonan were actually on an air reconnaissance mission to spy on the Japanese for the US government.

It was hard picking one of the three songs that appear sequentially on the Plainsong LP, so I created a YouTube playlist that features all three Earhart related tunes. The first was Plainsong’s rendition of Red River Dave McEreny’s 1939 composition, “Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight.”

The bridging song is that well known gospel tune “I’ll Fly Away,” which was one of over 600 songs penned by Albert E. Brumley beginning in the 1920s - hence our labeling this post also in the Spiritual Sundays category. Finally, the trio of tunes ends with Matthew’s own composition of the “True Story of Amelia Earhart.” While Plainsong consisted of several members, the principal partners in the band were Ia(i)n Matthews and Andy Roberts, who still today perform as a duo under the band’s name.

Spirit: Animal Zoo

Our Bubbling Under Saturday selection takes us back to Spirit’s 1970 album “Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus.” While the album produced three singles, none charted within in the Top 40 and “Mr. Skin” only charted in the Hot 100 when it was re-released in 1973. Unfortunately, the album was the band’s worst charting LP to date as it only peaked at #63. This position would be tied with its follow-up, “Feedback,” and all subsequent albums did much worse including “The Best of Spirit.”

Even with the lackluster chart performance, consistent sales of “Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus” over time allowed it to be their best selling LP and their only album to be certified gold. This occurred six and half years after the album’s initial release.

“Animal Zoo,” written and sung by Jay Ferguson, was the album’s first single release. Unfortunately, it only peaked at #97. Additional singles included “Mr. Skin,” which failed to chart during its original release, and one of my favorite Spirit cuts, “Nature’s Way.” However, our mission is to play this underperforming hit by Spirit: “Animal Zoo.”

k.d. lang: Thread

It’s Feminine Friday and today we honor the voice of k.d. lang an artist who eschews capital letters. I’ve always liked her voice, but really have only one of her CDs. I don’t know why – I just never bought any others and I really should. Today’s feature song came to me as I was listening to “Prairie Home Companion” one Sunday afternoon while waiting on a pizza at Little Caesars.

It was a live version of the song “Thread” that was fantastic – in fact, it was better than the terrific studio version that I am featuring here. That particular rendition, performed live at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles on June 6, 2009, utilized a baritone guitar. I was drawn to it as the instrument really made the song more haunting than the strings which are featured on the studio version. This was from an encore presentation that I heard earlier this summer.

Unfortunately, the live performance isn’t on YouTube, but it is online. You'll find it here http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/popup.php?name=phc/2009/06/06/phc_20090606_64&starttime=00:26:24&endtime=00:30:19.  It is worth it – I wish she had issued this version on CD as well. Check it out.

The studio version of “Thread” appeared on lang’s 2008 album “Watershed” and was penned by lang and her co-producer and bassist David Piltch. Lang has such an expressive voice that is rarely equaled today. I hope you enjoy both versions as much as I have.

Mama Cass Elliot: Make Your Own Kind of Music

It’s Thirty Something Thursday and we drift back to 1969 with a selection by Mama Cass Elliot. Following her semi successful release of “It’s Getting Better,” producer Steve Barri suggested that she record another tune by husband and wife team Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil to keep Cass’ chart momentum going.

That momentum on the pop charts, however, was not as great as Dunhill Records hoped. “It’s Getting Better,” her second single from the album “Bubble Gum, Lemonade & . . . Something for Mama,” only peaked at #30.

“Make Your Own Kind of Music” was released initially as a single, but as the record began to climb the charts, Dunhill Records decided to add the track to her current album and rebranded the album after the single and redesigned the cover. Although the song stalled at #36 on the mainstream charts (#30 for Cashbox), it climbed to #6 on the adult contemporary chart.

If you were a fan of the show “Dexter,” you’ll recognize this tune as it was featured prominently during the show’s eighth season.

Jimi Jamison's Search is Over

I caught wind today that Survivor’s lead vocalist Jimi Jamison passed away on Sunday of an apparent heart attack. While Jamison was not the singer on Survivor’s biggest hit, “Eye of the Tiger,” his tenure with the band produced several notable hits. These included “I Can’t Hold Back” (#13), “High on You” (#8), “The Search is Over” (#4), “Burning Heart” (#2), and “Is this Love” (#9) – to name only the Top 40 hits.

I had an opportunity to meet Jamison in 1985 and he was one of the nicer stars with which I've crossed paths. Both Jim Peterik and Jimi Jamison were more than glad to briefly chat with me and I was able to get a photo of me and Jimi together. I didn’t have the opportunity to do this with Jim Peterik, as it was just the two of us when we were walking through the corridors of the Charleston (WV) Civic Center. Unfortunately, this was in the pre-selfie days – so no photographic evidence exists of our brief encounter.

Jimi Jamison and the author; 1985

Not only was Jimi a great talent, he was a gracious star. In addition to placating me, he treated our busload of concert ticket winners by coming aboard the Y94 Concert Cruiser to meet our winners.

Our tribute song was his Jamison’s first Top 5 hit with the band: “The Search is Over.” This 1985 rock ballad was also a number one adult contemporary hit. Written by Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan, the song chronicles a man returning to his childhood friend who happens to be the love of his live.

Jimi Jamison had spent three tours of duty with Survivor. The most productive was his first stint with the band from 1984-1989. He later rejoined Survivor from 2000 to 2006 and again 2011 until his death on Sunday. Rest in Peace Jimi; “The Search is Over.”

Amy Ray: Duane Allman

I must apologize for my extended absence. I just started a new job and I needed to concentrate on becoming acclimated to my new surroundings during the last two weeks. To get back into the “Grooves,” I have a performance that I heard a few months ago on Mountain Stage from West Virginia Public Radio.

Luckily, Amy Ray’s tribute to “Duane Allman” was videotaped and immortalized on YouTube. Amy plays what appears to be a vintage Gibson A model mandolin. The song really presents an authentic Allman Brothers’ vibe with the interplay between the lead guitar and the pedal steel. Unfortunately, neither musician is featured much visually in this recording; however, the talented fiddle player gets more than his share of screen time.

If Amy Ray’s name is not familiar, perhaps you’re familiar with the Indigo Girls. Amy and Emily Saliers have been performing since the early 80s in that unit. Ray has additionally recorded five studio and two live albums as a solo artist. Good stuff.