In just under three years, Ian Matthews split from Fairport Convention, went solo, formed Matthews' Southern Comfort - with whom he scored a number one U.K. hit - left the group at the height of its popularity, recorded three more records on his own (only two were released at this time) and in early 1972 started Plainsong, his fourth band in five years. And while his track record led one to believe that Plainsong may be just another short stay, the subsequent album, In Search of Amelia Earhart, proved to be worth the venture.
Ian Matthews was of course the obvious draw, but Plainsong seemed to be formed as more of a collective effort, with lead guitarist Andy Roberts, who shares the lead vocal duties, the other focal point in the band. On the other hand, Matthews, whose folk and country-tinged tunes set the tone for the record, is the only member to contribute original material. Included among these is the thematic "True Story of Amelia Earhart," which along with the haunting "For the Second Time," leads a pack of five Matthews compositions that range from good to excellent. Elsewhere, Paul Siebel's heartbreaking "Louise," the dulcimer and harmony driven Appalachian gospel of "I'll Fly Away," and Roberts' readings of the playful "Yo Yo Man," Jim & Jesse's "Diesel on My Tail" and the mournful 1939 tale of "Amelia Earhart's Last Flight" are all highlights.
Its title and artwork, along with notes by Charles Goerner on the flight and disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Frederick Noonan, gave In Search of Amelia Earhart the feel of a concept album, even though the title is nowhere to be found on the outside jacket and there are only two songs related to the subject contained within. It wasn't really a surprise when a follow-up, though recorded, failed to materialize, with the band parting ways on less than amicable terms, and Matthews going on to record two more records for Elektra. Still, In Search of Amelia Earhart fits nicely alongside the rest of his terrific early-'70's catalogue.
by Brett Hartenbach
Tracks
1. For The Second Time (Ian Matthews) - 3:51
2. Yo Yo Man (Rick Cunha, Marty Cooper) - 2:13
3. Louise (Paul Siebel) - 3:18
4. Call The Tune (Ian Matthews) - 5:22
5. Diesel On My Tail (Jim Fagan) - 2:03
6. Amelia Earhart's Last Flight (Dave D. McEnery) - 4:05
7. I'll Fly Away (Albert E. Brumley) - 2:03
8. True Story Of Amelia Earhart (Ian Matthews) - 4:32
9. Even The Guiding Light (Ian Matthews) - 4:12
10.Side Roads (Ian Matthews) - 3:29
11.Raider (Jerry Yester, Judy Henske) - 4:32
Plainsong
*Ian Matthews - Guitar, Vocals*Dave Richards - Guitar, Vocals
*Andy Roberts - Guitar, Vocals
*Bob Ronga - Bass, Vocals
Additional Musicians
*Timi Donald - Drums
*Martin Jenkins - Cello, Mandola, Mandolin
*Dave Mattacks - Drums
Related Act
1971 Ian Matthews - If You Saw Thro' My Eyes (2012 remaster)
Just Paste
Πολλά ευχαριστώ Μάριε!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for this edition. Fantastic.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to Cor & Marios for their unconditional generosity.
ReplyDeletePlainsong was a short-lived folk-rock outfit with country-rock leanings that briefly provided a pretty close British equivalent to the likes of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Singer-songwriter Iain Matthews had been the frontman with Fairport Convention during their early West Coast-influenced period, and had subsequently enjoyed moderate success as a solo artist and with his pioneering British country-rock outfit Southern Comfort. His main collaborator in Plainsong would be guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Andy Roberts, former musical kingpin of the loose collective of folk musicians and performance poets known as the Liverpool Scene. Rounding out the new band were bassist/pianist David Richards and Californian acoustic guitarist Bob Ronga, with percussion being provided on an ad-hoc basis by Iain’s former Fairport colleague Dave Mattacks or fellow folk-rock stalwart Timi Donald. The gentle irony of the band’s name belies their strengths: Matthews’s angelic voice and their superb four-part harmonies, plus immaculate instrumental backings.
ReplyDeletePrior to their formation in early 1972 Roberts had become infatuated with the alternative version of the Amelia Earhart story propounded in Fred Goerner’s book The Search For Amelia Earhart , which suggested that she had been on a clandestine aerial spying mission for the US government on the Japanese at Saipan in 1937 and had perished at their hands, the whole affair then being hushed up to avoid an early war. Matthews became readily interested in the topic. Unable to stretch the concept to a whole album, they decided to make a short suite on it the centrepiece of their Elektra debut, which also took as its title that of Goerner’s tome and featured appropriate cover art. A cover of David McEnery’s traditional account “Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight” was followed by Matthews’s own “True Story Of Amelia Earhart” which proffered the Goerner line. Cleverly splitting the two was a soulful version of the old bluegrass spiritual “I’ll Fly Away”. The remainder of the album comprised mellow, thoughtful compositions by Matthews and widely varying but carefully chosen covers of numbers by obscure but respected folk-rock and country artists, including Paul Siebel’s “Louise”, Henske and Yester’s “Raider” and Jim & Jesse’s rollicking “Diesel On My Tail”.
What you got from this apparent mishmash was a beautifully coherent folk-country-rock album with glorious vocals and superbly understated, largely acoustic accompaniment with the occasional fiery Telecaster tail-twist, the whole having a wistful, summery feel absolutely redolent of 1972. It nonetheless failed to trouble the Top 100 album charts, and the Ronga-less follow-up provisionally titled Now We Are 3, which moved further towards country-rock, was shelved when the remaining band members split abruptly due to ferocious antipathy between Matthews and Richards and Iain’s long-aspired determination to move his muse to California. The album lay dormant till 2005 when the Water label in San Francisco released it as part of an absolutely stunning 2-CD compilation entitled simply Plainsong which includes the debut album, the unreleased follow-up, an early single and a dozen live stage and radio recordings: just about everything laid down by the original line-up. Matthews and Roberts had meanwhile reunited in a new Plainsong in the nineties, but I’ll leave you to investigate that if you will.
It's not often you hear mandolins duelling with wah-wah guitars on the same track, or a traditional tale of northern millworkers preceding a Merle Haggard saloon lament, but Plainsong had no use for rulebooks; they were far too busy crafting intelligent acoustic soundscapes and toying with accepted pop sensibilities, and to be presented with 40 examples of such joyousness in one tidy case is a rare and wonderful thing... "Quite simply and without any hype - a supergroup"
Thank you to Cor & Marios...excellent cooperation as always,great job!
Big thanks for Plainsong to Marios and Cor!!!
ReplyDeleteTo adamus67: Biography of the group, written by you, simply amazing! Informative and concise. Thank you!
Arthur.
It's impossible make this download, ("corrupt files, or wrong password"), I tried three times for......
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for this enhanced version...
ReplyDeleteFor anyone living in the UK...
ReplyDeleteIan Matthews is touring with a new Southern Comfort last few gigs this week
Thanks a lot for this post, man. I've been a fanatic for country-rock since The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo days, so I think it will be a real pleasure to listen to these CDs.
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks loads.
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for posting the beautiful music of Plainsong. Could you please refresh the links for the 2-disc edition of In Search of Amelia Earhart?
ReplyDeleteAlso a request, if possible, to post Plainsong - Following Amelia - The 1972 Recordings & More (2022) (6CD Box Set). Thanks for all you do.
ReplyDeleteHi, thank you very much, I like also very much the Andy Roberts 's works !
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for uncompressed!!
ReplyDelete