Abacus - Abacus (1971 germany, spectacular heavy prog krautrock with psych overtone, 2012 remaster with bonus track)

Like Van der Graaf Generator and their lesser-known contemporaries Aardvark, Abacus represented an early 70′s wave of prog that tried to bring the keyboards to the forefront, usurping the long-held role of the guitars in rock music. With the use of distortion and thick organ textures in the keyboards however, most of the bands that took this approach never distinguished themselves a great deal from their guitar-based counterparts. While Abacus did not steer away entirely from the use of guitar in their music, they were one of the few bands that really capitalized on the use of rock organ in their music. Released at the beginning of their genre’s golden age, Abacus’ self-titled debut is a convincing slice of progressive rock, with a welcome dose of jazz and 60′s beat pop to add extra colour to the style. As promising as Abacus sounded at this early stage in their career however, some inconsistent songwriting standards kept “Abacus” from the cult classic status it could have had.

Often dainty and at times downright psychedelic, Abacus’ sound reflects a transition of styles between the 60′s and 70′s. The organ-rich performance is filled with the sort of symphonic arrangement and sophistication indicative of the ‘classic’ 70′s progressive rock, but Abacus would not have sounded out of place in the latter part of the decade prior. Although the excellent, pastoral mini-epic “Pipedream Revisited” opens the album on a bit of an exceptional note, most of the tunes here sound like organ-driven renditions of tunes that could be found on a British Invasion compilation. It’s no surprise really, given that Abacus were originally a beatpop group called The Fashions. Although other reviewers have noted a Krautrock sound on “Abacus” (and rightly so), much of the band’s influence has been certainly derived from British rock tradition. Then again, with a song title like “Song for John and Yoko”, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

Of these two primary styles (prog and 60′s pop), the greatest moments on “Abacus” may almost always be attributed to the progressive end of their sound. “Pipedream Revisited” kicks off the album on a very strong note, weaving psychedelic charm into a keyboard- infused framework, pleasantly fusing classical tradition with pastoral folkishness. The instrumental “Capuccino” is arguably the best thing that the album has going for it, a fast- paced, theatrical and energetic jazz-fusion piece that ends much too soon. From there on, Abacus begin to shift towards their other style, toning down the instrumental sophistication to make room for ex-Grail frontman Chris Williams’ vocal contributions. Although “Don’t Beat So On the Horses” represents a comfortable mix of the two styles, Abacus’ vocal melodies are rarely as endearing as their instrumental prowess. 

Although William’s voice is tuneful enough and echoes the band’s Merseybeat-influenced past, the melodies rarely feel like they are worth the diminished instrumental arrangements. “Song for Brunhilde” represents the album’s lowest point, eschewing the band’s typical rock organ flair for a sitar-tinged piece of hippie folk with a song structure that goes nowhere and lyrics that may cringing from more discerning listeners. “Song for John and Yoko” is a decent tune in the familiar 60′s pop style. With “Radhod Blues” and “Chestholder”, Abacus return to the style hinted at by the first couple of tracks, but they are not nearly as impressive. “Chestholder” in particular tends to raise an eyebrow from me; although it begins promisingly enough, the album’s finale tosses together samples from earlier moments in the album. Although it’s clear that the band were trying to wrap up their debut with a quick summary of the album, but the completely chaotic and patchy way this climax is thrown together leaves the album on a fairly weak note.

Abacus’ songwriting lulls significantly towards the middle of the album, and although it improves, it never really recovers. It’s a shame, because if the first two tracks on the album were any indicator, the album could have been really excellent. Instrumentally, Abacus have a lot going for them on this self-titled debut. While Chris Barutzky’s keyboard work is above and beyond the strongest aspect of the band, the musicianship upholds an impressive standard throughout. It’s unfortunate “Abacus” didn’t manage to fulfill the potential of the band, but then again, how many bands manage to nail it on their first time around? As it stands, “Abacus” is a pleasant album for its style, but the inconsistency keeps it from being a real gem.

by Conor Fynes

Tracks
1. Pipedream Revisited Part I - II (C. Schade, C. Barutzky, C. Williams) - 9:34
2. Cappucino (C. Schade, C. Barutzky) - 4:03
3. Don't Beat So On The Horses (C. Barutzky, C. Williams) - 4:30
4. Song For Brunhilde (Chris Williams) - 4:34
5. Song For John And Yoko (C. Schade, C. Williams) - 5:04
6. Radbod Blues (C. Schade, C. Barutzky, C. Williams) - 5:46
7. Chestholder (C. Schade, C. Williams) - 5:39
8. Midway (Live) (Charlie Schade, Chris Williams) - 9:37

Abacus
*Felix Hans - Drums, Percussion
*Charlie Schade - Guitar, Sitar
*Chris Barutzky - Keyboards
*Chris Williams - Vocals
*Konstantin Bommarius - Drums, Percussion

1972/74  Abacus - Everything You Need / Midway

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Golgotha - Old Seeds Bootleg (1973 us, perceptive west coast influenced electric folk rock with jazz drops)

An album that’s just about as home-made a you can get. The original LP, although recorded for the Jubilee label, never saw the light ofday and when the album did finally appear, it was as a privatepressing limited to a paltry 100 copies with no record labels and apaste-on cover! The band, which was formed by guitarist Bruce Scofield in 1969, gigged around the New York and New Jersey areas off and on for acouple of years. 

Their almost transcendental approach to musicwon them many (mostly male!) devotees, and their bizarre stageshow (typically, involving vocalist Ray Bartkowech littering thestage with mandolins, percussion instruments, teddy bears and Raggedy Ann dolls!) became somewhat of a novelty.When Jubilee finally got them into the studio, the band laid down amore conventional and more accesible album reminiscent of thesound of Little Feat and early ‘70s Grateful Dead and the 12 selfpennedguitar-led tracks, all of which are brilliantly played, tend toget pretty heavy at times. 

Tracks
1. Somethings Moving - 5:33
2. Sunday Morning - 3:08
3. Sooner Or Later - 4:20
4. Seeing You - 6:10
5. Tuesday Afternoon - 2:53
6. Slopes Of Illusion - 2:23
7. Look Out For Me Woman - 2:35
8. Startin' New Daze - 4:59
9. Found What - 2:44
10.Long Ties Cut Loose - 2:32
11.She Is Coming - 3:20
12.News Tomorrow - 3:54

Personnel
*Michael Jannone - Ternor Sax, Percussion
*Michael Melesurgo - Percussion
*Betsy Lee - Vocals
*Dick Kowalczyk - Bass
*R.X. Heyman - Drums
*Bruce Scofield - Vocals, Guitars, Bass

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The Human Beinz And The Mammals - The Human Beinz And The Mammals (1967 us/uk garage beat pop, blue eyed soul)

Best-known for its version of "Nobody but Me," Youngstown, OH's frat rock quartet the Human Beinz featured rhythm guitarist Ting Markulin, lead guitarist Richard Belley, bassist Mel Pachuta, and drummer Mike Tatman. Originally known as the Human Beings, the group was a local favorite and was discovered playing at a Youngstown bar. Their early releases include covers of Bob Dylan's "Times They Are A-Changin'" and Them's "Gloria," as well as renditions of the Who and Yardbirds songs; they released their first singles on the local Gateway imprint. In 1967, the group signed to Capitol Records and scored a Top Ten hit with their cover of the Isley Brothers' "Nobody but Me." 

On their debut album, which was also named Nobody but Me, the band found their name changed to the Human Beinz, a play on the hippie phrase "be-in." The following year, the group issued Evolutions, which showcased a more original side to the Human Beinz' music, but the album did little and the band ultimately broke up.

by Heather Phares

Split release featuring songs recorded for Gateway prior to the enormous success of their Capitol Records release 'Nobody But Me', but not released until 1967. Since Gateway didn't have enough material for a full album, they included cuts from a similar band, The Mammals. Contains Human Beinz doing covers of pop hits from the day like 'Pied Piper', 'My Generation' and 'Gloria'. 

Tracks
The Human Beinz (Gateway Gigs)
1. Pied Piper (Konfeld, Duboff) - 2:12
2. My Generation (Pete Townshend) -  2:45
3. Gloria (Van Morrison) - 2:46
4. The Times They Are A Changing (Bob Dylan) - 2:02
5. Nobody But Me (Isley Brothers) - 2:15
The Mammals (Gateway Years)
6. I Say Love (Medley, Russell) - 2:15
7. Hey Little One (Burnette, DeVorzon) - 2:30
8. Stop In The Name Of Love (Holland, Dozier, Holland) - 2:43
9. Hold On! I'm Coming (Hayes, Porter) - 3:32
10.Ooh Baby Baby (Robinson, Moore) - 2:57
11.Up Tight (Cosby, Moy, Wonder) - 2:38

The Human Beinz
*Dick Belly - Vocals, Guitar
*Joe Markulin - Guitar
*Mel Pachuta - Bass
*Mike Tateman - Drums

1968  The Human Beinz - Nobody But Me / Evolutions
1968  Human Beinz - Live In Japan

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Duncan Browne - Duncan Browne (1973 uk, spectacular art baroque folk rock)

Duncan Browne's self-titled second album plays like a direct sequel to his debut long-player, Give Me Take You; he uses the same acoustic guitar and writes in a similar idiom, especially on tracks like "Country Song" and "The Martlet." Indeed, apart from the fact that it's generally better recorded, most of Duncan Browne could easily have slotted into the earlier album; the only exceptions are the more elaborately produced songs, such as "Ragged Rain Life," with its electric guitar sound, the keyboard-embellished "Babe Rainbow," and the bluesier, Dylan-esque "Journey," which was a substantial hit in England. Browne's style elsewhere on the record is unique unto himself, built around hauntingly beautiful melodies, mostly in a folk idiom, with some choice results, including the exquisite "Over the Reef" and "My Old Friends." 

He saved the best for last, a valedictory number entitled "Last Time Around," featuring extensive and impressive acoustic guitar ornamentation that gives way to some surprisingly tasteful progressive rock electronic sounds on the choruses. The RAK album was reissued on CD by EMI in 2002 with four bonus tracks, comprised of odd single sides and a pair of outtakes that extended the record's stylistic range considerably, into a more purely electric rock, more standard (though still enjoyable and attractive) singer/songwriter mode -- although the last of the bonus tracks, the previously unissued "Mignon," is easily the prettiest song that Browne ever recorded and is thoroughly in the style of his first LP. Even overlooking its own intrinsic merits, Duncan Browne is worth owning as a more mature and developed, if slightly less spontaneous, expression of the sensibilities that forged Give Me Take You. 

by Bruce Eder

Tracks
1. Ragged Rain Life - 2:56
2. Country Song - 3:38
3. The Martlet - 4:12
4. My Only Son - 4:05
5. Babe Rainbow - 4:17
6. Journey - 3:15
7. Cast No Shadow - 4:15
8. Over The Reef - 5:33
9. My Old Friends - 4:06
10.Last Time Around - 4:41
11.In A Mist (Single B Side) - 7:09
12.Send Me The Bill For Your Friendship (Single A Side) - 3:34
13.Guitar Piece (Previously Unreleased) - 2:09
14.Mignon (Previously Unreleased) - 2:58
All compositions by Duncan Browne

Musicians
*Duncan Browne - Spanish Guitar, Electric Guitar, Piano, Vocals, Arranger
*John "Rabbit" Bundrick - Piano, Organ, Synthesizer , Keyboards
*John Cameron - Piano, Keyboards
*Jim Rodford - Bass
*Robert Henrit - Drums
*Keith Hodge  - Backing Vocals
*Suzi Quatro - Backing Vocals
*Tony Carr - Backing Vocals

1968  Duncan Browne - Give Me Take You (Japan issue)

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Mahogany - Mahogany (1969 uk, remarkable blues rock, 2006 remaster)

Though this is one of the better UK blues-based rock LPs of the late 60s, for some reason its proposed release on CBS was cancelled and it remains almost unknown. Highlights include the tremendous opener 'Coolin’', melodic 'Live Your Love A Lie', atmospheric instrumental 'For Jane' and punchy 'Two Trains', which starts as a snakey acoustic blues and ends up an electric raver. 

Though they were contemporaries of Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown and others, this youthful British blues-rock quartet’s album only saw release in America and Holland, unfairly dooming it to obscurity. Originally released in 1969 and produced by Alan Clark, famous for producing The Moody Blues' concept albums and King Crimson. 

Tracks
1. Coolin' - 3:08
2. Best Woman, Best Friend 2:55
3. Live Your Love A Lie - 2:35
4. Easy - 3:20
5. Two Trains (Mckinley Morganfield) - 3:20
6. Armchair Woman - 3:27
7. Sweet Home Chicago (Woody Payne) - 3:11
8. For Jane - 3:57
9. Keepin' - 4:26
10.Feeling Good (Anthony Newley, Leslie Bricusse) - 4:00
All songs by John MacKay, Stephen Darrington except where stated

Mahogany
*Stephen Darrington - Organ
*Joseph Southall - Bass
*John MacKay - Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals
*Paul Hobbs - Drums

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Kopperfield - Tales Untold (1974 us, terrific hard rock with prog shades)

Kopperiield's roots really started back in 1970, two guys in the same high school but in different bands. Keith Robinson was playing keyboards and working in a hot group with horns and I (Jerry Opdycke) was blasting away on the bass in a power trio.

We were good friends, both heavily into the music scene and somewhat the rebels of our time. We had often talked about getting together and jamming but never seemed to find the time to connect. Then one summer gig. Which both bands played at, we found that each group was having personnel problems. One of us suggested in fun that we combine forces and form a new band. The idea was great of course but the timing wasn't right, however the seed had been planted. 

Just over a year later both bands had become somewhat dysfunctional. It was the perfect time for a phone call. I made that call to Keith and he agreed to a joint venture. I was the bass player and he was to be the man on the keys. With me was Mr. Chuck Eagan on guitar and long time friend Bill Wallace on second guitar and percussion. We had no real vocalist but Keith said that his brother was quite good. So little Jimmy Robinson arrived. This kid had a nice voice and now we had a singer. 

Still just one problem remained- no good drummers around. One more call to Keith and he said, 'yeah I got just the guy". And boy was he right. So the one and only Tom Curtis, who was really a bass player at the time, had just run out and picked up a drum set and could this guy play. I thought he had been playing for years not just for a few months. Now the band was complete. We jammed, the sound was great and so Koppertield was born. It was 1971.

Well, needless to say it didn't take us long to realize that this band had something very special. We worked on some good cover tunes but the real magic came when we started writing. Everything just seemed to fall into place. Our writing started in late 1971 and a year later in 1972 we got brave and headed to Chicago to record (what we call our basement tapes). The early writing was rough and as we started to move into 1973 our material improved. 

By then the band had become family, we were living on the road and we started the Tales Untold project. But being on the road in 72-73 made life hell. Just trying to make a living and find time to record was next to impossible. A lot of gigs passed with different agencies but our really big break came when we played for over 10,000 people at the Ann Arbor Blues festival. That was the day we set the world on fire. After that, the gigs got better, the pay got better and we got better. During that time we lost one member Bill, but picked up a new face Mr. Paul Decker, vocalist and keyboards. We played a lot more dubs and then suddenly the road life got just a little easier. 

Finally the LP was finished and we starting on a new project, the never released second LP 'Back to Bitchm." We played the Coral Gables clubs, the Alibi East and Alibi West, we did Maxwell's and a lot of the better Acircun nightclubs. We also started working with an agency called Windy City Products out of Chicago and became an opening act for the big concerts groups. And finally we became a headlining act. Over the years the members of Koppertield opened for groups like Foghat, Country Joe McDonald. Kansas, The Sunday Funnies. Joe Walsh / James Gang. H.P. Lovecraft and the Flock and a lot of other groups that we may have forgotten about. This was certainly the life.

And as those five years quickly passed the band had hoped to finish that second LP. But all good things must come to an end and so in late 1975 the group, Kopperiield. brake-up Some members moved on to do new and different things but some of us just kept on doing what we loved the most- playing music, writing songs and as Jimmy always said- living our dream. And so life goes on. But maybe someday, someone will hand us a cool million and say." Hey you guys, do another Koppertield recording." Who knows, it could happen? Well, maybe not. But in the meantime Mr. Robinson and I will be heading out with our new group Razmataz along with a new CD titled "Dancing Madly Backward".

by Jerry Opdycke

Tracks
1. Moonride - 3:40
2. Anatomy - 3:06
3. Brain Rot - 4:39
4. Watching The Time Go By - 4:32
5. Nothing Left To Give - 4:57
6. Truckin'On - 3:43
7. Tales Untold - 3:32
8. Magic In Your Mind - 3:23
9. A Thousand Warriors - 2:58
10.Wiseman - 2:06
11.Dreams - 4:25
12.Can't Find My Wine - 6:23
13.People Are Leaving - 4:10
14.Red Neck - 3:14
15.Gonna Get Stoned - 3:13
16.Wake Up People - 4:31
17.Jam It - 3:59
18.Naked Tears - 2:30
19.You Pulled The Lights Down - 3:20
20.Katie Love - 6:53
All compositions by Kopperfield

Kopperfield
*Paul Decker - Keyboards, Vocals
*Jimmy Robinson - Lead Vocals
*Chuck Eagan - Guitar, Vocals
*Tom Curtis - Drums
*Keith Robinson - Keyboards
*Jerry Opdycke - Bass
*Bill Wallace - Guitar, Percussion (Tracks 12-17)

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Jerry Williams - Jerry Williams (1972 us, magnificent melt of classic rock, blues, jazz and folk, 2010 korean remaster)

Blues-rock singer/songwriter Jerry Lynn Williams was born in Dallas, TX, in 1948. Raised in nearby Fort Worth, he learned to play piano from his church pastor's wife and at 11 acquired his first guitar. Williams quit school at 14 to tour the roadhouse circuit with his band the Epics, briefly joining Little Richard and playing alongside lead guitarist Jimmy James, later known as Jimi Hendrix. When authorities learned Williams was still in his mid-teens, they sent him back to Fort Worth, where he briefly backed his idol Jimmy Reed. He eventually migrated to Los Angeles, signing to CBS Records and teaming with producer David Briggs to cut his self-titled debut LP. 

When the album earned little notice, Williams signed to Warner Bros. to release a 1975 follow-up, Gone. Again there was little attention from retail or radio, but when Delbert McClinton scored his first Top 40 hit with his cover of the album's "Givin' It Up for Your Love," Williams became a sought-after songwriter. Three of his compositions, including the hit "Forever Man," appeared on Eric Clapton's 1984 comeback effort Behind the Sun. Five years later, their collaboration resumed for the smash Journeyman, featuring the Williams-penned hits "Pretending" and "Running on Faith." 

He also contributed songs to Bonnie Raitt's Grammy-winning Nick of Time as well as B.B. King's 1992 album King of the Blues, and collaborated with brothers Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan on "Tick Tock," a song later played at the former's funeral. In 1996 Williams self-released The Peacemaker, his first solo effort in over two decades. He relocated to the island of St. Martin in 2003, and died there of kidney and liver failure on November 25, 2005. 

by Jason Ankeny

Tracks
1. On Broadway (B. Mann, C. Weil, J. Leiber, M. Stoller) - 4:15
2. Cast Your Spell - 4:21
3. Words - 4:49
4. Just Like A Woman (B. Dylan) - 4:51
5. Rock'n'roll (Is Here To Stay) - 3:38
6. A White Shader Of Pale (G. Brooker, K, Reid) - 4:50
7. On The Move - 4:11
8. Love Letters (E. Heyman, V. Young) - 3:35
9. Maggie Was A Spider - 3:40
10.Gangster Of Love (J. "Guitar" Watson) - 4:47
All compositions by Jerry Williams unless as else indicated

Musicians
*Jerry Williams - Vocals, Guitar
*Nicky Hopkins - Piano
*Cornell Dupree - Guitar
*Nils Lofgren - Guitar
*Bob Gordon - Bass
*Chuck Rainey - Bass
*Gordon Edwards - Bass
*Bernard Purdie - Drums
*Bob Berberich - Drums
*Bobbye Hall - Percussion

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Skip Battin - Skip (1972 us, fantastic classic rock with folk and roots 'n' roll traces, 2003 issue)

Byrds historians would have you believe that Cecil Ingram Parsons III was the squarest peg ever to occupy one of the legendary band’s round holes. Not a bit of it: that honour has to go to Clyde “Skip” Battin, who held down the bass chair from 1969 till the breakup of the band in 1972. Progeny of Italian immigrant parents, Battin was born in 1934, which makes him a hoary 35 years old when he joined McGuinn & Co. In fact he was the oldest Byrd ever, by eight years. Further, whilst all previous Byrds had cut their teeth on Greenwich Village folk or Nashville bluegrass in the early sixties, Skip’s musical genesis came in the novelty music era which followed the initial surge of rock’n’roll in the fifties. 

With his heroes being Fats Domino and Tom Lehrer, it’s no surprise that his forte turned out to be witty narrative songs with a piano spine, mostly written with assistance from maverick lyricist Kim Fowley. If you’re familiar with the moderately successful single “America’s Great National Pastime” taken from Farther Along, you’ll get the essence. Surprisingly, in the latter days when all but McGuinn were merely salaried Byrds members, the Leader allowed a handful of Battin’s distinctly oddball songs on to the final three albums.

Even before the breakup, Skip obtained a contract with Signpost Records of LA on the strength of “Pastime”, and his first solo album, Skip, emerged rapidly. Battin handles piano duties as well as bass, and his voice is warm and husky. All the Byrds’ final lineup contributed, including McGuinn in amusing circumstances: the track “Captain Video” is a delightful pastiche of the Byrds singing Dylan, and McGuinn guests on 12-string Rickenbacker whilst Skip himself sings the lyrics dedicated to Roger, who allegedly never realised that they were about him. 

Clarence White is everywhere, including some of his best-ever B-Bender wailing on “The Ballad Of Dick Clark”, more of the same plus amazing mandolin on “Four Legs Are Better Than Two” and what sounds like Fender electric mandolin on “Valentino”, providing an appropriately Italian flavour. In fact much of the record combines Bakersfield country licks with typically Italian polka two-step rhythms, as Skip wears his two cultural hearts on his sleeve. Towards the end the pace slackens for the wistful, witty paean to a 1940s baseball team, “St Louis Browns”, on which Clarence flatpicks superb dobro licks, and the closing, gentle “My Secret Life” in which Battin artfully lays his own soul bare.

The late ’72 timing of the album was not good; Skip’s touring commitments with the ailing Byrds meant that it was barely promoted, and sales were poor. Nonetheless, a second album was mooted by Signpost, by now part of Atlantic, to be entitled Topanga Skyline, but Clarence White was killed the day before recording was due to begin. It went ahead assisted by members of Country Gazette plus Al Perkins, but the heart had gone out of the project and the completed tapes were shelved. Skip went on to serve with New Riders Of The Purple Sage and the reformed Burritos, but his two other solo albums were released in the 1980s solely in Italy, to which he made frequent visits; these featured some songs sung in Italian, and remain rare collectors’ items. In Sept 2009 Skip’s son Brent financed the belated release of Topanga Skyline on Sierra Records as a fortieth anniversary commemoration of Skip’s first appearance with the Byrds.

by Len Liechti

Tracks
1. Undercover Man - 3:11
2. The Ballad Of Dick Clark - 2:58
3. Captain Video - 4:11
4. Central Park - 2:27
5. Four Legs Are Better Than Two - 4:07
6. Valentino - 3:30
7. Human Being Blues - 2:58
8. The St. Louis Browns - 4:31
9. Cobras - 4:26
10.My Secret Life - 2:35
All songs by Kim Fowley, Skip Batin

Personnel
*Skip Battin - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Bass
*Clarence White - Electric, Acoustic, Resonator Guitar, Mandolin
*Roger McGuinn - 12 String Guitar
*John Guerin - Drums
*Billy Mundi - Drums
*Spanky McFarlane - Backing Vocals

1971  The Byrds - Live At Royal Albert Hall

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Ian Matthews - Tigers Will Survive (1971 uk, fine delicate folk country rock, 2012 remaster)

Tigers Will Survive, Ian Matthews' second release of 1971, and fifth in less than three years, continues the Anglo-American folk-rock that he began in 1968 with Fairport Convention. Following his departure from the band in early 1969, Matthews' style quickly veered from the British traditional direction that Fairport was headed, gravitating more toward the American singer/songwriter scene that was the source for much of the group's material in their early days, keeping him closer to the mid-Atlantic mix of What We Did on Our Holidays (his last record with the band). 

If You Saw Thro' My Eyes, his previous album, reunited him with members of his old band, as well as others from the revolving Fairport/Fotheringay cast, but this time out, with the exception of Richard Thompson's accordion on a couple of tunes (credited as Woolfe J. Flywheel), he opts for the backing of the English rock band Quiver. And while it may lack some of the cohesive personality of its predecessor, Tigers Will Survive still shares its primarily acoustic sound, augmented by a strong rhythm section and touches of electric guitar. 

Also, as was the case with that album, the toughest moment is courtesy of Richard Farina, whose "House of Unamerican Blues Activity Dream" brings an edginess and anger to Matthews' characteristically pretty and reflective tone, though his self-penned title track is close behind. Elsewhere, the beautiful "Morning Song" and Phil Spector's "Da Do Ron Ron" (without a change in gender) are high points for Ian Matthews, the songwriter and interpreter, respectively. The former is among the two or three best songs he'd written, while the latter, a wonderful a cappella rendition of the Crystals' classic, bolstered only by hand claps, brings a lightness and energy to the record. 

by Brett Hartenbach

Tracks
1. Tigers Will Survive (Ian Matthews) - 4:07
2. Midnight On The Water (Ian Matthews) - 2:50
3. Right Before My Eyes (Peter Lewis) - 2:16
4. Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home) (E. Greenwich, J. Barry, P. Spector) - 2:14
5. Hope You Know (Ian Matthews) - 3:26
6. Please Be My Friend (Ian Matthews) - 5:40
7. Never Again (Ian Matthews) - 3:16
8. Close The Door Lightly (Eric Anderson) - 3:09
9. House Of Unamerican Blues Activity Dream (Richard Farina) - 3:22
10.Morning Song (Ian Matthews) - 3:49
11.The Only Dancer (Pete Carr) - 4:18

Persnnel
*Ian Matthews - Guitar, Vocals
*Richard Thompson (Credited As Woolfe J. Flywheel) - Guitar, Accordion
*Andy Roberts - Guitar
*Bob Ronga - Bass, Keyboards
*Tim Renwick - Guitar
*Timi Donald - Drums
*Cal Batchelor - Guitar
*Bruce Thomas - Bass
*Ray Warleigh - Saxophone
*Ian Whiteman - Keyboards
*John Wilson - Drums

1971  Ian Matthews - If You Saw Thro' My Eyes (2012 Remaster)
1972  Plainsong - Plainsong (2013 Japan Remaster)

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Ian Matthews - If You Saw Thro' My Eyes (1971 uk, fabulous folk soft rock, 2012 remaster)

Throughout his four-decade career, the folk-pop songwriter Ian Matthews has had occasional brushes with critical and commercial success, but he has always seemed to shy away from his best chances. He quit the early, definitive version of Fairport Convention after the first two albums. He’d written “Book Song” on the landmark What We Did On Our Vacation, but felt frustrated as a songwriter in a band more interested in dusty traditional folk songs. His subsequent band, Matthews’ Southern Comfort, was meant to be a songwriters collective, though it became most famous for a cover. This second band flourished in the late 1960s, with its rotating cast of British folk mainstays, Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol of Fairport among them. Yet, after the surprise breakthrough success of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock,” Matthews abandoned that project as well. Faustian bargains didn’t seem to interest him much. What he wanted, mainly, was a quiet place to record, a few friends and some interesting songs to cover.

Matthews got all that in If You Saw Thro’ My Eyes, originally released in 1970, long out of print and now reissued with lavish notes, lyric sheets and credits by Water. Supported by Fairport’s Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny, Andy Roberts of Everybody, Pink Floyd fellow traveler Tim Renwick, as well as King Crimson’s Keith Tippett and others, Matthews debuted with a set of deceptively simple, transparently beautiful songs.

The album opens with the warm, country-ish folk of “Desert Inn,” with Matthews singing in a high, tremulous tenor over a mesh of acoustic and electric guitars. One of them, bending and scratching around the melody, is unmistakably Richard Thompson’s, lending a strident urgency to an otherwise low-key song. Once you’re listening, though, you can hear Thompson all over the place, most particularly in “Reno, Nevada,” where his blistering breaks burn right through the fabric of the song. Denny slips a bit of gospel piano into “Hearts,” then returns to the keyboards for the stripped-bare title track, while Tippett’s piano on “Never Ending” plays a high shivery counterpart to the track’s harmonies. The songs are light, but well arranged, the other instruments never obscuring even the most delicate of melodies.

Matthews’ songs themselves are rather low-key, easy-going, buoyant and optimistic in a very hippie-ish, country-folk sort of way. Even the melancholy songs penned by Matthews, “Hearts” for instance, have a sweet, lilting uplift to them, and the closer “Thro’ My Eyes,” sung in duet with Denny and accompanied by an eerie bowed electric (Renwick again), lofts inexorably upward, like the show-stopping triumph ballad from a Broadway musical. It’s almost sappy, riding an exquisitely fine line between simplicity and obvious-ness, but falling on the good side of the line. Matthews’ penchant for the sunny side becomes clear when you contrast his songs to the two Richard Farina covers. “Reno, Nevada” and “Morgan the Pirate” are considerably darker and more urgent than his own songs, paced with harder guitar riffs and bigger drums. The second of these, Farina’s meditation on a rivalry with Bob Dylan, is particularly fine, sardonic and venomous (“You had to have assistance / In confirming your existence.”)

Overall though, the debut has an unstudied, unplanned grace to it, as if Matthews had stumbled somehow onto a target that he would spend the rest of his career trying to hit again. Indeed, in a new essay for the reissue, he writes, “On reflection, I see how delicate and uncensored my songwriting was in its infancy stages, but the delicacy and naiveté of it, the untutored chord sense and the opaque lyrics also came with a warmth and vitality that I’ve never been able to recapture since.”

That’s in marked contrast to what he says about Tigers Will Survive his second solo album, also reissued by Water this year. “For the longest period after the release of Tigers, I couldn’t listen to it without feeling it had finished a distant second to its predecessor,” he writes. “Now…I can enjoy it for what it truly is…a steppingstone along that great musical causeway to an unreachable place.”

And yet Tigers Will Survive has its highlights as well, songs as good as anything on If You Saw Thro’ My Eyes. It starts in a flourish of Spanish-sounding acoustic guitars, the tightly harmonized voices emerging from thickets of strumming, the whole thing breaking for a dreamy Floydian guitar interval at the end. The song runs straight into the even lovelier “Midnight on the Water” with its piano runs and slow-paced mesmeric builds. And the guitar twitching, piano flecked “Right Before My Eyes” is sweaty and blues-tinged, like The Band but with better singing.

But the Spector cover “The Doo Run Run” is just plain silly, and the MOR piano-poppiness that Matthews avoided (barely) on “Thro’ My Eyes” emerges full-blown in “Hope You Know.” Elton John and Tim Rice couldn’t write a sappier ballad. Trust Richard Farina to inject a little necessary skepticism, this time in the black-humored, bass-heavy “House of Unamerican Activities Blues.” It’s like a slap in the face, a blast of cold air and it wakes you up immediately.

After Tigers, Matthews went on to Plainsong and a string of additional solo albums, but he never hit the mark set by If You Saw Thro’ My Eyes again. Sometimes your best shot is the blind one, before you know what you’re doing, and all the trying in the world, after that won’t get you any closer to the goal.

by Jennifer Kelly

Tracks
1. Desert Inn - 3:31
2. Hearts - 3:10
3. Never Ending - 2:55
4. Reno Nevada (Richard Fariña) - 4:45
5. Little Known - 2:54
6. Hinge I - 1:24
7. Hinge II - 0:27
8. Southern Wind - 3:11
9. It Came Without Warning (Jerry Burnham, Allan Jacobs) - 4:03
10.You Couldn't Lose - 3:36
11.Morgan The Pirate (Richard Fariña) - 6:42
12.Thro' My Eyes - 2:35
All songs by Ian Matthews except where indicated

Musicians
*Ian Matthews - Guitar, Vocals
*Sandy Denny - Keyboards, Vocals
*Richard Thompson - Guitar, Accordion
*Pat Donaldson - Bass
*Andy Roberts - Guitar
*Tim Renwick - Guitar
*Gerry Conway - Drums

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