Plainsong 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 Matthews Southern Comfort. His main collaborator in Plainsong was 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. Prior 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 interested in the topic, but unable to stretch the concept to a whole album, they decided to record a short suite based on the story, and make it the centrepiece of their Elektra debut, which also took it's title from Goerner’s book. Despite it's mixture of self-penned songs and covers, and having the Earheart suite in the middle, it 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 record had a wistful, summery feel absolutely redolent of 1972, and it remains one of my favourite ever albums. Despite that, it failed to trouble the Top 100 album charts, and when Ronga left, the remaining members recorded a follow-up, provisionally titled 'Now We Are 3', which moved further towards country-rock, but this was shelved when the band split abruptly due to ferocious antipathy between Matthews and Richards, and Iain’s long-aspired determination to move to California. It has appeared as part of the deluxe re-issue of the debut album, but here it is for anyone who missed it, with some new cover art thrown in. 
Track listing
01 Old Man At The Mill02 Urban Cowboy03 The Fault 04 Swinging Doors 05 Keep On Sailing 06 Miss The Mississippi 07 Home 08 First Girl I Loved 09 Save Your Sorrows 10 Nobody Eats At Linebaugh's Any More11 The Goodnight Lovin Trail 12 All Around My Grandmothers Floor 13 That's All It Could Amount To
Iain Matthews (born Ian Matthews MacDonald, but changing his name to avoid confusion with Ian McDonald of King Crimson) is an English musician and singer-songwriter, and was an original member of Fairport Convention. He left in 1969 to form his own band, Matthews Southern Comfort, which had a UK number one in 1970 with a cover version of Joni Mitchell's 'Woodstock'. He was influenced by both rock and roll and folk music, and has performed as both a solo artist, and as a member of various bands, including Fairport Convention during their early period, when they were heavily influenced by American folk rock. He initially embarked on a solo career, and his first album was called 'Matthew's Southern Comfort', and was rooted in American country music and rockabilly. It included Matthew's original songs alongside choice covers from Neil Young and Ian & Sylvia, and he then kept the band together, naming them after the debut album (dropping the apostrophe), and recorded two more albums with them in 1970. In 1971, Matthews recorded two solo albums ('If You Saw Thro' My Eyes' & 'Tigers Will Survive'), and the following year he formed Plainsong with Andy Roberts, previously of The Liverpool Scene, and released the classic 'In Search Of Amelia Earheart' album. There were a few songs recorded during the sessions for their first album which wouldn't fit on the record, and they've recently surfaced on compilations, so I've taken them and added some 1970 radio sessions from the band, a demo for Matthews' 'Journeys From Gospel Oak' album, and a few Plainsong radio sessions, including their take on the title track of his 1972 solo album, for this retrospective of Iain Matthews' early career. 
Track listing
01 Touch Her If You Can (Matthews Southern Comfort out-take 1969) 02 Yankee Lady (Matthews Southern Comfort out-take 1969)03 Belle (Matthews Southern Comfort out-take 1969)04 Later On (Matthews Southern Comfort out-take 1969)05 I Believe In You (Matthews Southern Comfort out-take 1969) 06 Not Much At All (Matthews Southern Comfort radio session 1970)07 Baby Ruth (Matthews Southern Comfort radio session 1970)08 Hearts (Matthews Southern Comfort radio session 1970)09 Christine's Tune (Iain Matthews demo 1972)10 Seeds And Stems (Plainsong radio session 1973)11 Spanish Guitar (Plainsong radio session 1973)12 Tigers Will Survive (Plainsong radio session 1973)
