Matthews was originally the lead vocalist for English folk-rock band Fairport Convention. Their first album, where his presence was most prominent, was heavily influenced by American folk-rock. By the time of What We Did On Our Holidays, his singing partner Judy Dyble had been replaced by Sandy Denny, a much stronger presence in the band, and Matthews' role had diminished. He had left by the time of their third album as they moved towards traditional English folk music.When he started his career as a solo singer-songwriter, as was expected he further explored the American side of folk-rock that Fairport were themselves moving away from. Matthews' Southern Comfort could be seen as a one of the first glimpses of the American country-rock movement to appear in Britain. The American flavours were found in the arrangements and instrumentation, rather than any phony persona put on by Matthews - he managed to fuse his country-rock stylistic preferences with his own gentle, fragile vocals to produce a unique sound. Songs were written by both Matthews and co-producer Steve Barlby, and among the musicians backing him were pedal steel guitarist Gordon Huntley, ex-bandmates Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson and Ashley Hutchings (Thompson also gave him the song "A Commercial Propostion") and drummer Gerry Conway (who would also play with Sandy Denny's Fotheringay, and join Fairport himself in 1998).
|> Second Spring (1969)
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