One may argue that Iain Matthews‘s creative peak came in the early ’70s when – after spells at the fore of FAIRPORT CONVENTION, SOUTHERN COMFORT and PLAINSONG – the singer delighted his fans with "Tigers Will Survive" and a few other fine platters. However, Matthews’s later endeavors seemed consistently strong too, which is why a new box set, commemorating the half-century anniversary of his “Go For Broke” album, yet going way beyond it, feels more than welcome.
To be out on May 8th, “Rhythm Of The West: The Columbia Years 1975-1977” is a six-disc collection featuring not only the aforementioned longplay but also its follow-up, “Hit And Run” from 1977, and a plethora of concert recordings, mostly previously unreleased. Some of those were laid down with Iain’s less celebrated ensembles. MOTION and THE FALLING ROCK BAND, and there are six pieces which never saw the inside of a studio. A fine thing.
Rhythm Of The West:
The Columbia Years
1975-1977
CD 1 – Go For Broke:
1. Darkness, Darkness
2. I’ll Be Gone
3. Brown Eyed Girl
4. Rhythm Of The West
5. Groovin’
6. Lonely Hunter
7. Steamboat
8. A Fool Like You
9. Just One Look
10. When The Morning Comes
The “Go For Broke” Demos:
11. So Sad
12. Groovin’
“Go For Broke” Revisited:
13. Lonely Hunter (Tokyo, 1991)
14. Brown Eyed Girl (Heilbronn, 2004)
15. Darkness, Darkness (Vorhees NJ, 2011)
CD 2 – Hit And Run:
1. The Frame
2. One Day Without You
3. Times
4. I Will Not Fade Away
5. Tigers Will Survive
6. Just One Look
7. Help To Guide Me (I Need Your Help)
8. Shuffle
9. Hit And Run
“Hit And Run” Revisited:
10. Just One Look (Nottingham, 1991)
11. The Frame (Long Island NY, 2012)
CD 3 – Live At Ebbets Field, Denver CO – June 1976:
1. Steamboat
2. Hit And Run
3. Rhythm Of The West
4. I Will Not Fade Away
5. Payday
6. Times
7. Tigers Will Survive
8. Shuffle
9. Faith To Arise
10. Nobody
11. Truck Driving Man
12. Brown Eyed Girl
CD 4 – Live At Ebbets Field, Denver CO – May 1977:
1. Just One Look
2. Times
3. Rhythm Of The West
4. Tigers Will Survive
5. Help To Guide Me (I Need Your Help)
6. Brown Eyed Girl
7. I Will Not Fade Away
8. Shuffle
9. Hit And Run
10. Lonely Hunter
Thank You And Goodnight:
11. Hit And Run (Phoenix AZ, 1977)
12. Palm Springs Jump (Baton Rouge LA, 1977)
13. Payday (Baton Rouge LA, 1977)
CD 5 – Columbia Years Live (1976-1977)
Rock Around The World – Live At Paul’s Mall, Boston MA – 1976:
1. Shuffle
2. Tigers Will Survive
3. Darkness, Darkness
4. Faith To Arise
The Hit And Run Rehearsal – SIR Studios, LA – 1977:
5. The Frame
6. Trouble In Paradise
7. One Day Without You
8. Tigers Will Survive
9. Times
10. Faith To Arise
11. Shuffle
12. Help To Guide Me (I Need Your Help)
13. Hit And Run
14. I Will Not Fade Away
15. Just One Look
CD 6 – Columbia Years Live (1979-2022):
1. Tigers Will Survive (Amsterdam, 1979)
2. Lonely Hunter (Brussels, 1979)
3. Brown Eyed Girl (Brussels, 1979)
4. Just One Look (New York, 1979)
5. Lonely Hunter (Milan, 1984)
6. Lonely Hunter (Northampton MA, 1988)
7. Darkness, Darkness (Santa Monica CA, 1990)
8. Just One Look (Nuremberg, 1988)
9. Brown Eyed Girl (Swindon, 2004)
10. The Frame (Amen, 2008)
11. Darkness, Darkness / If My Eyes Were Blind / Darkness, Darkness (Reprise)(Lage Vuursche, 2010)
12. The Frame (Bergen, 2011)
13. Brown Eyed Girl (Pontefract, 2016)
14. Darkness, Darkness (Cropredy, 2022)
