Next year will make thirty years since the release of my first album AQUASHOW in 1973. And now here I am again, hat in hand, with SOUL SURFING/RAINY SEASON my first double album since

SOUL SURFING reunites me with my favorite New York musicians: faithful bassist Ernie Brooks (ex-Modern Lovers) and versatile keyboard/accordionist Kenny Margolis (ex-Mink DeVille.) Drummer Danny Montgomery, another U.S. expatriate, has played with everyone from Percy Sledge to Concrete Blond. We recorded in Le Havre (the Liverpool of France) at the studio of Florent Barbier (ex-Roadrunners) who engineered and mixed as well as playing percussion - a very talented man indeed. And of course, there was Olivier Durand (ex-Little Bob) on guitar. Olivier has become such an important part of my music since we first played together five years ago. He came along at just the right moment and now we spend countless hours together on the road all over the world. He

SOUL SURFING is the continuation of RAINY SEASON, recorded in New York with Ernie, Kenny, Olivier and drummer Jonathan Kane. I was looking for answers in SOUL SURFING and RAINY SEASON both spiritual and musical and I

Some say SOUL SURFING/RAINY SEASON is my best album yet and for others nothing will ever replace the first four saints of my 70

I have said that Rock

ALBUMS:

1 AQUASHOW (Polydor 1973)

2 LOST GENERATION (RCA 1975)

3 NIGHT LIGHTS (RCA 1976)

4 JUST A STORY FROM AMERICA (Columbia 1977)

5 AFFAIRS (Courtisane 1980)

6 MURPH THE SURF (Disc AZ 1982)

7 MILWAUKEE (New Rose 1985)

8 CHANGE WILL COME (New Rose 1987)

9 PARTY GIRLS & BROKEN POETS (WEA 1984)

10 LIVE HOT POINT (New Rose 1991)

11 APRES LES DELUGE (New Rose 1987)

12 12 (New Rose 1990)

13 IF POETS WERE KING (New Rose 1992)

14 UNREAL CITY (Razor & Tie 1993)

15 DIAMONDS BY THE YARD (Razor & Tie 1992)

16 PARIS/NEW YORK (New Rose 1993)

17 SELLING THE GOLD (Musidisc 1995)

18 GOING THROUGH SOMETHING (Dejadisc 1996)

19 BEAUREGARD (Last Call 1998)

20 APRIL (Last Call 1999)

21 LA TERRE COMMUNE (Last Call 2001)

22 SOULSURFING/RAINY SEASON (Last Call 2002)

PUBLISHED WORKS (FRANCE)

BOOKS:

COLD AND ELECTRIC (Editions Entreligne 1990)

CAFÉ NOTES (Hachette Literatures 2002)

SHORT STORIES COLLECTIONS:

LE LION DORT CE SOIR (Librairie Gibert Joseph 1992)

POETRY:

Nouvelle Revue de Paris (France)

ELLIOTT MURPHY & IAIN MATHEWS

La Terre Commune

On February 2001 Last Call Records will release "La Terre Commune" (The Common Ground), a one-of-a-kind collaboration by legendary singer/songwriters Elliott Murphy and Iain Matthews. Murphy and Matthews, each outstanding, critically acclaimed artists in their own right, have recorded an magnificent album which showcases four original songs from each, along with covers from the likes of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Jesse Colin Young and Brecht/Weill. It's an amazing piece of work that stands alongside the best that either has ever produced. Iain Matthews was born Ian Matthews MacDonald on June 16th 1946 in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. He began his career as the lead singer for Fairport Convention with whom he recorded three albums. His next band, Matthews Southern Comfort, had an international hit with a version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock." His Elektra releases 'Valley Hi' and 'Some Days You Eat The Bear Some Days The Bear Eats You', are two of the finest country-folk albums of the 70s. In 1978 he scored a Top Ten hit with "Shake It" from his Stealin Home release and his 1994 album, Dark Ride, was widely regarded to be one of the best singer/songwriter albums of that year. Murphy, a New York native who has lived in Paris, France for the last decade, has recorded such critically acclaimed albums as 'Aquashow' (Polydor), 'Just A Story From America' (Columbia) and 'Twelve' (New Rose). Regarded by many as one of the most passionate, literate, intelligent songwriters of his time, Murphy's admirers in the music business are legion, including such luminaries as Peter Buck of R.E.M., Lou Reed, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp and Elvis Costello.

"It was a thrill to record La Terre Commune with Iain Matthews, who I have admired from afar for nearly twenty-five years," says Murphy. "In a totally unpredictable fashion our strengths and weaknesses fit together like two long lost pieces of a jigsaw puzzle." Introduced for the first time at the 1997 South By Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, Murphy and Matthews decided to record an album together last April, in Le Havre, France with a band including Olivier Durand on guitar and Florent Barbier on drums.

The results were far greater than anyone had hoped or expected. "Taking turns, we threw out song ideas, originals and covers," remembers Matthews. "We found a comfortable groove, committed it to tape and moved on, until we had an album's worth."

La Terre Commune is a superb album, intensely personal and full of the
masterful storytelling, poetic imagery and introspective lyrics which
both Murphy and Matthews are known for. Neither artist is a household
name and they may never be. But both are surviors whose music has
continued to evolve, change and grow for the past thirty years. La Terre
Commune is quite simply one of the finest albums of either's
incomparable careers.