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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 |
