Matthews Southern Comfort
is a transitional album for
Matthews
. Having recently exited
Fairport Convention
, this record pays tribute to that period of his career in both material (
"A Castle Far"
) and in the choice of musicians who back him (many of them from
). At the same time, songs like "A Commercial Proposition" indicate where
Matthews'
future work is headed. With
Second Spring
, the other album included on this two-fer,
Southern Comfort
is a real band, and in addition to
also includes
Roger Swallow
(ex-
Marmalade
) and
Marc Griffiths
(ex-Spooky Tooth). Although there is really nothing that makes this a memorable record, it's still quite nice overall. ~ Jim Worbois