Search - Ian Matthews :: Valley Hi/Some Days You Eat the Bear and Some Days the Bear Eats You

VALLEY HI is perhaps

greyhoundude | Corvallis, OR | 02/24/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"the finest West Coast country/rock album ever recorded. Track-for-track, it pounds albums by the likes of the Eagles, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, etc, etc, etc into the turf. A large amount of credit (much to Iain's everlasting chagrin) must go to producer Michael Nesmith, whose Countryside Band (Iain wanted boring L.A studio musicians to supply instrumentation....more on that in a bit) was absolutely perfect for these tunes. Nesmith's production shines throughout. The arrangement for "Seven Bridges Road" was directly stolen by the Eagles....that's Nesmith's arrangement you hear on the radio by the Eagles, folks. Other standout tracks include "Old Man At The Mill," "Keep On Sailing," Richard Thompson's "Shady Lies" (unreleased by Thompson), "Propinquity," and "Blue Blue Day." For some reason, "You Fell Through My Mind" (the B-side of "Seven Bridges Road" and an excellent tune) was not included in this package. It's featured as a bonus track on the now-deleted THE SOUL OF MANY PLACES collection. Go figure. And buy that CD as well, if you can find it.Unlike Iain's subsequent releases, the cover tunes on VALLEY HI all work. It's a shame that, although he's released some fine albums since, Iain never really reached this level of quality again. SOME DAYS YOU EAT THE BEAR was released a short time after VALLEY HI and suffers from poor production and a very muddy mix. Saying goodbye to Nesmith and his Countryside Band, Iain employs your typical (for the day) run-of-the-mill mellow country/rock L.A. whiz-kid session players. While the tunes are mostly good, they are simply not as interesting (or as well-produced) as the tunes on VALLEY HI, sounding more like a collection of demos ("Keep On Sailing," an inferior re-recording of the VALLEY HI tune) and outtakes (Gene Clark's "Tried So Hard," which sounds like an unfinished leftover from the VALLEY HI sessions). To summarize: 5 stars for VALLEY HI. 3 stars for SOME DAYS YOU EAT THE BEAR..."

Beautiful Spectral Music

greyhoundude | 01/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Music fans rejoice -- this release collects two of the ex-Fairport Convention singer's best releases. Valley High, produced by country-rock visionary Mike Nesmith, is a beautiful and moving collection of sterling so-cal country rock, much better performed and written then the more popular entries by the Eagles of this period. Look for Ian's soulful and thoughtful rendition of Jackson Browne's These Days, as a highlight, along with a blistering take on the traditional Old Man at the Mill.Bear is another winner, which over time opens up and envelopes you in the sweet tenor of Ian even more than Valley High. A great two-fer!"

One of the greatest pair-ups of all time!

T. A. Shepherd | Palmdale, Ca. 93550 | 01/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"How nice of them to pair up these two Electra albums on one disc! I've always preferred the "Valley Hi" version of "Keep on Sailing" to the one on "Some Days". Most likely, it's due to the late Red Rhodes' dobro playing. He was the greatest steel guitar player of all time, but more about Iain: Iain was really the best male singer in Fairport and when they lost him, I'm afraid they lost some of the magic that made their first two albums so unique. Anyway, Matthews went on to form Southern Comfort. Their second and third albums come highly recommended. Their sense of ecclectism was uncanny and fresh. That said, Iain found a true partner in Andy Roberts and the two of them formed Plainsong. Their "In Search of Amelia Earhart" album remains a classic to this day. When Plainsong personnel went sour during the recording sessions for their second album, "Now We Are Three", Matthews went solo and teamed up with Michael Nesmith & the First National Band. The result was "Valli Hi", a collection of engaging original material, much of what was from the second Plainsong album sessions. "Keep On Sailing" was the album's signature song, but the real treat here is "Seven Bridges Road", a song The Eagles copied note-for-note. This is the original recording of that nature with Iain doing all the harmony vocals and let this be known here and now: This is the definitive version! Red plays a steel solo that literally comes alive. Richard Thompson's "Shady Lies" is a supurb country ballad as good as any song on "Henry the Human Fly". It seagues from "Old Man at the Mill", a tradition folk song from The Dillards' song book. He does a super reading of Jackson Browne's "These Days". Tom Waits' "Ol' 55" (from "Some Days") never sounded better since it was done back in '74. The latter album was not as consistant as "Valley", but it had some nice tunes on it. "A Wailing Goodbye", "Home" and "The Fault", for example, are some of Iain's most heartfelt ballads. Plus, he does real justice to Jesse Winchester's "Biloxi" and Gene Clark's "Tried So Hard" (an early Fairport favorite). Not so good are the attempts at "I Don't Want to Talk About It" (Rod Stewart had already did an amazing job on this one for his seminal "Atlantic Crossing" album), "Do I Still Figure in Your Life" (Ditto for Joe Cocker) and Steely Dan's "Dirty Work". Even with these minor weak points, this collection is one of the greatest pair-ups of all time!"