Matthews Southern Comfort

Matthews Southern Comfort - Topic

Matthews Southern Comfort is a British country rock/folk rock band, formed in 1970 by former Fairport Convention singer Ian Matthews. The original line-up consisted of Matthews, lead guitarist Mark Griffiths, rhythm guitarist Carl Barnwell, bass player Pete Watkins, drummer Roger Swallow and pedal steel guitarist Gordon Huntley. Watkins and Swallow left the band after a few weeks and were replaced by bass player Andy Leigh and drummer Ray Duffy.
The band was formed to enable Matthews to tour following the success of his first post-Fairport album, released in early 1970, Matthews' Southern Comfort. The band recorded two more albums that year, Second Spring and Later That Same Year, before splitting up when Matthews abruptly quit at the height of their fame, shortly after their version of Joni Mitchell's song "Woodstock" became a worldwide hit. It reached the top of the UK music charts in October 1970, their only No. 1 hit single, and charted in several European countries, as well as reaching No. 5 in Canada and No. 23 in the Billboard Top 100 in the United States.