Customer Reviews

Valley Hi/Some Days You Eat the Bear and Some Days the Bear Eats You

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

the finest West Coast country/rock album ever recorded...certainly one of the most listenable. 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...

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!

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!

To me Iain Matthews has always been one of those performers that makes good records but not great records. Along with the Plainsong album In Search Of Amelia Earhart, these were the first of his albums I heard - and there are some great songs on all of them. But, for me, there is not enough quality in depth to make them stand out records. I think the problem is partly in the crossover from folk to rock or country-rock, illustrated most clearly in Old Man At The Mill. Other reviewers see it differently but, despite the quality of the playing, it's a song that I can't relate to at all, which is my problem with traditional folk music in general. Country has a similar effect on me - often quoted as being three chords and the truth, I find traditional country more often sounds like three chords and some cliches. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of contemporary country where lyrics get more deeply into the subject matter than, "My woman's been untrue, she's gone and found somebody knew" (Blue Blue Day). For me the strongest tracks on Valley Hi are Iain's own Keep On Sailing and his stellar (probably the best) cover of These Days. The other tracks are also-rans and, again, contrary to other reviews, I find Nesmith's production unsubtle to say the least. For me Some Days You Eat The Bear is a better record, not muddy in production as another reviewer has said, and side one is as good a side of music as Iain has recorded. Ol' 55 was not recorded three years later by The Eagles, their On The Border album was released the same year as Some Days.. I Don't Want To Talk About It is a far better version than Rod Stewart's and I believe Rod would not have recorded it if it hadn't been for this version. And then Everything But The Girl wouldn't have done it either.... A Wailing Goodbye is a grower, and a fine tribute to Gram Parsons, followed by a more subtle version of Keep On Sailing and a great cover of Gene Clark's Tried So Hard.

These records do illustrate what a fine pure voice Matthews has and that he has an ear for a good song, and that this ear has possibly influenced other artists. I give four stars rather than three mainly because the two albums in one package is hard to resist.

It's weird this, but every reviewer (with the exception of fellow Brit Mr. NW Proctor) of this excellent double release raves over "Valley Hi" while generally denigrating "Somedays...". In my opinion "Somedays You Eat The Bear....And Somedays The Bear Eats You" (to give it its full and charmingly weird title) is not only by far the better of the two, but also the best album Iain has made in his long and illustrious career, even better than the Top 20 charting, radio-friendly "Stealing Home".
"Somedays" kicks off with a great version of Tom Waits' "Ol'55", surpassing the contemporary Eagles ("On The Border") cut. This album contains some lovely interpretations - most notably Danny Whitten's beautiful "I Dont Wanna Talk About It', Jesse Winchester's lush "Biloxi", Peter Blumson's "Do I Still Figure I Your Life?", and a great reading of Gene Clark's "Tried So Hard" which easily eclipses the Burritos' version. Fagen and Becker's "Dirty Work" is very close to the Steely Dan original, which is not surprising as at the time Iain was being touted as the replacement for David Palmer as guest vocalist in the band.
The I.M. originals on "Somedays" are all re-workings of songs which he had tried before on the then unreleased second Plainsong album, except for "Keep On Sailing" which is a much improved version of the one included here on "Valley Hi" (decide for your self dear listener).
This is a gorgeous sounding album, a perfect example of 70's country/folk soft rock, and an album that I, after God knows how long, never tire of listening to.
Which is not to say that "Valley Hi" isn't a fine album in its own right. It is. It contains some truly beautiful tracks, especially the sublime "Seven Bridges Road" (ripping us off again eh Eagles?) and "Old Man At The Mill". The difference I think is down to the production. "Valley Hi" was produced (and quite well too) by Mike Nesmith and it carries his stamp on it - if you're a fan of Papa Nez you'll love it. "Somedays" is Mr. Matthew's baby, and it shows. The musicianship from the likes of "Skunk" Baxter and David Lindley is wonderfuly sympathetic to Iain's vision, and the backing vocal arrangements (all I.M. overdubs) are breathtaking throughout.

If the price seems prohibitive, or the package is unavailable - then download "Somedays" (at least) in mp3 format as I did for a very reasonable price.
Do your ears a favour and buy this wonderful package - you owe them this much.

Ian Matthews has tried to distance himself somewhat from "Valley Hi", claiming Mike Nesmith's production was too country-ish for his taste. That's too bad, because "Valley Hi" is clearly the superior of the two albums on this disc.

It would probably be worth the price for Matthews' version of "Seven Bridges Road" alone, which is by far the definitive rendition of this much-recorded song (the Eagles stole his arrangement and didn't come close to equalling it). But there's plenty more here, including one of the earliest (maybe the first?) version of Jackson Browne's "These Days". "Valley Hi" is good beginning to end.

"Some Days You Eat the Bear" is less overtly country, and doesn't have quite as strong a lineup of songs. Interesting are covers of Jesse Winchester's "Biloxi", Steely Dan's "Dirty Work", and Tom Waits' "Ol' 55" (three years before the Eagles did it).

"Keep On Sailing" appears on both albums, but not in the same version. Matthews was unhappy with the "Valley Hi" version, and remade it for "Bear". I prefer the first one, but the second is good, too.

Matthews is a marvelous singer, handling all the vocal parts himself. His voice is strong, clear, and somewhat reminiscent of Gram Parsons. For fans who like the folk-singer-songwriter genre, this guy represents a good if overlooked artist worth listening to. Getting two albums on one CD here makes it a good deal for an enjoyable listen.