Plainsong | |
|---|---|
| Origin | England |
| Genres | Country rock, Folk rock |
| Years active | 1972 1992–2012 2014–2017 2020–2022 |
| Past members | Iain Matthews Andy Roberts David Richards Bobby Ronga Mark Griffiths Julian Dawson Clive Gregson |
Plainsong was originally a British country rock/folk rock band, formed in early 1972 by Iain Matthews, formerly of Fairport Convention and Matthews Southern Comfort, and Andy Roberts, previously a member of The Liverpool Scene and Everyone. Plainsong's line-up consisted of Matthews, Roberts, piano and bass player David Richards[a] who had played with Roberts in the band Everyone, and American guitarist and bass player Bobby Ronga[b], who Matthews and Roberts had first met in the summer of 1971 when they toured the US and Canada as an acoustic trio with former Fairport guitarist Richard Thompson.
Managed by record producer Sandy Roberton, Plainsong released just one album during their original existence, In Search of Amelia Earhart in October 1972, before splitting up at the end of December that year in somewhat acrimonious circumstances. A second studio album Now We Are 3 was recorded before the split but remained unreleased until 2005.
Matthews and Roberts have revived Plainsong several times since the early 1990s, firstly as a quartet in 1992 with two new band members: Mark Griffiths, Matthews' former colleague in Matthews Southern Comfort, and British singer-songwriter Julian Dawson, recording a new album Dark Side Of The Room in 1992 and then going out on tour in August 1993 for the first time in 20 years. Two more albums followed - Voices Electric in 1994 and Sister Flute in 1996 - before Clive Gregson replaced Dawson in the band in 1996, touring Europe in 1997 and recording another new album New Place Now in 1999. Dawson rejoined Plainsong in 2003 for their next album Pangolins.
During the 2000s Matthews and Roberts intermittently performed and recorded together as a duo under the Plainsong name (sometimes as 'Plainsong Light') and in 2015 they revived Plainsong as a band once again, this time as a trio with Mark Griffiths, to record an album of Richard Fariña songs.[3] Touring to promote the album began in 2016 and included a performance at the 2017 Cropredy Festival. They also released a live album under their own names in 2021, a performance recorded in Nottingham in 1991.[4]
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Plainsong’s 1972 debut album, 2022 saw both the release of a book In Search Of Plainsong by Ian Clayton which charts the history of the original 1972 band, and a retrospective 6-CD box set compilation, Following Amelia: The 1972 Recordings & More from Cherry Red Records. A short UK tour by Matthews and Roberts to promote both releases took place in December 2022.
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