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2 giganten van singer-songwriters die de handen ineenslaan, luister en huiver !

Elliott Murphy & Iain Matthews - 2001 - La Terre Commune
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01 - One Cold Street
02 - Blind Willie McTell
03 - Close to the Bone
04 - Navy Blue
05 - Darkness, Darkness
06 - Big Umbrella
07 - She"s a Mystery
08 - I Want to Talk to You
09 - Fading Fast
10 - Dusty Roses
11 - The Ballad of a Soldier"s Wife
12 - Sad Eyes
13 - Unconditionally

In the "70s, Elliott Murphy emerged as one of the more highly touted artists cursed with the "new Dylan" tag (his style was more like a cross between the Velvet Underground and F. Scott Fitzgerald) while British folk-rocker Iain Matthews parlayed stints with Fairport Convention and Matthews Southern Comfort into a successful solo career. Journeyman troubadours during subsequent decades, the two find common ground of artistic renewal through this collaboration. Both the opening "One Cold Street" and the Springsteenesque "I Want to Talk to You" rock harder than expected, while forays into the songbooks of Dylan ("Blind Willie McTell"), Brecht/Weill ("The Ballad of the Soldier"s Wife"), Springsteen himself ("Sad Eyes"), and others reflect the duo"s interpretive range. Both contribute strong original material as well, with Matthews"s sweet tenor complementing Murphy"s raspier bite on an album that compares favorably with each artist"s best. --Don McLeese

I own quite a few records by both Elliott Murphy and Ian (sorry, Iain) Matthews. But, I would have never guessed they would work so beautifully together. Having cherished my Elliott Murphy records in particular (because they seem harder to find then Iain"s -- by the way, won"t SOMEBODY release Just a Story From America on CD???), I have to say that this CD came as a very pleasant surprise. Superb production and a terrific selection of songs. Their moody version of Blind Willie McTell is an instant classic. One Cold Street, I Want to Talk to You and Dusty Roses are the kind of catchy, upbeat yet melancholy songs that are E.M."s trademark. And it"s nice to have a new version of Iain covering Darkness, Darkness, more sad & yearning than ever. I"m not sure what previous references in another review to The Velvet Underground and Indigo Girls have to do with this record (sorry, I don"t hear either one here, really - and I"m a big VU fan). To me this is classic folk rock, in the tradition of the "children of Dylan" (you name your favorite). If that"s the kind of music you like, then you"ll love this.