6CD - Plainsong - Following Amelia

• 118-track, 6CD box set from the legendary British country rock/folk rock band Plainsong.

• Features a 50th anniversary re-issue of their 1972 debut album ‘In Search Of Amelia Earhart’, digitally remastered from the original reel-to-reel master tapes.

• Contains over 50% previously unreleased material, including: several rare 1970s BBC recordings, the full original 1972 Folk Fairport concert in Amsterdam, and excerpts from the very first concert by the reformed Plainsong in Mayrhofen, Austria in 1993.

• Plus 2020 remakes of Amelia songs originally recorded to accompany Ian Clayton’s book In Search Of Plainsong.

Plainsong, formed in London in late 1971; comprised of singer Iain Matthews, who with Matthews Southern Comfort had a worldwide hit with Joni Mitchell’s song ‘Woodstock’; former Liverpool Scene and Everyone guitarist Andy Roberts; piano and bass player David Richards; and the New York guitarist Bobby Ronga. The four met at Iain’s north London flat in December 1971 after recording and playing together in various combinations over the previous couple of months. They spent the afternoon working out an arrangement of ‘Along Comes Mary’, a Tandyn Almer song that had been a 1966 US hit for The Association, and agreed that if it worked they would go ahead and become a band. They worked throughout 1972, touring the UK and Europe, recording numerous sessions for the BBC plus two excellent albums (the second of which remained unreleased until 2005) before breaking up at the end of that year as Iain headed to California to begin a new career as a solo artist.

With the addition of former Matthews Southern Comfort guitarist Mark Griffiths and singer/ songwriter Julian Dawson, they reformed in 1992, returning to the live stage again in Mayrhofen, Austria in August 1993 – their first concert in 21 years. For a while in the late 1990s, Julian was replaced in the band by Clive Gregson before returning again in 2003.

This 6CD box set, released some 50 years after their 1972 debut with ‘In Search Of Amelia Earhart’, not only contains that album digitally remastered from the original tapes but also the ‘Now We Are 3’ second album, alongside a host of previously unissued tracks from Iain and Andy’s own archives and from the collections of fans worldwide. Plainsong’s 1972 BBC In Concert special for Bob Harris gets its first official airing on CD, as does the rare Sounds On Sunday radio broadcast, their very last recording together before the break-up.

Tracklisting:

DISC ONE
IN SEARCH OF AMELIA EARHART
ORIGINAL ALBUM
1 For The Second Time
2 Yo Yo Man
3 Louise
4 Call The Tune
5 Diesel On My Tail
6 Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight
7 I’ll Fly Away
8 True Story Of Amelia Earhart
9 Even The Guiding Light
10 Side Roads
11 Raider
BONUS TRACKS
12 Along Comes Mary
13 Even The Guiding Light (alternative vocal)
IN CONCERT (BBC2 TV, 1973)
14 Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight
15 Any Day Woman
16 Call The Tune
17 The Poor Ditching Boy
18 Even The Guiding Light
19 Raider
20 Miss The Mississippi And You

DISC TWO
NOW WE ARE 3 ORIGINAL ALBUM
1 Old Man At The Mill
2 Urban Cowboy
3 The Fault
4 Swinging Doors
5 Keep On Sailing
6 Miss The Mississippi And You
7 Home
8 First Girl I Loved
9 Save Your Sorrows
10 Nobody Eats At Linebaugh’s Anymore
11 The Goodnight Loving Trail
12 All Around My Grandmother’s Floor
BONUS TRACKS
13 That’s All It Could Amount To
14 Bold Marauder
THE DANCE GOES ON
15 Keep On Sailing *
16 Urban Cowboy *
17 Nobody Eats At Linebaugh’s Anymore *
18 All Around My Grandmother’s Floor *
19 The Goodnight Loving Trail *
20 Bold Marauder *

DISC THREE
BBC SESSIONS (JOHN PEEL/ SOUNDS ON SUNDAY)
PEEL SESSIONS #1 (RADIO 1,1972)
1 Tigers Will Survive
2 Seeds And Stems (Again)
3 For A Spanish Guitar
4 Any Day Woman
PEEL SESSIONS #2 (RADIO 1, 1972)
5 Truck Driving Man
6 Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight
7 Yo Yo Man
8 I’ll Fly Away
9 True Story of Amelia Earhart
SOUNDS ON SUNDAY (RADIO 1, 1972)
10 Seeds And Stems (Again) *
11 Any Day Woman *
12 Take You To The Movies *
13 Blue Blue Day *
14 Miss The Mississippi And You *
15 I Work For Jesus In The Personnel Department *
16 I Don’t Want To Talk About It *
17 Save Your Sorrows *

DISC FOUR
BBC SESSIONS (BOB HARRIS) SOUNDS OF THE 70s (RADIO 1, 1972)
1 That’s All It Could Amount To
2 Time Between
3 Raider
4 Call The Tune 5 I’ll Fly Away
6 I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
7 Miss The Mississippi And You
8 Louise
9 Wreck Of The Old 97
10 Carolina Moon
11 Old Kent Road
THE OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST (BBC2 TV, 1972)
12 Even The Guiding Light *
13 Bold Marauder *
IN CONCERT (RADIO 1, 1972)
14 Nobody Eats At Linebaugh’s Anymore *
15 Home *
16 Miss The Mississippi And You *
17 Old Man At The Mill *
18 Charlie *
19 The First Girl I Loved *
20 Bold Marauder *
21 The Goodnight Loving Trail *
THE OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST 40 (RADIO 2, 2011)
22 True Story Of Amelia Earhart *
23 Yo Yo Man *

DISC FIVE
TOGETHER AGAIN MAYRHOFEN 1993
1 And Me *
2 Louise *
3 Even The Guiding Light *
4 Call The Tune *
5 Raider *
6 Charlie *
7 True Story Of Amelia Earhart *
8 Sweet Amelia *
9 Yo Yo Man *
10 The Goodnight Loving Trail *
DUTCH RADIO 1997
11 True Story Of Amelia Earhart *
12 Sweet Amelia *
13 Yo Yo Man *
14 Souling Song *
15 Charlie *
NORDERSTEDT 2012
16 Old Man At The Mill *
17 Amelia Earharts’ Last Flight *
18 True Story Of Amelia Earhart *
19 Sweet Amelia *

DISC SIX
FOR THE SECOND TIME SET LIST SONGS
1 Radio Lady
2 Me And Mr. Hohner
3 Poison Apple Lady
THE FOLK FAIRPORT CONCERT (Full original version)
4 Mama Tried *
5 Bold Marauder *
6 Louise *
7 Lowlands Away *
8 The Poor Ditching Boy *
9 Souling Song *
10 Tulips From Amsterdam *
11 Nivram *
12 House Un-American Blues Activity Dream *
13 Raider *
FOR THE SECOND TIME (2020 Amelia remake recordings)
14 For The Second Time *
15 Side Roads *
16 Diesel On My Tail *
17 Even The Guiding Light *
18. Louise *
19 Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight *