''If You Saw Thro' My Eyes'' is the 1971 album by

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

musician Ian Matthews. It was the first of two Ian Matthews solo albums released on

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

, a subsidiary label of Philips/Phonogram (the second being ''Tigers Will Survive'' released in 1972). Guest musicians were former

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

bandmates

Sandy Denny Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer-songwriter who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as " guably the pre-eminent British folk-rock sin ...

on vocals and keyboards, and

Richard Thompson Richard Thompson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Richard Thompson (animator) (1914–1998), Warner Bros. cartoon animator in the 1950s * Richard Thompson (cartoonist) (1957–2016), cartoonist who also worked as an illustrator * Richard Tho ...

on accordion and guitar. The album also featured guitarist

Tim Renwick Timothy John Pearson Renwick (born 7 August 1949) is an English guitarist. He is best known for his association with Al Stewart in his early career and for his long-standing role as lead guitarist for the Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. His single ...

, jazz pianist

Keith Tippett Keith Graham Tippetts (25 August 1947 – 14 June 2020), known professionally as Keith Tippett, was a British jazz pianist and composer. According to AllMusic, Tippett's career "...spanned jazz-rock, progressive rock, improvised and contemporar ...

and Matthews' future bandmate in Plainsong, Andy Roberts. The second track on the album, ‘Hearts’, was released as a single on April 23, 1971; the album itself (catalogue number VEL-1002) was released worldwide on May 1 that year.Music paper article in the Iain Matthews cuttings book ''It’s About Time'' ''If You Saw Thro' My Eyes'' remained unavailable on CD until 1993 when it was released as a 2-on-1 reissue on Vertigo coupled with ''Tigers Will Survive''. The original album on its own was remastered and reissued on CD in 2003 on MK2 Records. It has since been reissued again several times, the most recent version being in 2012 on Esoteric Records. A live version of the album, ''If You Saw Thro' My Eyes - Live'', recorded in October 2003 at Cambrinus Cafe in Horst, The Netherlands (where Matthews now lives), was released as the second CD of the 2-CD set ''Sparkler: The Best of the Texas Recordings 1989-2004'' on the Blue Rose record label.

Track listing

(All tracks composed by Ian Matthews except where noted) #"Desert Inn" – 3:29 #"Hearts" – 3:01 #"Never Ending" – 2:52 #"Reno Nevada" (

Richard Fariña Richard George Fariña (; March 8, 1937 – April 30, 1966) was an American Folk music, folksinger, songwriter, poet and novelist. Early years and education Fariña was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of an Irish mother, Ther ...

) – 4:47 #"Little Known" – 2:50 #"Hinge I" – 1:20 #"Hinge II" – 1:10 #"Southern Wind" – 3:10 #"It Came Without Warning" (Jerry Burnham, Allan Jacobs) – 3:45 #"You Couldn't Lose" – 3:35 #"Morgan The Pirate" (Fariña) – 6:42 #"Thro' My Eyes" – 2:37

Charts

Personnel

* Ian Matthews - guitar, vocals *

- piano, harmonium, vocals *

- electric and acoustic guitar, accordion *

Pat Donaldson Fotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group, formed in 1970 by singer-songwriter and musician Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her 1968 composition " Fotheringay" about Fotheringhay C ...

- bass * Andy Roberts - acoustic guitar *

- electric and acoustic guitar *

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" (" Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, science ficti ...

- drums *

- piano on "Never Ending" and "Southern Wind" *

Doris Troy Doris Troy (born Doris Elaine Higginsen; January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her fans as "Mama Soul". Her biggest hit was " Just One Look", a top 10 hit in 1963. Life and career She was ...

, Liza Strike and

Nanette Workman Nanette Joan Workman (born 20 November 1945, Brooklyn, New York, United States) is a singer-songwriter, actress and author, who has been based in Ormstown, Quebec, Canada, during much of her career. She holds dual citizenship of both the United ...

- backing vocals on "Southern Wind"

Production

*Producer: Ian Matthews *Recording Engineer: Robin Black at Morgan Studios, London *Art Direction: Design Machine *Photography: Steve Hiett

References

{{Authority control Iain Matthews albums 1971 albums Vertigo Records albums Albums produced by Iain Matthews Albums recorded at Morgan Sound Studios