he formed a trio, The Pyramid (later just Pyramid), a short-lived English surf music band, with Al Jackson and Steve Hiett (born 1940, died 2018), who later became a world-renowned fashion photographer. The Pyramid released one single, "Summer of Last Year" in January 1967, on Deram Records. A remaining song, "Me About You," surfaced on Matthews' Orphans & Outcasts Volume 3 compilation album in 1999. Fairport Convention In the winter of 1967, Matthews was recruited by Ashley Hutchings as a male vocalist for Fairport Convention, where he sang with Judy Dyble on their self-titled first album Fairport Convention and then with Sandy Denny on What We Did On Our Holidays. During the recording of Unhalfbricking in 1969, as Fairport increasingly drew their material from a traditional British folk repertoire, Matthews found out he had not been invited to a recording session and, after a short discussion with producer Joe Boyd and Ashley Hutchings, left the band and departed on a musical direction of his own. Matthews Southern Comfort In 1969 Matthews recorded his debut solo album, Matthews' Southern Comfort, which was rooted in American country music and rockabilly. He made the album with ex-Fairport colleagues Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol and Ashley Hutchings, plus guitarist Mark Griffiths, drummers Ray Duffy and Gerry Conway, pedal steel guitarist Gordon Huntley, and keyboardists Dolly Collins and Roger Coulam. This was his first significant experience as a songwriter, although the band did also cover versions of Neil Young and Ian and Sylvia songs. He followed it up by forming a working band, Matthews Southern Comfort (using the name of his first album, but without the apostrophe), releasing two more albums in short succession, Second Spring (1970 – UK #52) and Later That Same Year (1970). The band went through various different line-ups and toured extensively for the next two years. They had one commercial success, a cover version of "Woodstock" by Joni Mitchell which was a number one hit single in the UK Singles Chart in October 1970. It received heavy airplay in Canada, reaching No. 5, as well as peaking at No. 23 on the Billboard singles charts in the United States in 1971. Afterwards, Matthews left Southern Comfort, who went on to release three albums of their own on Harvest Records. Plainsong In 1971, Matthews recorded two solo albums (If You Saw Thro' My Eyes & Tigers Will Survive), on Vertigo Records. Under