With
Orphans & Outcasts, Vol. 3,
Iain Matthews once again digs into his seemingly endless vault of unreleased recordings for another collection of oddments from his 30-plus year career. Vol. 3 runs the gamut from his first recorded lead vocal (a scratchy 1965 recording by Pyramid) to the live, previously unreleased "Sing Sister Sing," a song scheduled to appear on his next solo record. In between, we get outtakes, live recordings, radio broadcasts, and an assortment of demos (ranging from a 1969 recording of "Woodstock" to "Jaques and Tambo" from 1996). Unlike the first two collections, not much here is necessarily essential, though a number of cuts would fit nicely on the corresponding
Iain Matthews album and should be of interest to fans. Highlights include three tracks ("Hearts," "Home," and "Never Ending") from a 1970 BBC broadcast featuring backing by
Andy Roberts and
Richard Thompson,
Plainsong's beautiful a capella arrangement of "I'll Fly Away," and the demos for
Jules Shear's "This Fabrication" and "Except for a Tear," sans synthesizers. ~ Brett Hartenbach