"Matthew and Son" is a song written and released by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens in 1966. Following his discovery by producer and manager Mike Hurst, Stevens debuted professionally in the music business with the release of his single "I Love My Dog" in September 1966. The song's surprising commercial success established his idiosyncratic songwriting style and extended his contract with Deram Records. "Matthew and Son" was musically inspired by a previous song he had written, while the lyrics were inspired by his girlfriend at the time, who worked a lot. Musically, the song is a baroque pop song with both brass and string arrangements while the lyrics tells the tale of the titular company exploiting their timid workers. "Matthew and Son" was recorded on 1 December 1966 at Decca Studios in London with Hurst producing.
Deram released "Matthew and Son" as Cat Stevens's second single on 30 December 1966, with "Granny" as its B-side. Stevens was called in to perform the song at a variety of light entertainment programs in 1967, including Ready Steady Go! and Top of the Pops. "Matthew and Son" entered the Record Retailer chart in January 1967 before peaking at number two in February, becoming Stevens's highest-charting single in his home country. Elsewhere in the world, the song also charted high in both Africa and Oceania, reaching number one in New Zealand. Owing to its success, the song became the title track of Stevens's debut album in March 1967. Upon initial release the song received critical acclaim, with many critics noting the lyrics. Being one of Stevens's best known songs, it has been included on several of his compilation albums and has inspired other artists.
In early 1966, a then-17-year-old Cat Stevens performed his song "I Love My Dog" for producer and manager Mike Hurst.[1] Jim Economides, Hurst's boss, was rather dismissive of the composition, considering it "rubbish" and rejecting signing Stevens.[1] Stevens relented, and in June 1966 he appeared at Hurst's doorstep, claiming to have been rejected by every single label in London.[2] Hurst, who believed Stevens to be an extraordinary talent despite his young age, arranged studio time with his own funds in July 1966 in order to record Stevens's two compositions, "I Love My Dog" and "Portobello Road".[3][nb 1] Following this, he passed the recording around various record labels in London, hoping that one would sign Stevens.[1]
Coincidentally, at the same time, Decca Records set up their sub-label Deram.[3] The label was designated towards "avant-garde artists", and once Hurst got in contact with the fledgling label, he quickly managed to strike a deal for Stevens.[5] So on 30 September 1966, Deram released "I Love My Dog" as the inaugural single on the label.[6][nb 2] To the surprise of both Hurst and Stevens, "I Love My Dog" managed to chart on the UK Record Retailer chart, peaking at number 28 in November 1966.[8] Following the single's surprise success, the head of Decca, Sir Edward Lewis, extended the contract with Hurst for Stevens to release three singles within a year on Deram.[5]
Musically, "Matthew and Son" had been composed before Stevens's deal with Deram had taken place.[9] The hook of the song had originally been intended as a part for a separate song that Stevens had written in 1965, "Baby Take Me Back Home".[10] Lyrically, "Matthew and Son" had in turn been inspired by one of Stevens's girlfriends at the time, who according to him was "working for a big firm" and that he didn't like that "she had to spend so much of her time working". In a later interview, Stevens recalled that this was a form of "social commentary" about "people being slaves to other people".[11] In a February 1967 interview with Beat Instrumental, Stevens stated his lyrics were "taken from personal experience".[12]
The song's title has an ambiguous origin, with sources disputing where it came from. Stevens has stated that he took inspiritation from his tailor Henry Matthews, who made suits for him, and thought up the story of the worker who is the main character in the song.[10] Charlesworth also notes that Stevens may have been inspired by a company named Foster Wheeler Power Products through a sign that Stevens saw during a bus ride in London,[13] noting that he had brainstormed the titular business before even getting off at his stop.[10] Alternatively, Stevens has also claimed that the title was chosen simply because "the riff seemed to fit the words, 'Matthew and Son'".[11]
Composition and recording
As originally recorded by Cat Stevens, "Matthew and Son" is a baroque pop song that was written in a thirty-two-bar form, primarily utilizing the pitches found in the E major key scale.[14][15][nb 3] The song's first two verses alternate between two chords, E minor and C while the choruses revert to the chords of A and B, alternating between them every other measure.[16] The song's middle eight has the chord of B replaced by E minor which similarly alternates with the chord of A every other measure.[17] According to journalist Chris Charlesworth, these vastly different structures keeps a "first-time listener on the edge throughout the entire performance".[14] Each section of the song's structure are clearly separated by various fills that all utilize various instruments;[17] the first three are performed primarily on brass instrument while a fourth one largely revolves around a piano being played.[14][nb 4]
"Matthew And Son" was one of those titles that I had to use. When I thought of it I automatically wrote a tune into It. I wanted listeners to hear the tune when they heard the title.
Lyrically, "Matthew and Son" acts as a criticism of employers of the working class.[3][19] The titular "Matthew and Son" aren't characters but a business that provide their employees with a substandard work environment. The workers receive few breaks in their routine, and their food is generally poor.[20] Workers there, some of whom have fifty years of experience with the business, are wage slaves. Because all of them are too apathetic and timid to do so, none of them dare ask for raises or promotions to higher-paying work, despite a commonality of financial hardship.[20] Journalist Andy Neill compares the lyrical content to that of the Easybeats contemporary hit single "Friday on My Mind" (1966), noting their similar statuses as odes to the working class.[13]
"Matthew and Son" was initially recorded as a barebones demo featuring Stevens only accompanied by his guitar before Hurst brought this acetate recording to Decca's head promoter Tony Hall, who dismissed the song.[13][nb 5] Without involvement of Decca executives, Hurst booked studio time at Decca Studios in London on 1 December 1966 with his own funds specifically to record the song.[3][13] "Matthew and Son" was recorded in roughly six or seven takes, with the session also yielding two other songs; "Granny" and "School is Out", the latter of which would become the B-side of his follow-up single "I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun".[13][21] Hurst estimated that roughly 25 session musicians were present in the studio for the session, primarily consisting of brass and string performers.[13] A harp player was also hired.[13] Named session musicians include Andy White (drums), Nicky Hopkins (piano),[nb 4]John Paul Jones (bass guitar) and Big Jim Sullivan (guitar).[22] Hurst produced the sessions, with Vic Smithengineering and Alan Tew as the musical director.[23]
After recording, Hurst brought the tapes of "Matthew and Son" back to Tony Hall, who still remained dismissive of it.[13] Allan Keen, a disc jockey on pirate radio station Radio London was instrumental in the song's success, with Hurst bringing a copy of the song to him. Though Keen did not like the song either, he agreed to play it on his show to "see if it would catch on".[13][20] Proving to be a popular song, Deram released "Matthew and Son" as Stevens's second single on 30 December 1966, with another of Stevens's compositions, "Granny", on the B-side.[3][20][nb 6] To promote the single, Stevens was in January 1967 called onto various light entertainment television shows, including Ready Steady Go! and Top of the Pops.[26] According to Hurst, when recording a radio session for the BBC Light Programme, Hall came rushing into the recording studio to "tell them [Hurst and Stevens] that 'Matthew and Son' had sold 30,000 copies in one day.[13]
"Matthew and Son" entered the UK's Record Retailer chart on 18 January 1967 at a position of number 33 before peaking at number two on 8 February, a position it held for two consecutive weeks.[8] It was only held off the top spot by the Monkees' "I'm a Believer" and exited the chart on 22 March 1967, having spent ten weeks in the charts.[27] With the Tremeloes cover of "Here Comes My Baby" at number ten on 22 February 1967, Stevens's had two of his compositions in the Record Retailer top ten at the same time.[28] "Matthew and Son" shared a peak of number two in the UK's other major record charts, while significant pirate radio play helped it reach number-one on Radio London's Fab 40 chart.[29][30][31][32] In Ireland, the song peaked at number three in February 1967.[33] To date, it remains Cat Stevens's highest-charting single in the British Isles.[13][22]
Elsewhere in Continental Europe, "Matthew and Son" also saw some chart success, which was primarily fueled by Cat Stevens's tour to West Germany in the early months of 1967.[22] There, it peaked at number 25.[34] Charlesworth believes that the song's commercial performance in mainland Europe was generally lackluster compared to the UK;[22] the only country "Matthew and Son" reached the top-ten in Europe outside of the British Isles was Belgium, where it reached number seven in April 1967.[35] Despite not touring in either territory at the time,[22] the single saw its greatest mainstream success in Africa and Oceania; in New Zealand it reached number one on the charts while peaking at number two and three in South Africa and Rhodesia, respectively.[36][37][38] Although Deram tried marketing the song for the US market, "Matthew and Son" only managed to reach the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100, though it did chart in both the Cash Box and Record World top-100, peaking at number 92 on both charts.[39][40][41]
With "Matthew and Son" becoming a success, Deram demanded a studio album from Stevens,[13] which would be released on 10 March 1967 as Matthew & Son with the title track acting as the opening track.[3][22][nb 7] The B-side "Granny" was also included on the album, while both sides of Stevens's debut single "I Love My Dog" were also included.[3] According to Charlesworth, the inclusion of both singles "made the album a steady seller", with it peaking at number seven on Record Retailer's album chart.[8][22][nb 8] Being one of Stevens's highest-charting singles, "Matthew and Son" has also been included on several of his compilation albums, including The Very Best of Cat Stevens (2000), Gold (2005), along with the box set Cat Stevens – In Search of the Centre of the Universe (2001).[45]
Critical reception and legacy
Stevens at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival. He performed "Matthew and Son" in his set there.
Upon release in 1966, "Matthew and Son" received praise from critics, who primarily noted the song's lyrical direction. Writing for Disc and Music Echo, journalist Penny Valentine believed that Cat Stevens would become "Britain's up-and-coming songwriter" because of the release.[47] She noted the song's homage to the working class, comparing it to the lyrics of "Something's Coming", a song from the musical West Side Story from which Stevens took inspiration,[1][47] and similarly compared the song with the works of Leonard Bernstein which she finds "strong".[47] She concluded by calling it "an excellent record".[47] In a blind date for Melody Maker, Julie Felix and Georgie Fame considered the song "great". Fame stated that the record was a "strong double-sider", noting the B-side "Granny" to be as good, and suggested that Stevens "surprised" and made him "completely knocked out".[48] In Cash Box, the staff reviewer noted the lyrics, considering it to be a "precise, biting social commentary effort", while also praising the B-side.[49]
Retrospectively, "Matthew and Son" has also received praise from critics, with Bruce Eder of AllMusic stating that song's "tinkling harpsichords" was "a beautiful, candid audio "snapshot" of one side of Swinging London's musical ambience in late 1966 and early 1967".[50] Andy Neill similarly believes that the song and its accompanying album were a testament to both Stevens's idiosyncratic songwriting style and Hurst's ability to "conjure suitably imaginative arrangements".[13] He also writes that the song's lyrical topic was ahead of its time, since pop songs of the era had a tendency to ignore hardships of workers.[13] Because of the single's success, Stevens became part of a package tour together with Jimi Hendrix, the Walker Brothers and Engelbert Humperdinck which according to John Tracy cemented the "healthy reputation his platters had already started to create".[51] "Matthew and Son" is among the few songs from early in his career that Stevens still performs; it was notably performed in a surprise performance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2023.[46]
Since its original release, Cat Stevens has also referred to "Matthew and Son" in his other musical work, including a small four-note riff from the song in "(I Never Wanted) To Be a Star" from his album Izitso (1977).[52] "Matthew and Son" has also influenced songs by other artists; British rock band Echo & the Bunnymen would borrow the song's bridge melody for their 1983 single "The Cutter", which reached number eight in the UK.[53][54] Charlesworth also suggests that the song inspired the melody for British pop group Tears for Fears 1982 single "Mad World", which would become a worldwide hit that year.[55] Stevens himself has acknowledged this influence from the song, and has references this during performances, most notably during his 2016 tour and his surprise appearance at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival.[46] The song appears on the soundtrack of Michael Apted's Stardust (1974); its appearance in the movie is an anachronism, since it was set in 1965.[55]
Yusuf Islam, commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion streams. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in his career, Islamic music. Following two decades in which he performed only music which met strict religious standards, he returned to making secular music in 2006. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
Anthony Newley was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leading men", from 1959 to 1962 he scored a dozen entries on the UK Top 40 chart, including two number one hits. Newley won the 1963 Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "What Kind of Fool Am I?", sung by Sammy Davis Jr., and wrote "Feeling Good", which became a signature hit for Nina Simone. His songs have been sung by a wide variety of singers including Fiona Apple, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey.
David Bowie is the debut studio album by the English musician David Bowie, originally released in the United Kingdom on 1 June 1967 through Decca subsidiary Deram Records. Produced by Mike Vernon and recorded from November 1966 to March 1967 at London's Decca Studios, the album followed a string of singles for Pye Records that failed to chart. Vernon hired numerous studio musicians for the album's sessions; Bowie and his former Buzz bandmate Derek Fearnley composed music charts for the orchestra using Freda Dinn's Observer's Guide to Music.
Deram Records was a subsidiary record label of Decca Records established in the United Kingdom in 1966. At the time, U.K. Decca was a different company from the Decca label in the United States, which was owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings were distributed in the U.S. through UK Decca's American branch known as London Records. Deram was active until 1979, then continued as a reissue label.
Matthew and Son is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, released in March 1967.
New Masters is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, released in December 1967 by Deram Records as a follow-up to the highly successful debut album, Matthew and Son.
"Here Comes My Baby" is a song written by British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. It is well known for being an international hit for the Tremeloes in 1967.
"Rubber Band" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was recorded in October 1966 following Bowie's dismissal from Pye Records and helped secure him a record contract with Decca-subsidiary Deram Records, who released it as a single in the United Kingdom on 2 December of the same year. A departure from the mod-style sound of his previous releases, "Rubber Band" displays a style informed by vaudeville and British music hall – influenced particularly by British actor Anthony Newley. The lyrics tell the story of a man who goes off to war and, upon his return, finds his lover fell for a brass band conductor.
"The First Cut Is the Deepest" is a 1967 song written by British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, originally released by P. P. Arnold in April 1967. Stevens's own version originally appeared on his album New Masters in December 1967.
"The London Boys" is a song by the English musician David Bowie. It was first released as the B-side of the single "Rubber Band" in the United Kingdom on 2 December 1966. It was originally written and demoed in 1965 with the Lower Third for potential release as the artist's debut single for Pye Records but it was rejected. After a year of rewrites, he recorded a new version with a new band, the Buzz, which helped secure him a record contract with Decca-subsidiary Deram Records. Unlike the A-side, "The London Boys" retains the Mod feel of Bowie's previous singles. The dark lyrics concern a 17-year-old who leaves home for London and becomes embroiled in the Mod scene, turning to pills to fit in. Like his previous singles, it failed to chart. Decca later issued it as an A-side in 1975..
Leslie David Reed was an English songwriter, arranger, musician and light-orchestra leader. His major songwriting partners were Gordon Mills, Barry Mason, and Geoff Stephens, although he wrote songs with many others such as Roger Greenaway, Roger Cook, Peter Callander, and Johnny Worth.
Beverley Martyn is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist.
Images 1966–1967 is a 1973 compilation album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It comprises his 1967 self-titled debut album for Deram Records and various singles and B-sides recorded for Deram between 1966 and 1967.
"I'm Gonna Get Me A Gun" is a song that Cat Stevens wrote, composed, and recorded in 1967, and was produced by Mike Hurst of Decca Records's recently added Deram Records label. It was released as a 45 in the UK, reaching number 6 in the UK Singles Chart, and it was featured on U.S pressings of his debut album Matthew and Son.
Mike Hurst is an English musician and record producer.
"Lady D'Arbanville" is a song written and recorded by Cat Stevens and released in April 1970. It subsequently appeared on his third album, Mona Bone Jakon, released later that year. It was his first single released after signing a contract with Island Records, with the encouragement of his new producer, Paul Samwell-Smith, fostering a folk rock direction. "Lady D'Arbanville" has a madrigal sound, and was written about Stevens' former girlfriend, Patti D'Arbanville, metaphorically laying her to rest.
Neil Landon was an English singer, who has been credited with singing on a number of hits in the UK Singles Chart. In addition, he was a singer and songwriter with the band Fat Mattress, which he co-founded with guitarist/singer Noel Redding.
Vic Coppersmith-Heaven is an English sound engineer and record producer, best known for his production work with the Jam.
Wishful Thinking are a British rock band, originally formed in the 1960s.
"(You've) Never Been in Love Like This Before" is a song written by vocalist Tommy Moeller and guitarist Brian Parker, recorded by their group Unit Four Plus Two in 1965. In January 1965, Decca Records released their third single "Concrete and Clay" which reached number one on the Record Retailer charts, thrusting the group into worldwide fame and established their musical sound. "(You've) Never Been in Love Like This Before" was written at Moeller's house and incorporates influences from soul music alongside their folk rock sound. The song was recorded at IBC Studios in London with producer John L. Barker.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
