Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

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1965

Gamblers: Tobacco Road / One Way Love (Polydor) 
Vox organ

1968

Separation (film): composed theme tune

1969

Joe Cocker: With A Little Help From My Friends (Regal Zonophone) 
Hammond organ on Just Like a Woman

You can order this CD from Amazon UK here - or a reissued CD with two extra tracks from Amazon USA here

1969

Legend: Georgia George / July 2-sided vinyl single (Bell) (with Mickey Jupp, vocals and compositions; Barrie Wilson, drums; produced by Robin Trower) (MF played bass: full story here)

Unreleased tracks include Army and True Love

1970

Wishbone Ash. First (self-titled) album (discography here)
Piano on Blind Eye. Available on CD

From Wishbone Ash Fanzine USASH, Issue One, June 1992, page 13: (Quote from bassist Martin Turner] "... Derek Lawrence really helped in getting the record deal set up. We did a gig with Deep Purple ... Ritchie Blackmore didn't say a word to us but afterwards he told Derek Lawrence, who had been Deep Purple's producer, about us. Derek was at that time looking for bands to record, so he contacted us and we gave him the demo tape that we'd done, and I think it was he who took it to MCA in Los Angeles, to someone he knew in the company, and that was the reason that MCA signed us."

[article continued by editor Dr John]

"In the autumn of 1970 Wishbone Ash went into De Lane Lea Studios, London, and with Derek Lawrence producing, recorded their first album ... Wishbone Ash (MCG 3507) was released in December 1970 and sold very well for a first album ... Blind Eye was one that they had written during the first month of rehearsals, and, when it was recorded, Derek Lawrence invited Matthew Fisher, who had just left Procol Harum, to come down and play piano on it."

(comments by jm): Blind Eye has been reissued on CD at least twice, but to my knowledge, Matthew has not (yet) been credited on any liner notes for his work on the song. Incidentally, his piano-playing is excellent, especially his brief bluesy solo at the end.

While at the De Lane Lea Studios in 1970, Matthew also contributed piano to the Green Bullfrog sessions, with Derek Lawrence producing and Ritchie Blackmore on board; those sessions were released in 1972.

1970

National Anthem: no records released

1972

Album by Southend band Legend: Moonshine (Vertigo) (re-released on CD by Repertoire in 1990). String arrangement by Fisher on three Mickey Jupp songs – Another Guy, The Writer of Songs, Mother of My Child – produced by Legend for David Knights Productions.

1972

Prairie Madness: Prairie Madness (Columbia) 
Producer, organ on: Up You Go, Moondust, and Sunbeam To His Heart; harpsichord on Up You Go; see here and liner notes here

1972

Green Bullfrog: Green Bullfrog (MCA) Reissued on CD in1991, remixed with 3 bonus tracks (Connoisseur # 503)
Keyboards 

These Bullfrog pseudonyms were reported in a Deep Purple Newsgroup: Bevy = Tony Ashton (keyboards); Boots = Ritchie Blackmore (guitar); Boss = Big Jim Sullivan (guitar); Jordan = Earl Jordan (vocal); Pinta = Albert Lee (guitar); Sleepy = Chas Hodges (bass); Sorry = Matthew Fisher (keyboards); Speedy = Ian Paice (drums); Vicar = Rod Alexander (keyboards). 

1972

Screaming Lord Sutch: Hands of Jack the Ripper (Cotillion) 
Organ, piano, keyboards (see here and here) 

1973

Jerry Lee Lewis: The Session (Mercury) 
Organ on Pledging My Love and Trouble in Mind; percussion on No Headstone on my Grave

1973

Robin Trower: Twice Removed from Yesterday (Chrysalis)
Producer

1973

Journey's End - solo album (RCA)

1973

Tir na Nog: Strong in the Sun (Chrysalis) 
Keyboards, producer

1974

I'll Be There - solo album (RCA)

1974

Robin Trower: Bridge of Sighs (Chrysalis ) 
Producer

1975

Robin Trower: For Earth Below (Chrysalis) 
Producer

1975

Bobby Harrison: Funkist (Capitol) 
Co-Producer and Keyboards

1976

Roderick Falconer: New Nation (UA) 
Keyboards, producer 

Matthew plays a beautiful excerpt of a Beethoven piano sonata - the Pathétique - as intro to the great soulful track Public Enemy; review here

1977
(approx)

Brian Maxine, I'm Your Man album
Keyboards; producer(?)

From Mojo, July, 2000, page 131 (letters/questions page): Wrestling Folk
Q I seem to recall Fairport Convention recording an album with a wrestler, but I've long since forgotten the wrestler's name and the album's title. Can you refresh my memory? S. Gill, Colchester
A The wrestler was Brian Maxine who held both the British welterweight and middleweight crowns in 1971. ... In truth, Maxine was a softie who loved folk and country music and was an award-winning singer ... [In 1975], he teamed up with the Fairports for an EMI album, Ribbon of Stainless Steel, performing country songs by Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Tom T. Hall ... A couple of years later, Maxine recorded I'm Your Man (DJM), an album of his own country-rock songs with a band headed by Matthew Fisher, keyboardist with Procol Harum during their Whiter Shade of Pale era.

1978

Geraint Watkins Band, It's Rock + Roll vol.2, Various Artists, LP UK Super Beeb Records BEMP 004 -- piano on 2 tracks with the Frankie Reid Band: Rock 'n Roll World and Mystery Train.

From the Carlo Little WebSite: "Recorded as part of rock and roll DJ Stuart Colman's Radio One show It's Rock 'n' Roll in 1978 with singers Frankie Reid and Dana Gillespie, John Hawken (piano, ex-Nashville Teens), Matthew Fisher (piano, ex Procol Harum), Dave Wendells (guitar), Sid Phillips (sax, ex-Cliff Bennett), Tony Hall (sax)" [and Carlo Little, drums].

1978

Bandit: Partners in Crime (Ariola)
Producer, engineer 

Frans Steensma elucidates: Matthew recorded two albums with Bandit. MF wrote, 'There was another Bandit album, never released, recorded in 1979 or maybe 1980.' Graham Broad and Mick Grabham were not on the first album. MF: 'Drummer was originally Graham Broad, but he decided to leave'. On the album Theodore Thunder plays drums, Danny McIntosh guitar. Mick's remark (below) refers to the unreleased second album ... To heighten the confusion: I have the Bandit LP in UK and Dutch sleeves. On the first there's a picture of Mick (!) on the back, on the Dutch one a - correct - picture of Danny.

Mick Grabham said 'It was a nice album, it had some good songs on it, but it never came out'. 

1978

Jimmy Bain (unreleased): Producer
Tracks include Flyaway, Street Girl, She's So Fine, Back in the US of A, Sleeping in the Wrong Bed

1970s?

The 45s: Producer
Tracks include Couldn't Believe a Word, Fool of Myself

1980

Matthew Fisher - solo album (Mercury)

1981

Strange Days - solo album, released only in Europe (Mercury)

1981

Brian Maxine - Highway Fever - single. (Subway) 
Engineer

1982

Captain Sensible (formerly of The Damned): Women and Captains First(A&M) 
Sleeve notes say: 'Weird Engineering: Matthew Fisher.' Possibly (uncredited) organ on the track Croydon (see report here)

Possibly also recorded demos for The Damned

1982

Screamin' Lord Sutch: Rock & Horror (Ace) 
Fantastic Jerry Lee Lewis (or Johnny Johnson) style piano on final track, Go-Berry-Go

1982

See here for recordings Matthew engineered at his studio (and one he played on) for drummer Carlo Little

1983

Captain Sensible: Back to School (single) (A&M) 
Piano

1982–3

Organ on all four bonus tracks of the double Fandango CD: Slipstreaming / Future Times (Angel Air SJPCD041). Just Another Day and Wish I'd Never Woke Up were recorded at Fisher's own Old Barn Studios during 1982; Is My Love in Vain and The Point of no Return were recorded at Pye Studios, London, during 1983 (thanks, António)

Joan May reports: "I listened to the four bonus tracks and can hear no organ on them. This is a guitar oriented band with very little keyboard presence. On three of the tracks I could hear no keyboard whatsoever, and on the fourth, a rhythmic synthy sounding keyboard in the background playing the same note over and over -- no resemblance to an organ or to MF. On the liner notes is the following, including the quotation marks: 'Matthew Fisher played organ on all four bonus tracks, two of which were recorded at Old Barn Studios, England, during 1982. The other two bonus tracks were recorded at Pye Studios London during 1983.' It doesn't say which ones were recorded where, nor does it attribute the quote to anyone."

1984

Route 66: Route 66 (Danish LP (500 copies only) on Telaeg Records; CD on Angel Air) 
Keyboards, vocals (backing); producer, engineer, mixing (read all about it) 

Route 66's Claes Johansen wrote the liner notes to the CD Matthew Fisher / Strange Days and, of course, the full-length Procol Harum biography

1985

Gary Brooker: Echoes in the Night (Line Records) 
Keyboards, co-producer, co-composer 

... of Two Fools in Love, Echoes in the Night, Ghost Train, Saw the Fire, The Long Goodbye, Hear What You're Saying, Trick of the Night, and the bonus track Summer Nights

1985 ?

Bobby Harrison & Mezzoforte [interview here]
'We recorded a 12" together in Reykjavik and I took two of the four tracks with me back to London and had them re-mixed. I persuaded my old friend Matthew Fisher to mix one of him at his studio ... '

1988

David Lanz: A Whiter Shade of Pale [single] (Narada) 
'Magic Touch' on Hammond organ

1988

Karel Fialka: Human Animal
'Programming', according to the credits.

However Karel wrote to Joan May: "You should know that Matthew's contribution to my Human Animal album was more than just a bit of programming ... he engineered and was an integral part of the whole vibe of the recording process." (reproduced with permission)

1988

David Lanz: Cristofori's Dream (Narada) 
Organ on AWSoP (same as the single)

This CD can be ordered from Amazon USA

1988

Peroux: Wheels Keep Turnin' (Powerplay) 
Producer

1988

Mega City Four - Miles Apart / Running In Darkness - single, recorded 1987 (Decoy) 
Co-producer 

1988

Mega City Four - Distant Relatives / Clear Blue Sky - single (Decoy) 
Co-producer

1991

Mega City Four, Terribly Sorry Bob (Decoy) (includes the above two singles) 
Co-producer

1991

The British Invasion All-Stars: United (Promised Land)  {review here}
Keyboards 

Produced by Mike Ober & Don Craine; includes the monster version of Green Onions that also appears on Matthew's 1994 solo CD A Salty Dog Returns - with Matthew's Hammond and Dick Taylor's guitar trading some intense 12 bar phrases! Turn up to eleven for best results! Eat your heart out, Booker T!

Joan May advises that Green Onions is available for download (Amazon, iTunes) under the artist name 'British Invasion All-Stars' You may also buy this CD from Amazon.com here

You may also buy the CD from Amazon UK here, or download Green Onions here.

1991

Downliners Sect: Savage Return (Promised Land) 
Piano on Down the Road Apiece, Bye Bye Johnny and Some Say You Do

Produced by Mike Ober, Don Craine & Keith Grant

1993

Jerry Lee Lewis: All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology
Percussion on the bonus track No Headstone on my Grave (same track as on the 1973 Session album)

1993

Matthew Fisher + Downliners Sect: A Light Went Out in New York (Endangered) 
Keyboards 

Tribute to John Lennon produced by Tom McKee, Mike Ober and Downliners Sect

1994

A Salty Dog Returns - solo album (Kingdom in US, Promised Land in UK)

1994

Pretty Things n Mates: A Whiter Shade of Dirty Water (Kingdom) 
Keyboards 

Produced by Mike Ober: review here

1994

James McCarty: Out of the Dark (Higher Octave Music) 
Keyboards

1995

The Symphonic Music of Procol Harum: The Long Goodbye (RCA) 
Church organ on Repent Walpurgis

1996

Matthew Fisher / Strange Days - CD reissue of 1980 and 1981 solo albums on one CD (BGO)

This CD can be ordered from Amazon USA

1998

James Dewar: Stumbledown Romancer (Chrysalis 7243/4/93153/2/7) 
Producer, organ, piano and synths; co-composer (Nature Child, Hosanna, Stumbledown Romancer). Recorded 1979-80: detail here; review here; additional 'blurb' here; order album from CeeDee Mail

1998

David Lanz: Songs from an English Garden (Narada) 
Hammond organ on two tracks, Conquistador and a Lanz composition, Sitting in an English Garden.

This CD can be ordered from Amazon USA

1998

The Mediaeval Baebes: Salve Nos (Nettwerk Records, 1998)
A producer, according to this webpage (search for 'Baebes') and the CD itself: Matthew Fisher is listed as producer of 9 of the 16 tracks - on 6 of these, it says "Produced by Matthew Fisher: Recorded at The Church Studio, remixed at CTS Studio by Toby Wood" and on the other 3 it says "Produced by Matthew Fisher: Recorded and mixed at The Church Studio. The producer of the other 7 tracks is Declan Colgan. The question remains, is the the right Matthew, and the proper MF assures BtP (April 2000) that it is not.

1990s

Bass, organ and production on some power-pop tracks by Mick Roberts, prize-winning song-writer who played Hank B Marvinesque guitar alongside Fisher in Matt and the Deputies (1963 vintage) (unreleased)

2000

David Lanz - East of the Moon
Hammond organ on 3 tracks - see here and here

This CD can be ordered from Amazon USA

2000

Journey's End / I'll be There - CD reissue of 1973 and 1974 solo albums on one CD (BGO): order now from Amazon UK HERE, and read Matthew's own comments about it here

2010

PH on stage | PH on record | PH in print | BtP features | What's new | Interact with BtP | For sale | Site search | Home