• Source: Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo

Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo is the debut studio album by the English rock band Status Quo, released in September 1968.




Background



The album's lead single was originally intended to be "Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk Café", with the original song by singer/lead guitarist Francis Rossi, "Pictures of Matchstick Men", as the B-side, but these songs were eventually swapped. It reached No. 7 in the UK, and remains the band's only major hit single in the US, where it reached No. 12. It also reached No. 8 in Canada. A second single, Rossi's "Black Veils of Melancholy" (with organist Roy Lynes' non-album track "To Be Free" as the B-side), flopped and has even been called "a carbon copy of "Pictures of Matchstick Men"". The third single, "Ice in the Sun", was written for the band by Marty Wilde and Ronnie Scott (not the jazz musician), with "When My Mind Is Not Live", a collaboration between Rossi and rhythm guitarist/singer Rick Parfitt, as the B-side. It reached No. 8 in the UK, and No. 29 in Canada.
The album itself was released on 27 September 1968, and failed to make the UK album charts. The band planned to release a fourth single from the album, "Technicolour Dreams" backed with the Wilde/Scott composition "Paradise Flat", but this was withdrawn after a few days in favour of a new non-album single, Rossi and Parfitt's "Make Me Stay a Bit Longer" with bassist Alan Lancaster's "Auntie Nellie" as the B-side, released on 31 January 1969. The last record to credit the band as The Status Quo (all subsequent releases were simply credited Status Quo), "Make Me Stay a Bit Longer" received good reviews but failed to chart.




Track listing


Side one
"Black Veils of Melancholy" (Francis Rossi) – 3:17
"When My Mind Is Not Live" (Rossi, Rick Parfitt) – 2:50
"Ice in the Sun" (Marty Wilde, Ronnie Scott) – 2:13
"Elizabeth Dreams" (Wilde, Scott) – 3:29
"Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk Café" (Kenny Young) – 3:01
"Paradise Flat" (Wilde, Scott) – 3:13
Side two
"Technicolor Dreams" (Anthony King) – 2:54
"Spicks and Specks" (Barry Gibb) – 2:46
"Sheila" (Tommy Roe) – 1:56 (not on US version)
"Sunny Cellophane Skies" (Alan Lancaster) – 2:47
"Green Tambourine" (Paul Leka, Shelley Pinz) – 2:19 (not on US version)
"Pictures of Matchstick Men" (Rossi) – 3:13




= 1998 remaster bonus tracks

=
To Be Free (Non Album B-Side)
Pictures Of Matchstick Me (Stereo Alternate Mix)
Paradise Flat (Stereo Alternate Mix)




= 2003 Deluxe edition

=




Personnel


Status Quo
Francis Rossi - lead guitar, vocals
Rick Parfitt - rhythm guitar, vocals
Alan Lancaster - bass guitar, vocals
John Coghlan - drums
Roy Lynes - organ, vocals




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Status Quo
• Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo
• List of Status Quo members
• Status Quo (band)
• Status Quo discography
• List of songs recorded by Status Quo
• Pictures of Matchstick Men
• Sheila (Tommy Roe song)
• Rocking All Over the Years
• Ice in the Sun
• Ronnie Scott (songwriter)