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Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo
Studio album by
The Status Quo
Released27 September 1968 (1968-09-27)
RecordedJanuary - September 1968
StudioPye Studios, London
Genre
Length34:00
Label Pye
Producer John Schroeder
The Status Quo chronology
Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo
(1968) 		Spare Parts
(1969)
Singles from Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo
  1. " Pictures of Matchstick Men"
    Released: 5 January 1968
  2. " Black Veils of Melancholy"
    Released: 29 March 1968
  3. " Ice in the Sun"
    Released: 26 July 1968
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [1]

Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo is the debut studio album by the English rock band Status Quo, released in September 1968. It features several covers, including " Green Tambourine" by The Lemon Pipers.

Background

The album's lead single was originally intended to be "Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk Café", with the original Francis Rossi composition " 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 the Rossi/Parfitt composition "When My Mind Is Not Live" 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single from the album – "Technicolour Dreams" backed with the Wilde/Scott composition "Paradise Flat" – but this was withdrawn after a few days in favour of a non-album single release early the following year. The new single, Rossi and Parfitt's "Make Me Stay a Bit Longer", with bassist Alan Lancaster's "Auntie Nellie" as the B-side, was released on 31 January 1969. As well as getting the "thumbs up" from a majority of the record reviewers, this single was also something of a landmark for the group, as it would be their final release to credit them as "the" Status Quo.

Track listing

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

1994 Japan bonus tracks

  1. "To Be Free" ( Roy Lynes) – 2:36 B-side
  2. "Make Me Stay A Little Bit Longer" (Rossi, Parfitt) – 2:54 A-side
  3. "Auntie Nellie" (Lancaster) – 3:20 B-side
  4. "Face Without Soul" (Rossi, Parfitt) – 3:08
  5. "Mr. Mind Detector" (King) – 4:01
  6. "Antique Angelique" (Lancaster, K. Young) – 3:23
  7. "Little Miss Nothing" (Rossi, Parfitt) – 3:01
  8. "Are You Growing Tired Of My Love" (King) – 3:37
  9. "I (Who Have Nothing)" ( Carlo Donida, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 3:01
  10. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (Lancaster, Pat Barlow) – 3:16
  11. "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" (Mike Esposito, Ron Gilbert, Ralph Scala) – 2:18
  12. "I Want It" (Lynes, John Coghlan, Rossi, Lancaster) – 3:02
  13. "Almost But Not Quite There" (Rossi, Barlow) – 2:46
  14. "Wait Just A Minute" (Lynes) – 2:14
  15. "Tune To The Music" ( Bob Young, Rossi) 3:10

"2003 Deluxe edition"

disc one - mono LP
No.TitleLength
1."Black Veils of Melancholy" (mono version)3:17
2."When my Mind is not Live" (mono version)2:51
3."Ice in the Sun" (mono version)2:13
4."Elizabeth Dreams" (mono version)3:29
5."Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk Café" (mono version)3:02
6."Paradise Flat" (mono version)3:13
7."Technicolour Dreams" (mono version)2:54
8."Sheila" (mono version)1:57
9."Spicks and Specks" (mono version)2:46
10."Sunny Cellophane Skies" (mono version)2:47
11."Green Tambourine" (mono version)2:19
12."Pictures of Matchstick Men" (mono version)3:14
13."To Be Free" (B-side)2:38
14."Make me Stay a Bit Longer" (A-side)2:56
15."Auntie Nellie" (B-side)3:22
16."interview with Brian Matthew" (BBC session)1:08
17."Pictures of Matchstick Men" (BBC session)3:13
18."Things Get Better (Al Jackson, Eddie Floyd, Steve Cropper)" (BBC session)2:11
19."Spicks and Specks" (BBC session)2:48
20."Judy in Disguise (with Glasses) (Andrew Joseph Bernard, John Fred Gourrier)" (BBC session)2:45
21."(another) interview" (BBC session)1:19
22."Make me Stay a Bit Longer" (BBC session)2:48
disc two - stereo LP remixed "Proper"
No.TitleLength
23."Black Veils of Melancholy" (stereo remix)3:17
24."When my Mind is not Alive" (stereo remix)3:03
25."Ice in the Sun" (stereo remix)2:15
26."Elizabeth Dreams" (stereo remix)3:49
27."Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk Café" (stereo remix)3:02
28."Paradise Flat" (stereo remix)3:16
29."Technicolour Dreams" (stereo remix)3:19
30."Sheila" (stereo remix)1:58
31."Spicks and Specks" (stereo remix)2:54
32."Sunny Cellophane Skies" (stereo remix)2:49
33."Green Tambourine" (stereo remix)2:21
34."Pictures of Matchstick Men" (stereo remix)3:17
35."Auntie Nellie" (bonus track)3:34
36."Gloria (Van Morrison)" (BBC session, the Spectres)2:47
37."Interview with Francis Rossi" (BBC session, the Spectres)0:49
38."I (who have Nothing)" (BBC session, the Spectres)3:03
39."Neighbour, Neighbour (Alton Joseph Valier)" (BBC session, the Spectres)2:39
40."I don't want You (Brian Potter, Pete Dello)" (BBC session, Traffic Jam)2:34
41."Almost but not Quite There" (BBC session, Traffic Jam)2:38
42."Spicks and Specks" (BBC session, Traffic Jam)2:47
43."Gloria" (BBC session, the Status Quo)2:43
44."interview with Alan Lancaster" (BBC session, the Status Quo)1:01
45."Black Veils of Melancholy" (BBC session, the Status Quo)3:14
46."Bloodhound (Larry Bright)" (BBC session, the Status Quo)2:05

Personnel

Status Quo

References

  1. ^ "Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo - Status Quo | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
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