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. It features several covers, including "Green Tambourine" by The Lemon Pipers.

Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo
Studio album by
Status Quo
Released27 September 1968 (1968-09-27)
RecordedJanuary - September 1968
StudioPye Studios, London
Genre
Length34:00
LabelPye
ProducerJohn Schroeder
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]

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 round. It reached #7 in the UK, and remains the band's only major hit single in the US, where it reached #12. It also reached #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 #8 in the UK, and #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single from the album - "Technicolour Dreams" backed with the Wilde/Scott composition "Paradise Flat" - but this was withdrawn after a few days in favour of a non-album single release early the following year.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. "Technicolour 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 Guardy 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

"2009 Deluxe edition"
disc one - mono LP
No.TitleLength
1."Black Veils of Melancholy" (mono version)3:17
2."When my Mind is not Alive" (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 Cellophone 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 Cellophone 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

References
  1. https://www.allmusic.com/album/picturesque-matchstickable-messages-from-the-status-quo-mw0000195880
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