He was a member of Fairport Convention during the band's early period when they were heavily influenced by American folk rock and sang on their first three albums before leaving in 1969.
In 2018 he published an autobiography co-written with author and broadcaster Ian Clayton, Thro' My Eyes: A Memoir, about his life in the music industry.
In 1966 he formed a trio, The Pyramid (later just 'Pyramid'), a short-lived English surf music band, with Al Jackson and Steve Hiett (born 1940, died 2018).
He made the album with ex-Fairport colleagues Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol and Ashley Hutchings, plus guitarist Mark Griffiths, drummers Ray Duffy and Gerry Conway, pedal steel guitarist Gordon Huntley, and keyboardists Dolly Collins and Roger Coulam.
Under the sponsorship of former Yardbird Paul Samwell-Smith, and in the company of like-minded British semi-folkies (notably ex-Fairporter Richard Thompson), he formed the band Plainsong with Andy Roberts, previously of The Liverpool Scene.
The band's line-up consisted of Matthews, Roberts, guitarist Dave Richards and American bassist Bob Ronga.
After Plainsong collapsed as a result of a bandmate's alcoholism, and with his musical career now based in Los Angeles, Matthews released several more albums with ad hoc bands: Valley Hi (1973), produced by Michael Nesmith (formerly of the Monkees); Journeys from Gospel Oak and Some Days You Eat The Bear (1974); Go For Broke (1976) and Hit and Run (1977).
Matthews' official website states that at this point he "had been struggling for nearly 15 years" and was still living hand to mouth, with nothing to show for his efforts "but a string of out-of-print albums and the loyalty of those musicians and fans who shared his vision.
From 1977 Fairport Convention held an annual reunion festival at Cropredy in Oxfordshire and in the mid-1980s there was interest in reviving the band and recording new material.
In 2000 Matthews moved to Amsterdam, where he became involved in independent music projects and collaborations, including the Sandy Denny tribute band No Grey Faith and another revival of Plainsong.
Matthews moved to Horst in the Netherlands and in 2008 produced Joy Mining with the Dutch jazz ensemble Searing Quartet.
They met when Matthews, a jazz fan, came to a concert of Derix's Searing Quartet in Cambrinus (Horst, The Netherlands).
Matthews invited Derix to join the 2003 tour of his 1970 album If You Saw Thro' My Eyes and they played a series of concerts with Eric Coenen (bass), Arthur Lijten (drums) and Ad Vanderveen (guitar).
Matthews can also be heard on Egbert Derix' solo album Paintings in Minor Lila (2012), on which the music of British progressive rock band Marillion is featured.
The album had contributions by Matthews, Marillion singers Fish and Steve Hogarth, and Supertramp saxophonist John Helliwell.
The book describes Matthews’ life and musical career, from his beginnings in Barton-upon-Humber and Scunthorpe; moving to London in the 1960s and joining Fairport Convention; forming Matthews Southern Comfort in 1970 and having a #1 hit with their version of Joni Mitchell’s "Woodstock"; forming Plainsong with Andy Roberts in 1972; spending years in America as a solo artist; and returning to Europe in 2000 to continue making albums and touring.
A live concert recording of Plainsong in Paris in 2007[12] revealed him telling the audience that the words of his song "Busby's Babes", from the 1990 album Pure And Crooked, were displayed in the Manchester United Museum.
Matthews and Clayton promoted the book in 2019 with a concert tour of 11 venues in England and Scotland, entitled "Words And Music".
Matthews tracks appeared on various Blue Rose Records compilation albums, either as a solo artist, with Plainsong, or with Elliott Murphy.
[20] The Matthews Southern Comfort 1970 #1 UK single "Woodstock" appears on over 200 compilation CDs, a listing of which can be found on the Discogs website.