For Shame of Polling Wrong: Richard & Linda Thompson - Pour Down Like Silver

Kind of obsessed with Streets of Paradise lately, it seems like a plea for salvation, but it sure goes down a lot of dark alleys.

I asked you for a racehorse
Now don't hand me no mule
I asked you for a fast car
Don't you take me for a fool
Just hand me down my telescope
And a bullet I can chew
I'll be walking down the streets of Paradise

I don't know if it can top Night Comes In though.

So much greatness on this record.
Night Comes In takes it though. To me it's the high water mark of English folk rock.

Hadn't heard this record before this poll, though admittedly my knowledge of Thompson(s) is spotty. "Hard Luck Stories" is delightful. "Dimming of the Day / Dargai" is gorgeous, though it is the only instance on the album where that famous Richard Thompson guitar feels all that prominent. The rest doesn't really grab me at all yet, but I *am* only one listen in.

Went with "Night."

And cryptosicko, A+ display name.

'Dimming of the Day / Dargai' for me

Though if this album had one of the live versions of 'Night Comes In', might be different

This year I finally bought 'Hokey Pokey' and 'First Light', the last two from the 70's I didn't have. I was expecting not to like 'First Light' at all but it's still got some great things, you could hardly call it a bad album.

yeah, I think the title track of First Light is lovely, and I'm a sucker for "Don't Let a Thief Steal Into Your Heart." Part of it might be that the title sounds like a lost Flannery O'Connor story.

This is a surprisingly strong album considering this period's reputation. My picks off this album:

For Shame of Doing Wrong
Night Comes In
Jet Plane in a Rocking Chair
Beat the Retreat (alt version from "Watching The Dark" box)
Dimming of the Day / Dargai (BBC version)

I voted for "For Shame".

and I'm a sucker for "Don't Let a Thief Steal Into Your Heart."

^^^this song is so great.

This has always been my least favorite Richard & Linda record (never heard Sunnyvista) but there are a lot of really good songs on here. Voted for "Night Comes In".

I love all of side 1 of Sunnyvista and am generally indifferent to side 2, even though side 2 has most of the Linda showcases.

is this one of the best photographed LP covers ever? Linda's shot looks like a Van Eyck painting.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

This is a surprisingly strong album considering this period's reputation.
what's the reputation? to me, the thompsons are basically infallible through this one -- bright lights, hokey pokey and silver are all totally great!
anyhoo, not a bad song on here.

I had always heard (back in the day) that Silver/Hokey/First Light/Sunnyvista was an inconsistent run, with high highs but lots of lesser material. Of course one man's filler is another's hidden gem.

everyone i'd ever talked to about richard thompson would always talk so highly of his guitar playing. while i loved his songwriting, the guitar playing never really clicked until i heard Night Comes In and it opened up a whole new dimension of his music to me. very fitting winner imo

Man "Died For Love" is like the corniest song ever written and I love it.

I love certain RT/LT a lot yet haven't heard huge chunks of his/their catalog. Anyway, I picked this album up recently having never heard anything off it and it doesn't seem much of a drop off from I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight? Still haven't decided which is my favorite track, but the opener and closer are both classic.