S/D: Richard Thompson

Fairport:

Unhalfbricking Liege and Lief What We Did On Our Holidays (the first three are all pretty essential really) Full House

R<:

I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight Shoot Out the Lights Pour Down Like Silver Hokey Pokey

Solo Rich:

Across a Crowded Room Hand of Kindness Small Town Romance (solo acoustic live--pretty hard to find these days, I think) Daring Adventures

I more or less lost all interest after Amnesia . . .

-Fairport Convention
Meet On The Ledge
Fotheringhay
Sailor’s Life
Genesis Hall
Who Knows Where The Time Goes
Walk Awhile
Sloth
All of Liege & Leif

-Post FC
The Poor Ditching Boy
All of I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (except The Great Valerio)
For Shame Of Doing Wrong
Night Comes In
The Dimming Of The Day
Jet Plane In A Rocking Chair
Never Again
Calvary Cross (live)
Wall Of Death
Shoot Out The Lights*
Bogie’s Bonnie Belle
When The Spell Is Broken*
Little Blue Number*
From Galway To Graceland
Tear Stained Letter
1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Feel So Good

+ the lead guitar on Nick Drake’s The Thoughts of Mary Jane (Time Of No Reply version)

(* made it just for the guitar playing)

Sorry for losing the chronology there.

'An introduction to Richard and Linda Thompson' on Island(?) is a good starting place.

destroy: i dunno, the rest? mirror blue led to one of bob christgau's best dismissive reviews "i thought she loved me but she didn't--why does this keep happening?"

The latest, 'The Old Kit Bag', is incredible, and possibly the best combo of production and songs since 'Shoot Out The Lights'. It's honestly that good.

oh, I love Thompson. oh, and Great Valerio is SO KEY. lies!

Billy Bragg was supporting, and he was pretty good too.

those reissues are really pricey (in the states) and i am allergic to arbitrary bonus tracks.

"henry the human fly" is underrated. i like it as much as the records that followed. it is going to be reissued later this month, so head's up.

he has a sizable following in the states partly because he is a very dependable concert artist.

"Shoot Out the Lights" hasn't been mentioned much on here; it is
excellent, but the R & L sound is more 'generic' than those 72-75 records, which have a ripe, sweet feel to them that "Shoot" tramples down. It's 'mature rock'. But bloody good.

also i still have really mixed feelings about linda's voice.

i've never seen a morris dance. the illustrations of "burr men" etc. on "liege and lief" are ace. but overall my love for fairport has really waned. i like "what we did on our holidays" and "unhalfbricking" more than "l&l" i think.

Search: ALL of the live "guitar vocal," especially the smoldering workouts on "Calvary Cross" and "Night Comes In." Song favorites: "When I Get To the Border," "I'll Regret It All in the Morning," "Beeswing."

Someone needs to compile a definitive list of RT's guest appearances (actually, I'm sure some obsessive fan already has). Some nice ones: mandolin bit on John Martyn's "Over the Hill," the entire "Rise Up Like the Sun" album by the Albion Band, "Blackwaterside" off Sandy Denny's "Northstar Grassmen," "Claudy Banks" by Shirley Collins, SO many more.

Anybody rate the second French Frith Kaiser Thompson LP? I've never heard that one.

Good to hear love for 'The Old Kit Bag', which I'm still enjoying. The power trio really suits him, and it's nice to hear a Christine Collister-surrogate again. I'll Tag Along, Gethsemane, Pearly Jim, and Word Unspoken, Sight Unseen stand out the most. Mock Tudor, on the other hand, is, well, almost without redemption. It's his only album since Sunnyvista that I'd delete wholesale.

If possible, track down the live versions of When the Spell Has Broken and Aint Gonna Drag My Feet No More from the Watching The Dark collection(which should be on your x-mas list anyway).

http://www.richardthompson-music.com/catch_of_the_day.asp?id=90

That version of "Calvary Cross" must be the same one on the boxed set. "Devonside" is an amazingly sad song. "Great Valerio" is another favorite of mine.

Oh, very welcome! It's a beautiful record.

You can go with the crazy people in the crooked house

Music From Grizzly Man was for what Werner Herzog made of and around the outrider Treadwell's own footage, minus the concluding gore: the music is the trees---on another 2022 release the Acoustic Trio shows how to do it one night in Hawaii, with the right songs in the right sequence, for instance.
https://richardthompson.bandcamp.com/album/live-from-honolulu

oh yeah

1.
Mingus Eyes 06:04
2.
Ghosts In The WInd 07:29
3.
Crawl Back (Under My Stone) 08:35
4.
Dad's Gonna To Kill Me 06:18
5.
Hots For The Smarts 05:58
6.
Bathsheba Smiles 04:21
7.
Al Bowlly's in Heaven 05:52
8.
Johnny's Far Away 05:20
9.
Waltzing's For Dreamers 04:10
10.
(I Want To See) The Bright Lights Tonight 03:27
11.
Misunderstood 04:46
12.
Shoot Out The Lights 06:48
13.
One Door Opens 04:33

Except "Hots For The Smarts" is too stupid, even if he's just testing us.

was going to see him again in a couple of weeks, but life has gotten in the way.

Life!

They say it’s the only thing worth living for.

Sunday supplemental reading re RT: first. over on the current What Are You Reading thread, Electric Eden came up, and Chinaski said,

liked *Electric Eden*, though I think I felt like Daniel does about *The Magic Box*: it's a fantastic work of archaeology but the archival instinct is so all-consuming, it ultimately outruns itself. Or, less politely, it goes on a bit. I've just discovered the long-ass review I wrote about it, which, well, goes on a bit: https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/book-reviews/the-history-of-british-music-rob-youngs-electric-eden-36400

― Stars of the Lidl (Chinaski), Thursday, May 18, 2023

Excellent--- and I can see from your Young take, more than ever, that I'm going to have to read the damn book at some point(as well as Toop's)---and you end with the questions that your descriptions led me toward--as far as the possibility of a visionary pushing past-through nostalgia and intimations x certainty of a fraught future (we know the environmental factors as well or better than we care to, but not how and when things will shake out, though the timeline keeps bumping forward in latest projections), since this is ILB, I'll mention a writer who sure tries, if with mixed results, having his own struggles with nostalgia, and that is Kim Stanley Robinson.

I hope that Young cites Richard Thompson as a folk-rock songwriter who has never dealt much in nostalgia, except his occasionally overt conservative-reactionary tendencies could be a form of that, although never really "It used to be better dammit," more just disgust or sere vibe/sound, then on to something else. Occasional roots-work-outs are mainly for fun now, the scenic route to that (with a little mental cosplay if ye like).

― dow, Thursday, May 18, 2023 3:10 PM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Thompson does build from the lyrical-lurid arterial trees of many ancient sources, pop artistry before pop (like Harry Smith turns into liner notes' tabloid headlines drawn from the musical contents of his Smithsonian Anthology). RT's "Beeswing" effectively (whatever his conscious intention) comments on the possible consequences of this kind of appetite, incl. on male collector-questlovers, as the waltzing wild child, now seen as increasingly self-destructive, keeps telling the earnest ex-bf narrator, "You wouldn't have me any other way." (perhaps Thompson does relate this to his own interests, having since used the song's title for that his memoir of youth, which he's said involves not-always-the-right-decisions).

On the negative, reactionary side, when he was offended by Sting's rain forest advocacy, this son of a London cop songfully sneered at the son of a Newcastle area milkman for being a "little Geordie" who didn't know his place (also by being much more $uccessful than Thompson, while rarely being as much an artist: white trash with money)---I wonder if Young's book deals with classism and related matters?

― dow, Thursday, May 18, 2023 4:05 PM (three days ago)

I think I skipped right by the question, sorry! My instinct is to say the book largely avoids any grand political statements but I don't want to be unfair to Young so would have to have a re-read.

He has got songs about Jimmy Shand and Al Bowlly so there's some nostalgia going on there.

I never even knew who Jimmy Shand was until I saw him do that song at Summerstage in Central Park.

Oh yeah, "Al Bowlly's In Heaven," shoulda thought of that.

I wasn't thinking of xpost grand political statements, but more like how class might have affected or suggest ways of seeing, hearing the presentations of scholars and artists. For inst, Pete Seeger, whatever his choice of sources and arrangements, they were unified by his respectfully refined vocal style, which I heard as genteel, and you could argue that it made folk music more acceptable as a genre or subgenre, providing a gateway for rougher voices, deeper artists, such as Woody Guthrie; genteel-singing Baez may have opened things up a bit for Van Ronk and Dylan.

But genteel folkie vox drove some older rockheads I know in the opposite direction.

Um, I am not certain that's a fair reading of "Beeswing," either the song or the book.

Every bit of criticism in the song is self-criticism. ("You foolish man"
/ "Like a fool I let her run" / "and I miss her more than ever words can say.")

The book is almost as wistful, and I would not classify it as self-exculpatory. He seems at least as critical of himself as most of us would be in his shoes.

Also his most famous song is a highwayman ballad, I am not certain you can extrapolate a politics from using what is among the oldest lyrical tropes in English songcraft.

I am sure that there is more cultural context about "Al Bowlly's in Heaven" than I can grasp but the lyrics seem clear that Thompson is speaking from a persona.

Here's what he said about "Geordie" in an interview I found:

I think generally speaking, when you're writing a song in the first person, you are trying to get into the head of somebody else. Sometimes (it's) a fictional character. Sometimes fictional characters are based on other people. You know, "Here Comes Geordie" is based on a real human being so it just becomes easy to satirize that person's shortcomings (ED NOTE: The Guardian claims that Sting is the subject of that song). But every time you're using the first person in a song, so you sing through their eyes, I think you really have to get as full a characterization as you can in two and a half minutes.

I saw Jeff Tweedy play Friday night, an all request benefit show. He joked that he was dismayed how none of the 60 songs he'd released in the four years since he last did this got requested, then doubly dismayed at the number of cover songs requested. "Well, I'm not going to play any of them," he half in jest sneered. Later in the night he noted that someone has requested "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," and that even if he was doing covers he would skip that one, because there were far too many words. He then told a story of when the band and Richard Thompson were opening for Dylan, and when the tour hit Duluth (which is on Lake Superior), they brought out Alan and Mimi from Low, in addition to Thompson, to play "Wreck." They apparently had rehearsed it, and it sounded good, but when the time came to actually play, the lyrics were taped to the stage only at the top, and kept blowing over and obscuring all the words. The musicians did the best they could, but apparently no one on stage was happy with how things turned out.

Yeah. It was bad. https://t.co/aEgPLZfNAh

— LOW (@lowtheband) July 13, 2021

I found a recording of them doing the best they can, though, with all those words that not everyone knew. At least Thompson's guitar sounds good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOfN6-tziMs

xxxp

Um, I am not certain that's a fair reading of "Beeswing," either the song or the book.

Every bit of criticism in the song is self-criticism. ("You foolish man"
/ "Like a fool I let her run" / "and I miss her more than ever words can say.")

The book is almost as wistful, and I would not classify it as self-exculpatory. He seems at least as critical of himself as most of us would be in his shoes.

Is being a cop's son a privileged position in terms of class for the boomer generation? Didn't Pasolini get angry at the student protests because he felt they were middle class kids opposing working class cops?

Thompson's dad was no ordinary PC Plod.

I dunno, I'm speculating about why he chooses "Geordie" as the ultimate punchline put-down playground taunt of this smirky song, rather than "tree-hugging pop star" etc.---seems to be some social discrimination, with regional chauvinism, jobism (cops smarter cooler than milkmen, unto the sons 'tis given?) easily figured in.

I mean, since he wants to take it in that direction, I'll take it a little further.

(ED NOTE: The Guardian claims that Sting is the subject of that song)

LOL "claimed", it could hardly be more obvious who it's about!

My ex-brother-in-law, my sister's ex-husband, had this thing where he would shout out for "Louie Louie" at every gig he went to - I used to go to lots of gigs with him. Then they got divorced and he became persona non grata and I haven't seen him in years. However he still knows people I know and, at the weekend, I was told a story by someone who'd met him at a Richard Thompson gig. As usual, he had shouted out for "Louie Louie" but then, because of his notoriously weak bladder, he'd had to go to the bathroom - and while he was in the bathroom Richard Thompson played "Louie Louie", the first time anyone had ever played "Louie Louie" at a gig he was at and he missed it. Thank you, Richard.

Amazing.

lol, I’d love to hear what RT could do with ‘Louie Louie’.

It looks like Thompson has played it at least one other time way back on Nov. 29, 2006 in Saratoga, CA, around the time the DVD version of 1000 Years of Popular Music was released. (The CD for it has already been out for several years.)

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/richard-thompson/2006/carriage-house-theatre-saratoga-ca-23f6b82b.html

Amazing selection of covers, it may have been one of his all-request shows where you write a selection on a piece of paper.

From New West---"Please Note: This ships on or before May 31":

When Richard Thompson began writing songs for his latest album, Ship to Shore, the artist was instinctively drawn to his own musical roots, employing them in the service of fashioning a deep and diverse 12-track collection that pulls from various styles, genres and eras, but remains unmistakably Richard Thompson. There’s the rumbling, Motown-style rhythm that propels “Trust,” and the straightforward riff-rock of “Turnstile Casanova.” The drone-y “The Old Pack Mule,” an “old man’s song” that takes musical cues from 1600s-era European music, and “Life’s a Bloody Show,” an ode to “snake-oil salesmen and hucksters” that floats on a glammy, cabaret-like melody that’s “almost like a parody of a Noël Coward song, or something from Berlin in the 1920s,” Thompson says. “I liked the idea of having a strong base to work from and reaching out from there,” he says. “And I think of my base as being British traditional music, but there’s also Scottish music, there’s Irish music. There’s jazz and country and classical. As far as I’m concerned, once you establish your base you can reach out anywhere. It’ll still be you ringing through, wherever you decide to go musically.”

TRACKLIST:

Side A -

Freeze
The Fear Never Leaves You
Singapore Sadie
Trust
Side B -

The Day That I Give In
The Old Pack Mule
Turnstile Casanova
Lost In The Crowd
Side C -

Maybe
Life’s A Bloody Show
What’s Left To Lose
We Roll

Saw Richard Thompson last night, apparently the first time he's played in NYC in five years (though I recall him doing some free outdoor shows close to his Montclair, NJ home back when lockdown was somewhat lifted and everyone was socially distancing). I realized in retrospect how many of his greatest songs weren't in the setlist, and it's a credit to their performance that it never came to mind - even the new songs from their latest album (which I haven't really heard) came off great. And Teddy also joined him for an encore - the two were beaming the whole time, it was really wonderful to see. Richard's grandson, Zak Hobbs, was also on guitar, my first time seeing him, and he's quite a player himself! Highly recommended if you haven't seen RT in a while.

Missed it! But thanks for the report

Last (only) time I saw Richard was at Central Park Summerstage ages ago

Last (only) time I saw Teddy was when he joined Rufus Wainwright at The Theater at MSG when Rufus opened for Roxy Music.

Seeing him tonight in DC. Did RT do some extended guitar workouts?

He solos quite a bit, but I don't remember any of them being of epic length - not short, but don't expect him to solo for several minutes straight. He's more likely to trade phrases with Zak.

That's how it was at the Boston show last week too. Zak is great. There was great soloing on 'Hard On Me'. I did wish every solo was longer!

I kind of wonder if age is a factor? (He'll be 76 in April.) I actually said hello to him after the show, and at one point, when he signed an album for someone, it looked like he needed help taking off the marker cap, like it was on too tight. I kind of wondered if his fingers were actually spent because he kept holding his hands up a bit and letting them spread open as if he needed to relax the joints. Even if the solos were pretty succinct, he was still playing virtually non-stop for over two-hours with a lot of picking rather than strumming.

Loved last night’s show—he had a five minute guitar break on “Hard on Me” and other great moments. Great band too.

age has gotta catch up with him sometime, but he seems like he's a very healthy guy compared to a lot of his peers. seeing him in boulder next week — cannot wait.

Hard to think of many other artists who have been around as long as Thompson and have kicked ass pretty much their entire careers.

Also, guitarists who are electric *and* acoustic virtuosos.

YES and let's not forget his voice is doing great too.

Yeah I was also marveling that his voice still holds up. I might go to see Nick Lowe tonight but based on his new album his voice has not held up…

nick lowe is very much the worse for wear as live performer, but Richard has not deteriorated one bit in any way. I saw him this past tuesday, and while he sounded fantastic, to me the real thrill was watching his grandsons total command of Richard's fingerstyle/pick technique, which is common otherwise only in country, and is not a style i've ever seen anyone play in real time other than Richard. I think it must be really exciting for him to have this kid, whose mother Muna is the Richard/Linda child to not to have gone into show business, be such a burning little bastard of a player, since Teddy and Kamila have not chosen to pursue shredding.

I just finished listening to two sets of three-CD bootlegs: one with Linda from 1982 at the Bottom Line and another from 1985 at Ann Arbor, MI, all with a full band (and apparently bootlegged from pristine soundboard sources - I got these years ago from a CD-R trade and have long forgotten the lineage). The biggest change between Richard then and now is that he no longer works himself into a fury when he's singing the likes of "I Ain’t Going to Drag My Feet No More" and "Man in Need" - it's as if later on he found some kind of solemn or stoic approach to anger which is what we hear now.

Thompson’s band is great and his drummer has such a weird career: backing RT but also Slash and drumming for Better Than Ezra

Just saw that Richard Thompson had a fall and broke three ribs. It sounds like he'll be okay, but unfortunately he won't be doing shows for a little while. (He just cancelled an upcoming festival appearance for this reason.)

Ugh. Another thread I don't want to see bumped (even though he seems generally healthy).

Same! Breathed easier when I saw it hadn't been updated for 11 hours.

Three ribs! That’s painful. Hope he gets well soon

Took his chances on the wheel of death apparently

* wall