Richard Thompson
I did go see Richard Thompson, I even got two people (nonreaders) to go with me! It made a believer out of me, though now I'm not sure which of his thousand records I would want to buy. I got a free copy of the first Fairport Convention album, and it's pretty good but I'd rather it had Sandy Denny or Linda Thompson or more Richard Thompson singing. I like the folk music, but not so much the long protest songs and ballads; more like the rockers, but I wouldn't want it rocking with too much band going on. Yesterday he played just acoustic guitar since "the band failed to turn up...again!" The show was full of those "yuk-yuk" moments, like the song "I've Got the Hots for the Smahts" about intelligent women, and "My Daddy is a Mummy" about ancient Egypt. I started falling asleep on the endless renditions of "Gethsemane" and "Pharoah" but I headbanged on "1952 Vincent Black Lightning." The crowd was quite large, including all the usual guys you see at the WFMU record show.
You can hear the music for yourself and get some yuk-yuks (Q: "So are you on a tour?" A: "Well it's more like a Tourette...") on this radio show. I'm really shilling for NPR these days.
posted by Kathy @ 12:00 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Damn, I didn't read your blog on time. I would've gone with.
Hi. This is Bess' dad, up in Seattle. You may remember me.
I've followed Richard Thompson since about 1966 or so, and here's the stuff that I keep returning to most frequently.
"Hand of Kindness" (with a "big band," recorded just after the break-up of his marriage, unbelievably great guitar work, great songs, great vocals); of course "Shoot Out The Lights" is deservedly considered a masterpiece, and although you wanted more of his vocals, that record is just indispensable. Of the Fairport stuff, "Unhalfbricking" is my favorite, and there's a remastered CD that Island released last year as part of a series of remasters of Richard & Linda Thompson recordings; the remastered editions are outstanding. I really like all of the Richard & Linda stuff, but especially "Pour Down Like Silver" and "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" (which captures a certain mood brilliantly). On the former, "Night Comes In" reaches places rarely reached in any sort of musical expression, but most people prefer "Bright Lights" as a record. Whatever.
There's a 3-disc set called "Watching the Dark" that provides material from many RT recordings, and although greatest hits collections are often a cop-out, it's a wonderful sampling, and will direct you to the songs and ensembles you may want to explore further. Get it. You'll wear it out.
His recording of a solo show at The Bottom Line from the early '90's is called "Small Town Romance."
If you want to hear a sampling of the material he recorded for Capital Records, get their Greatest Hits collection... it has at least six really wonderful tunes, like "Keep Your Distance," that are as good as anything anybody ever wrote.
His web site, The Bee's Web, offers several live recordings, and there's many, many bootleg recordings of his live sets through the years. He maintains a Q-&-A section on his web site that's consistently reflective of his personality. Like describing while he was his son's soccer coach he met Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose kid was on the team. Very dry, really intelligent musings. Very funny.
So glad to hear you got to see him perform. He's the real deal.
You can reach me through Bess or Alexa if you wish.
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