Almanac Music: Not Quite Bob – Richard Thompson … Dancing for Dreamers

 

 

Meanwhile in the UK Richard Thompson has been delivering his own brand of NQBness since the late 60’s.  Not quite a contemporary of Bob’s (he was born in 1949 in Notting Hill, West London) he is part of a rich tradition of English folk music.  At the tender age of 18 he formed a band called Fairport Convention which initially performed Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan songs but with their own take.  A focus was the guitar and even early on Thompson was noted for his unique guitar playing influenced as it was by American rock and his father’s collection of Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian records.

 

Fairport Convention released their first self-titled album in 1968 and by the time of 1969’s Unhalfbricking Thompson was emerging as a songwriter of note.  The band however was focussed on British folk music lead by female voices (Sandy Denny notably) and in 1971 Thompson left the band to perform solo and with his wife Linda with whom he recorded a number of fine albums not the least being ‘I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight’ recorded in 1973.  

 

 

 

However Thompson really only came into his own as a recording artist in the 1980’s after separating from Linda firstly as a couple then eventually as a professional collaborator.  In 1983 he releases Hand of Kindness and a couple of albums later he is in full swing with 1988’s Amnesia.  By then the songwriting, singing and always strong guitar playing are growing and from Amnesia a beautiful live version of I Still Dream, possibly my favorite Richard Thompson song.  Sadly no vision but here it is.

 

 

 

 

In 1991 we get his most famous album from that period in Rumour And Sigh.  My habit being to include a full album, today this is the one, but really those that follow until now are studded with classics from his catalogue and I could list any of them.

 

 

 

 

I also couldn’t talk about that album without including a version of a staple from there.  Much loved and often played by Tim Thorpe on 3RRR’s Vital Bits here is 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, an ode to, well, motor bikes which I know tickles Brian Wise’s fancy too.  This time in 2010 from an acoustic live performance that I would kill to have been at. Note the closeups of the playing, phew.

 

 

 

 

While I tend to shun ‘Best of’s a prized CD I have is a triple called Watching The Dark: The History of Richard Thompson and it is full of gems from the Fairports days, Richard and Linda songs and lots of stuff from the first half dozen or so solo records.  Live versions of Al Bowlly’s ‘In Heaven’, ‘When The Spell Is Broken’, ‘Calvary Cross’ and ‘Shoot Out The Lights’.  Essential.  Find it somewhere, you won’t be sorry.

 

After Rumour And Sigh and not wishing to collapse 30 years of recording many fine albums into a single paragraph but I’d strongly urge you to work your way through his many fine releases since then.  Lots of gems, songs of heartbreak and loss, political songs which he notes on stage with a sigh and a wry smile, Richard is probably an even more impressive artist on stage.  Here you get the long guitar workouts on familiar songs that are his signature.

 

Like a lot of iconic performers with extensive back catalogues Thompson mines his treasure trove for its considerable worth.  In 2017 he released a CD and DVD called Live From Rockpalast which includes performances from 1983 (Hamburg) and 1984 (Cannes) of many of his greats.  Here is ‘Shoot Out The Lights’ from the album of the same name.

 

 

 

So, Richard Thompson then.  Starts out playing Bob covers as many do then, having knelt at the feet of the master, develops his own brand of genius.  Each offering not so much keenly anticipated as warmly welcomed, cloked in the familiar voice, adorned by the brilliant guitar playing and suffused with a slightly wistful melancholy.  NQB but very, very RT.

 

 

Read more stories from Trevor Blainey HERE.

 

 

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