Richard Thompson: Part 1

I have wanted to be a Richard Thompson fan for 30 years and due to several stumbling blocks didn’t reach this goal until this year, never being able to to quite connect with his talents.  Everything I knew and read about the man indicated he was worthy of hero-worship, being that he’s a critically acclaimed songwriter, a skillful singer and one of the world’s greatest guitar players. This year, thanks to my three best music buddies, I  finally had my Richard Thompson epiphany. I borrowed, bought and wore out most of his work dating back to 1967, bought a concert DVD, saw him play three times and even got his autograph. Unfortunately, the most amazing thing about Richard Thompson is not his prodigious talent, it’s how famous he isn’t. At least 9 times out of 10 when I mention this guy to someone they tell me they never heard of him. I gave sampler CD’s to many of these people including the plumber installing our new heating system. This is what having a cult following is all about. Richard’s disciples are spreading the good news. Sign me up!

One of the live gigs was a free acoustic set at Amoeba Records in Los Angeles in September (where I got the autograph). I took my daughter Emma and her friend Chas and when they subsequently requested an RT sampler I came up with a playlist of 31 songs. This is my desert island Richard Thompson minimum- to start with fewer songs would diminish the value of the exercise. Still I know I’ll get complaints from my friends wondering why I left out their essential RT tunes. The playlist follows, interspersed with comments about the tracks. . .

Early years- Fairport Convention:

1. Time Will Show The Wiser [from 1968, Richard as a teen tearing through a guitar solo with the band reminiscent of early Pink Floyd].
2. Meet On The Ledge
3. Come All Ye
4. Reynardine [these last two classic Sandy Denny performances from Liege & Lief.

Long ago, I had a folk-singing girlfriend who turned me onto the core of British electric-folk music, Steeleye Span and (Richard’s breakout band) Fairport Convention (which also featured the incomparable Sandy Denny). I was a huge Jethro Tull fan in my late teens and was easily taken in by Sandy’s tales of bonnie lasses being victimized by evil men (she was on Led Zeppelin 4 for cryin' out loud). Fairport’s quintessential album (and one of my favorite records of all time) is Liege & Lief, recorded in 1969 as the band was recovering from the tragic van accident which killed drummer Martin Lamble and Richard’s girlfriend Jeannie Franklyn.

Here is Time Shows The Wiser from British Television prior to Sandy Denny joining the band.

The album’s success spurred half the band members to strike out on their own, Richard subsequently married Linda Peters, the pair making several albums in the following decade, notably I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (1974), Pour Down Like Silver (1975) and  Shoot Out The Lights (1982).

Richard And Linda Thompson:

5.   When I Get To The Border
6.   The End Of The Rainbow
7.   The Calvary Cross
8.   The Great Valario
9.   Don’t Renege On Our Love
10. Shoot Out The Lights
11.  Wall Of Death

I Want To See The Bright Lights Again‘s songs segue well from Fairport Convention especially When I Get To The Border and The Little Begger Girl. Linda’s singing has never sounded better than on the exquisite The Great Valerio. The live (bonus) version of Calvery Cross on the remastered version of this album is an early example of Richard’s “epic” guitar soloing. He’s famous for “gloom and doom” themes, misery being fertile ground for inspiration. The End of The Rainbow is a devastating case in point. The best song about hopelessness and neglect you are likely to ever hear:

“I feel for you, you little horror, safe at your mother’s breast

no lucky break for you around the corner

‘Cos your father is a bully, And he thinks that you’re a pest and your sister, she’s no better than a whore

Life seems so rosy in the cradle, i’ll be a friend, I’ll tell you what’s in store

There’s nothing at the end of the rainbow

There’s nothing to grow up for anymore”

(If you think that is grim believe me, it gets worse for the “little horror”)

Shoot Out The Lights is legendary, partly as it coincided with the dissolution of the couple’s marriage. It also set Richard on his path as a solo artist. You find his mature style evident on this record. Themes of relationships gone bad and back-stabbing friends and lovers show up in Richard’s songs to this day. I missed Shoot Out in ’82 (it wasn’t radio fare) but I read about it in Rolling Stone over the years which considered it one of the best records ever made.

Shoot Out The Lights is  a great path to discover Richard’s talents, starting with the album cover. Linda evidently couldn’t make the photo shoot (maybe she wasn’t invited?) so she’s present via a photo on the wall of the skuzzy room lit by a bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Richard sits in the corner on the floor wearing a mischievious smile. The songs are incredible. Don’t Renege On Our Love sets the tone of conflict between lovers, a theme which carries though much of Richard’s best work. The title cut and Wall Of Death have remained concert staples though out his career. I vaguely remember seeing a Wall Of Death motorcycle stunt at a State Fair once when I was a kid. The wall is the inside of a vertical wooden cylinder, which a motorcyclist must traverse horizontally at a gravity defying speed. The lyrics aren’t much, mostly describing what carnival attractions have lesser value, but the music is anthemic. You feel for the poor guy who looks to stunt riding for a way to escape an unfulfilled life. At the song’s bridge the protagonist pleads “let me take my chances” because

“On the Wall Of Death all the world is far from me. . .

On the Wall Of Death it’s the nearest to being free. . .”

Next time we’ll look at the past 30 years of Richard Thompson’s solo career.

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