TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

There is an article in this mornings Guardian with Mr Thompson.  All due to the fact that the boxed set is released on 6th Feb.

For those who don't have access to The Guardian the article is online here http://www.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1690053,00.html

phil

Thanks for the link.  Quite a good article.  I especially liked the quip "I never escaped from Fairport, and that's fine. I'm quite proud of the old chaps" !!

First pic of him without a hat of some sort for years.....

Me, I liked the quote

"I told the Queen I was a singer-songwriter, because she had just met Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton and I didn't want to confuse her by being another guitarist."

The thought of RT as just another guitarist is something I just can't contemplate

Yesterday Ned Sherrin announced at the end of his Loose Ends show on Radio 4 that RT will be a guest on next Saturday's Loose Ends  (think it starts just after 6pm). Another guest will be Boo Hewerdine...

Its on from 6:15 till 7pm and has a listen again link so if you miss it first time round don't panic. Link for the show on the 21st is:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/looseends.shtml

See... you're getting all excited aren't you... Richard Thompson, Wall of Death, Vincent Black Lightning and all that

Shame that the Arts Editor was looking for a piece on the Watson Gordon Professor of Fine Art... or Richard Thomson as he is now to his mates  :o

http://www.arthistory.ed.ac.uk/Contacts/Profile/RThomson.htm

Bless  ;D

He should get on great with Boo Hewardine. So much in common  ;D

He's not listed in the write up from the BBC Radio4 e-newsletter, which says....

Loose Ends, 6.15-7.00pm
Ned Sherrin's guests are singer Barbara Cook; Anthony
Holden, author of a book on Mozart; Andrew Lincoln,
appearing in "The Late Henry Moss" at Almeida
Theatre, London; comedy from Will Smith; music from
Shelly Poole and Boo Hewerdine.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/looseends.shtml

On the topic of Richard Thompson, a friend of mind in Portland, Oregon, knowing I'm a fan of
Richard Thompson and Fairport. sent me this article today a few might enjoy reading. 

http://www.oregonlive.com/music/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1138766103157040.xml&coll=7

- or -


Thompson's treasure box  
Friday, February 03, 2006

MARTY HUGHLEY
 
For more than a decade, about once a year, English guitarist and singer Richard Thompson has come to Portland to play, usually at the Aladdin Theater. Even on a rainy day, it's not uncommon to see his fans lining up outside the building by 2 or 3 in the afternoon for an 8 p.m. show, so intent are they on getting a seat up close.

Thompson's shows at the Aladdin always sell out, and the audiences are both knowledgeable and worshipful. If you saw a young artist on the rise greeted with such intensity you'd expect his records to start racing up the charts and his subsequent shows to leapfrog into bigger and bigger halls. And yet Thompson retains his peculiar status as a rock demi-legend.

In the words of Thompson archivist Nigel Schofield, "His is not music which attracts the casual record buyer, even though certain of his albums come highly recommended by critics, fellow rock stars, record company executives and all-time-best charts and polls."

The boxed set "RT -- the Life and Music of Richard Thompson," due out on Tuesday, is not made for the casual record buyer. It's five discs and more than 51/2 hours of music with nary a hit single to be found. That is, if you don't count Thompson cover versions of the Who's "Substitute," Squeeze's "Tempted" and -- yes, really -- Britney Spears' "Oops, I Did it Again."

There are guitar epics ("Calvary Cross"), silly novelty tunes ("My Daddy Is a Mummy"), traditional folk songs ("Loch Lomond") funny topical songs (the wardrobe-malfunction riposte "Dear Janet Jackson") and tragic love songs (several varieties). And there's enough depth and subtlety to both the emotionally complex, character-driven writing and the tradition-steeped, adventure-loving musicianship to absorb a patient listener for ages.

It's also not a glossy-sounding set. The majority of the tracks are live versions, a few of them are demos, and more often than not the crowd noise and room ambience are noticeable characteristics.

But in gearing this as treasure trove for the RT faithful, rather than as a lure for the uninitiated, compilation producer Neil Wayne may have created the best Thompson primer after all. Chances are that once you're intrigued, you'll be engrossed, so why not dive in full bore?

The five discs are divided thematically in a fashion that flows better than the chock-a-block chronology of the earlier Thompson boxed set "Watching the Dark." The theme of disc one, "Walking the Long Miles Home," isn't especially clear; ostensibly, its selections reflect the singer's opinions and observations on the world. But the others divide nicely into essentials, extended guitar workouts, covers and rarities.

For longtime fans, there's enough spark and spontaneity in the familiar songs to make them entirely fresh. Yet the versions retain the marvelous melodic contours and Thompson's remarkable seat-of-the-pants precision; if they are sometimes slightly less polished, they are never less engaging.

And the sheer breadth of his work here is stunning. With tracks dating back as far as 1971, there's plenty of his seminal folk-rock innovations, his finely wrought and literate ballads, riveting roots rock, and such fun surprises as a Cajun-flavored version of the rockabilly nugget "Flying Saucers Rock 'n' Roll" and a crowd favorite called "The Story of Hamlet," in which Broadway songsmith Frank Loesser translated Shakespeare for the cheap seats.

Where the set becomes a slog for the non-devout is in Schofield's mammoth liner notes, 168 pages worth. The career history is so stuffed with discographical asides and other arcana that it's nearly impossible to follow as a biographical or critical study of Thompson.

All the same, next time he comes to town, those fans waiting outside the Aladdin will know every detail.

Also mentioned in todays Grauniad Giude in the preview for the R2 Folk awards

"Thompson will be reunited with his old band for the first time in decades, Fairport Convention........."

er?

Well he was with them at Cropredy last year, and has been at other Croppers. Anyway, staying up late tonight with a bottle of wine, as on a bit of a high after seeing RT in Northampton earlier tonight(last night really). Two and a half hour drive each way for me but worth it. Pity he didn't play "Beeswing" though. A very intense, thoughtfull sort of gig . Great story telling talents as well as, of course, the music itself. Have seen RT couple of times at Cropredy but felt it important as a writer myself to see him in a smaller indoor setting. And yes it worked.....

That would be Simon, Swarb & Tyger Hutchings......
Possibly true - when was the last time these guys played together on the same stage?

1997 - cropredy full L&L line up ,minus sandy of course

Not far off a decade, then....

For more than a decade, about once a year, English guitarist and singer Richard Thompson has come to Portland to play, usually at the Aladdin Theater. Even on a rainy day, it's not uncommon to see his fans lining up outside the building by 2 or 3 in the afternoon for an 8 p.m. show, so intent are they on getting a seat up close.

I think they mixed up the placement of the words 'even' and 'usually' there..... ;D

May be true one year I swear it was so hot in the Aladdin there was moisture falling from the ceiling, so RT can even make it rain indoors.

Of course Thompson fans are use to lineing up in the rain ;D