One of the greatest songwriters and guitarists (both acoustic and electric) of the last 50 years. The man’s simply spellbinding to watch, and has a masterful turn of phrase in his lyrics. I strongly recommend you listen to this whole album, as there’s a huge variety of styles track to track, with many surprises along the way. Rumor and Sigh is one of RT’s best solo albums, though he’s still pumping out great albums to this day. Thanks for choosing this one to listen to.
RT is grounded in traditional songs and writes brilliantly constructed pieces. He is one of the great guitar players, electric as well as acoustic and his playing has made many other peoples tracks sound better. He is a joy to see live.
Probably the only song ever to call out Box Hill - a gathering point in Surrey, England for motorcyclists for many decades. I can remember going there as a kid in the 70s and being terrified of all the big burly bikers in their leather and tattoos but they were the sweetest bunch of motorcycle enthusiasts just out for a ride on a Sunday afternoon and a cup of tea at the little hut of a cafe at the top of the hill. Also recall there was a road sign saying ‘Deceptive Bends’ on the bypass leading there, and 10CC named one of their albums after it.
i grew up just outside Guildford and we spent many hours up at Box Hill watching the bikes and commiserating (or not) with Surrey Police's efforts to catch bikers racing on the A25 Dual Carriageway (of Deceptive Bends fame). Fairport Convention, of which Richard Thompson was a founder member, were the pioneers of Folk Rock and included Sandy Denny who was one of the greatest singers of the period.
@@richardmaguire9536 30’s? Really? My dad had a Francis Barnett (Fanny Barnett) with a sidecar but think that would have been late 50’s. Before I came along anyway.
Dumpy's Rusty Nuts would beg to differ! They have a song called 'Box Hill or Bust'. It's also the location of the disastrous picnic in Jane Austen's 'Emma'. I remember a family holiday in the area in which my Dad (an Austen fan) made a detour there after seeing the sign (he hadn't realised it was a real place) and waxed lyrical about the book to a, frankly, uninterested server in the National Trust cafe.
Got a guitar with Richard Thompson & Adrian Legg signatures. I have an Adrian Legg photo project. I've seen him often with husband. I got photo of Adrian Legg signing it. Next time we asked for him to sign pic of him signing guitar, then pic of pic of him...5 pictures in total. If Richard Thompson's music didn't exist, I don't think we could have conceived it.
Try to see him live if you can - he spends most of his time in the States. There are times he seems to be playing 3 or 4 lead lines at the same time. Phenomenal guitarist.
RT is a supremely gifted musician and songwriter. From FC to his work with Linda to his solo albums, he is a relatively unknown giant. He can play acoustic and electric guitar with equal aplomb. His songwriting is up with the greats. Live, he is brilliant, witty and humorous. His live shows I rank up with Tom Waits for pure entertainment. You have a deep rabbit hole, JP. Enjoy.
He always writes good stories, and he's one of my favorite guitarists, acoustic or electric. A great, great talent. I'd recommend "Beeswing", which might just be my favorite song from anybody.
Seriously, JP, you hadn't heard of RT?! He's not your average folk guy, you know. Do check out the two albums by French Frith Kaiser Thompson. That's John French from Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, Fred Frith from Henry Cow, free jazz guitar bizarrist Henry Kaiser and this guy. You can imagine the results. Or just go listen, if you can't imagine. Well worth the excursion.
Thompson is a master songwriter and guitarist with a quite astonishing body of work as both a solo act and in bands. You do know him without realising as he was the lead guitarist and perhaps early driving force behind Fairport Convention. His writing style is quite distinctive and he can turn his hand to many styles, though for me his more folk influenced work is his best, including his treatment of traditional pieces. He's also one of the greatest live performers I've seen where his work often feels fresherand freer than on record and as a guitarist he can go from intricate and spellbinding acoustic work to incendiary electric, particularly in his power trio and his solo acoustic forms where he is normally affable and often highly amusing in an odd coy way. He likes a story and he is a master at telling them.
I've listened to it so many times. And it never gets old. It just gets better. There's a great live version of this. Just him on guitar. He's considered one of the best.
Great songwriting and guitar playing - very much in British folk tradition. Thompson is a founding member of Fairport Convention, then did a row of critically acclaimed albums with his then wife Linda, and has a great solo catalogue. So - lots of good stuff to discover. He also does full band electric stuff.
one of the best singer songwriters ever. Richard is prolific, and has releaased over 30 albums covering ever genre from folk to heavy rock and. is .one of the best guitarists around. Check out , Thousand years of popular music. Brilliant!
Richard's playing on the Grizzly Man soundtrack is some of the most powerful and beautiful electric guitar I've ever heard. Dude's a legit master of acoustic fingerstyle, electric, and songwriting.
This entire thing is legendary, and I would also recommend the version by the Del McCoury Band. They do it as a bluegrass song, and it works exceptionally well. This is one of the best songs ever written no doubt.
I saw Richard Thompson at the music Box Theater in Cleveland in the spring. It was probably the best solo show I’ve ever seen. Tremendous musician and an original
Not only is RT playing the guitar, watch him live and you see and hear that he plays it on one guitar in one shot. No overdubs! The Indians and Greaves and Ariels etc mentioned in the lyrics are other brands of motorcycles. Your next Thompson track? Beeswing.
Justin, I could totally see you becoming a Richard Thompson fanboy. He's one of the living legends of the British folk scene, having started out as a teenager and founding member of the legendary folk-rock band Fairport Convention (have you covered anything by them yet?)
Richard Thompson. Original guitarist with Fairport Convention. Dozens of albums since the 70s. Has never stopped recording and touring. Also a fantastic electric guitarist, of whom it's been said that he is "incapable of playing a boring guitar solo."
Love this guy…from his early days with Fairport Convention……to his solo work…..his work with his former wife Linda….and The Richard Thompson Band….just incredible
You're in for a lot of great music from Richard Thompson, be it from Fairport Convention, his work with his former wife Linda, and his solo stuff. He is a musician's musician, and a great songwriter as well. Great upload.
One of the best things about living in the San Francisco Bay Area is being able to see the greatest music festival in the world, year after year…. And it’s always free: The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival has featured pretty much everyone from Dolly Parton to Elvis Costello and more… in a truly glorious setting (Golden Gate Park in Autumn). One particular year I wandered over to the stage that happened to have Richard Thompson playing a set and was riveted by his performance. I literally shed tears listening to him playing this song. One of a handful of memories I’ll always treasure. Terrific guitarist and singer / songwriter.
The line you highlighted 'I see Angels on Ariels in leather and chrome'. Ariels were a British motorbike popular in the 1950's and 60's. as were Nortons and Grieves.
I don't know a lot about Richard Thompson but do have the album he made with his wife "Shoot Out the Lights" which is excellent. My favorite track is 'Wall of Death'. I made 2 collections of their songs together.
Saw Richard on his Mock Tudor tour in a pretty much hole in the wall venue. Just wowed by his mostly electric guitar work on his light turquoise electric Ferrington. I bought, still have a Ferrington picture book and a nylon string Ferrington designed Kramer, so I was super delighted by his guitar choice and his superb performance. Scarfed a poster from the restroom and he nicely signed it. Wonderful night that.
JP I'm sure you knew Richard Thompson without knowing: you must have heard him play with Nick Drake or Bonnie Raitt or John Martyn or Fairport Convention or Cat Stevens/Yusuf or... Check out his more rockin' stuff: Bathsheba Smiles, For The Sake of Mary, Razor Dance...
Thumbs up to the person named "fatty pneumonia" who recommended this song. LOL. I get the reference. Long live Fez. Oh yeah, I love the song and Richard Thompson too.
Great song by a great songwriter and guitarist. I have a lot of his back catalogue from his days with Fairport convention, through his solo work, work with his ex wife Linda also Iain Matthews, his duo with Danny Thompson (of Pentangle and his vast and varied solo career as well as contributions to Nick Drake, Sandy Denny and Ashley Hutchings Morris on,Albion Band and French, Firth, Kaiser and Thompson it’s a rabbit hole to dive in, but you have started with a fan favourite, another I love is the track Turning of the Tide, but there are so many
I still remember Fearing talking about learning to play "I don't wanna know about evil" solo and succeeding only to find out he the version he learned from had two guitarists doing the part he was doing solo.
First heard this song during the tour. What an experience to have my first reaction as an audience member. I've always heard the song as musically & structually inspired by Irish balladry, but lyrically from all those 60's car crash songs like Dead Man's Curve. More importantly, great reaction and video Justin.
Richard is an incredible guitar player and also a really good songwriter. Another one that you should check out that’s also got a lot of fairly complex finger picking and a great story is called beeswing. His songs tend to be a little on the darker side but really a hell of a writer.
When I was in my pre-teens to mid teens there was a lot of folk music brought into our family home as well as experimental out there music. The latter is more my thing but I do have time for Richard Thompson (and Martin Carthy). Thompson has worked with many very diverse artists including David Thomas of Pere Ubu. As no one else has mentioned this here I will - Hugh Cornwell of the Stranglers played bass in Thompson's school band.
Thank you, Justin, for reacting to some of Richard Thompson's solo work. You will already be quite familiar with his excellent guitar playing, through his work with Fairport Convention and also with Nick Drake. Richard is a fantastic songwriter! I would highly recommend, "Beeswing" from his, "Mirror Blue" album, which is another one of his songs which relates a sad tale. The Song is also the title of his recent memoir, "Beeswing- Fairport, Folk Rock And Finding My Voice 1967-75".
Thanks for this one. One man and one guitar, it really helps appreciation of the the performance if you are able to see what he is doing. As a guitar player, it caused me to re-think my approach to the instrument. My favourite Richard Thompson album remains the first one he recorded with his then wife, Linda, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, where the emphasis is more on the songwriting than the guitar playing, usually the case with his recorded work. Favourite tracks include, The End of the Rainbow and The Great Valerio.
The Great Valerio is one of his greatest songs (and that's saying a lot), and Linda's delivery of it is one for the ages. She sang with complete authority, minimal ornamentation, and no sentimentality. She's one of this country's greatest singers.
A criminally underrated artist! From his early years with Fairport Convention, to Linda and Richard, to his Solo career he's amazing! He's so versatile from pure folk,rock,blues to covering Britney Spears and a live album with David Byrne! A true old time troubadour! Buckle up because I think you are going to enjoy his work! This same album " Rumor and Sigh" from '91 has his biggest US charting song " I Feel So Good ". Also " God Loves a Drunk" .
Richard Thompson! A great guitarist and songwriter. Both accoustic and electric. Check out: Dad’s gonna kill me for Another side of Thompson. Orher great songs: Beeswing , Cold kisses (accoustic). If love whispers your name, Bones of Gilead (electric). He’s One of the few artists that still makes relevant and fresh Music more than 50 years after his debut.
Yes, amazing story teller and guitarist. Was blessed to see him on 4 tours in the early 80s after his break up with Linda. Do miss out on his Fairport songs. Had played with Golden Palominos, Fred Frith, and others.
Richard is a legendary musician. You have actually heard him before as he was a founding member of Fairport Convention. You need to hear/see some of his electric work as well as his acoustic stuff. (Preferably live when he really stretches out ). "Can't Win" is a good example or try to find some of his work with Danny Thompson on bass ua-cam.com/video/D4Rjk8yN-Pc/v-deo.htmlsi=ReLoduFCQiTgP--l
That is Richard on guitar. I read a quote once about the million guitar players who's fingers have bled trying to figure out how to play that. Lots of Richard to explore. Also fantastic on electric guitar.
By the way, Vincent Black Lightning’s are a classic vintage British motorcycle. Thompson tells the story of seeing them on occasion when he was a kid in the 50s and always admiring them. I believe there are only about 19 or 20 still operational in the world, and the last one that was sold at auction went for around $1,000,000. So Red Molly clearly had a valuable inheritance. Nortons, Indians and Greaves’ are also classic motorcycles.
I'll give you a better story, also about a bad boy. Very romantic. Exciting like war. OK there's no romantic angle but it's all about a bad boy who has to rob lots of people to earn what he has, so you can be sure he's had a whole breeding herds worth of a selection of hair colours. Red, black, blonde. Probably no grey, though. It goes like this: About ten days ago the nephew of one my old folks' helpers was shot dead in some "taxi wars". She came to work crying. She went home looking sad, but saying something like, "That's just how it goes" as she went. No he wasn't the bad boy. But the lovely bad boy is sure as hell going to die a sad, sad death, living a life of killing like that, surely? I don't know who the bad boy is who wasted him. (Not in a slang sense. Literally wasted him.) But the story is always about him, so I'll just tell you the bit I know. I can tell you a better one than that if you like? It's about another bad boy (again, not one I know, but again, the story is always about him, and it's just that I can only tell you the part I know). Starts kind of similarly. There's this guy called Sam who grew up in a wild place where people are more human than they are in the cities. You have to meet someone like that to know what I mean. If you live in a very civilized place, you could go through an entire lifetime without seeing someone like Sam, except in a documentary about somewhere wild. He makes everyone happy, because he has this jaunty walk, and he's always smiling and happy. And kind. Stupidly kind, even. Buys himself a carton of cigarettes and gives them all away. Only keeps one packet for himself in the end. Nothing gets Sam down. Things go wrong, everyone gets grumpy, Sam pitches up, everyone gets positive again. And of course one day he pitched up at work looking glum. Looking shattered with misery, but not crying. He had a brother on a disability pension. At very least, the most harmless man on Earth. And on pension day, one day, he met a bad boy who had to rob him so he could have a better pair of shoes than these Chinese ones he got from the bargain shop. Or something like that. (You're not going to ... earn ... enough to buy a Vincent Black Lightning by robbing people of disability pensions.) He was a very bad boy (the one who the story is always all about, I mean). He wasn't just forced to rob Sam's brother of his disability pension; he also had to stab him. I don't know why, but he had to stab him. Kill him. Waste him. I could tell you about a guy called Hlanganisa. Bad boys took his delivery van, left him at the side of the road. Were forced by maybe the way one's mother said something harsh to him, once, as a child, or something to come back and try and shoot Hlanganisa dead. This one's got a happy ending. He lived. Not a perfectly happy ending, though. They shot him in the ankle, and he had to have that amputated. And he was too far away from the hospital, in the middle of nowhere, so the medical care came too late to prevent the infection that followed. So they amputated the thigh a few weeks later, too. But he lived. And the bad boys got their down payment on the Black Lightning, so everyone lived happily ever after. Amen.
You probably know him a little from a Fairport Convention reaction you did years ago. He was a real guitar and musical prodigy in the early days. He was playing revived English folk music, but he had somehow picked up so much American style guitar, with great country sounds. Not an easy thing to do by the age of about 20 in the 60s when access to that music was so much less than what we have today with the internet. This is a really great song - I've only heard it a couple of times before, but this time it really hit, mainly because of the story.
I love Richard Thompson’s music. I’ve seen him live a number of times, only on his own and not with a band. But I’ve always come away feeling like I’ve heard a full band even though it was one man and one guitar. He’s an incredibly skilled musician. I’ve read many music journalists say that his songs are all about loss. His songs do very often tell tales of romance lost or romance broken. But he once said that if you listen to his songs properly, they are all about love. Not sure how songs like Psycho Street fit in to that, but Richard says so so it must be true. Anyway, who’s gonna argue? Thanks for reacting to this one.
Although I'm getting old, I'm a relative younglin. I really want to dig RT but the drawlin vocal grates and the storyline does nuttin for me. I need soul music, commentary for the human dilemma, but this is a short frantic headache inducing motorbike ride where the wind drawl noise and frequent twisting & turnin does little for my wellbeing. A punk vocal and busier than necessary guitar? Talented without a doubt, artistically not in sync with my aesthetic man. Glad I've heard it though. Now I know why I regard The Lilac Time as the greatest folk band of the 80s&90s and beyond. Yes, not every one's cuppa tea but RT's name was on the cover of "& Love 4 All" so Stephen Duffy was obviously a fan. 52% Diolch JP. Edit: ignore the above, it deserves 65%atleast as once again, a second listen reveals a passionate live performance. I'm such a moody wally - but at least I'm an honest moody wally, here keen to re-assess my reaction on an enjoyable second listen. 🍞👏
Glad that you've got sunshine Greetings from rainy cold England Enjoying your reactions to music of the soundtrack of my life!! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!!...
I've seen Richard Thompson in concert more times than any other performer - with the exception of his vocal foil of many years, Christine Collister, who's on this album and is a *stunning* singer. The first time I saw him was in 1987, and the most recent time was a few months ago, when he played this song better than I've ever heard him play it. He's in his 70s now, and as much of a virtuoso as ever, and actually a better singer now than he was when he started out in the 70s. I've seen him rocking out on electric guitar with a kicking band; alternating between acoustic and electric with small bands including superb players like Dave Mattacks [Fairport Convention], Danny Thompson [everyone] and Pete Zorn; and I've seen him solo. Unmissable every time. IMO he's not only the UK's greatest guitarist of the last 50+ years (nearly 60 in fact), but also our greatest songwriter. Some great songs have already been mentioned, but here's a few more, starting with a few from when he was still with Fairport Convention: Meet On The Ledge Crazy Man Michael A Sailor's Life (trad song) Genesis Hall Sloth With his ex-wife Linda: I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight The Great Valerio Dimming Of The Day Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed Wall Of Death And solo, just a few of dozens: When The Spell Is Broken How Will I Ever Be Simple Again Al Bowlly's In Heaven Beeswing Cold Kisses Woods Of Darney Crawl Back (Under My Stone) Hope you'll dive in further Justin!
@@robertwilloughby8050 I've never heard Fairport's version of Reno, Nevada. The only version I know is a later one by Iain Matthews, recorded live in 1988. Lovely song, although obviously there's no Richard Thompson connection any more.
Thanks. I know. I looked him up. I have been going to American Folk festivals for 40 years. I know what American Folk music sounds like. @@victorbortolussi2964
Heard a Radio DJ describe Richard Thompson this way........ "Plays like Hendrix, Writes like Dylan"..
Some call him the greatest British guitarist of them all - and we've had a few decent guitar players over the decades from Britain...
Live, he tends to play this faster, with improvised breaks, and with his eyes closed. Simply amazing.
One of the greatest songwriters and guitarists (both acoustic and electric) of the last 50 years. The man’s simply spellbinding to watch, and has a masterful turn of phrase in his lyrics. I strongly recommend you listen to this whole album, as there’s a huge variety of styles track to track, with many surprises along the way. Rumor and Sigh is one of RT’s best solo albums, though he’s still pumping out great albums to this day.
Thanks for choosing this one to listen to.
RT is grounded in traditional songs and writes brilliantly constructed pieces. He is one of the great guitar players, electric as well as acoustic and his playing has made many other peoples tracks sound better. He is a joy to see live.
For what it’s worth Richard Thompson was listed by Rolling Stone magazine as 17th of 100 greatest guitarists.
Probably the only song ever to call out Box Hill - a gathering point in Surrey, England for motorcyclists for many decades. I can remember going there as a kid in the 70s and being terrified of all the big burly bikers in their leather and tattoos but they were the sweetest bunch of motorcycle enthusiasts just out for a ride on a Sunday afternoon and a cup of tea at the little hut of a cafe at the top of the hill. Also recall there was a road sign saying ‘Deceptive Bends’ on the bypass leading there, and 10CC named one of their albums after it.
i grew up just outside Guildford and we spent many hours up at Box Hill watching the bikes and commiserating (or not) with Surrey Police's efforts to catch bikers racing on the A25 Dual Carriageway (of Deceptive Bends fame). Fairport Convention, of which Richard Thompson was a founder member, were the pioneers of Folk Rock and included Sandy Denny who was one of the greatest singers of the period.
My dad used to run out to Box Hill from Bermondsey when he got his first bike in the 30s.
@@richardmaguire9536 30’s? Really? My dad had a Francis Barnett (Fanny Barnett) with a sidecar but think that would have been late 50’s. Before I came along anyway.
Dumpy's Rusty Nuts would beg to differ! They have a song called 'Box Hill or Bust'.
It's also the location of the disastrous picnic in Jane Austen's 'Emma'. I remember a family holiday in the area in which my Dad (an Austen fan) made a detour there after seeing the sign (he hadn't realised it was a real place) and waxed lyrical about the book to a, frankly, uninterested server in the National Trust cafe.
Seen him live about a half dozen times. Thompson is a master guitar ist and a fine songwriter. Check out more of his catalog if you haven't
Maybe the best live performer I've ever seen.
Got a guitar with Richard Thompson & Adrian Legg signatures. I have an Adrian Legg photo project. I've seen him often with husband. I got photo of Adrian Legg signing it. Next time we asked for him to sign pic of him signing guitar, then pic of pic
of him...5 pictures in total.
If Richard Thompson's music didn't exist, I don't think we could have conceived it.
Richard Thompson is one of the best. He's truly legendary.
Thompson's guitar flash is even more jaw dropping live. He's a great wordsmith, he's funny. Great entertainer!
Richard Thompson is a god of the acoustic folk guitar. He, like Cockburn, plays rhythm and a lead at the same time. This is a classic song.
Yes!
Try to see him live if you can - he spends most of his time in the States. There are times he seems to be playing 3 or 4 lead lines at the same time. Phenomenal guitarist.
I’m not sure why,but the last minute of this track always brings a tear to my eye . So powerful
@stephencolligan, oh I think you know EXACTLY why: for the same reason that all we music and lyrics fans do the same thing. 😉
Many RT songs inspire a tear or three, but “Beeswing” ‘ll kill ya mate.
" Red Hair and Black Leather, My Favorite Color Scheme "...
Everyone has their own weakness! 😂
😅
Founder member of Fairport Convention and legendary guitarist.
RT is a supremely gifted musician and songwriter. From FC to his work with Linda to his solo albums, he is a relatively unknown giant. He can play acoustic and electric guitar with equal aplomb. His songwriting is up with the greats. Live, he is brilliant, witty and humorous. His live shows I rank up with Tom Waits for pure entertainment. You have a deep rabbit hole, JP. Enjoy.
He always writes good stories, and he's one of my favorite guitarists, acoustic or electric. A great, great talent. I'd recommend "Beeswing", which might just be my favorite song from anybody.
If fate should beak my stride
What a great line
Seriously, JP, you hadn't heard of RT?! He's not your average folk guy, you know. Do check out the two albums by French Frith Kaiser Thompson. That's John French from Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, Fred Frith from Henry Cow, free jazz guitar bizarrist Henry Kaiser and this guy. You can imagine the results. Or just go listen, if you can't imagine. Well worth the excursion.
Thompson is a master songwriter and guitarist with a quite astonishing body of work as both a solo act and in bands. You do know him without realising as he was the lead guitarist and perhaps early driving force behind Fairport Convention. His writing style is quite distinctive and he can turn his hand to many styles, though for me his more folk influenced work is his best, including his treatment of traditional pieces. He's also one of the greatest live performers I've seen where his work often feels fresherand freer than on record and as a guitarist he can go from intricate and spellbinding acoustic work to incendiary electric, particularly in his power trio and his solo acoustic forms where he is normally affable and often highly amusing in an odd coy way. He likes a story and he is a master at telling them.
Since this is one of my favourite songs, I had to take a long breath and a fortnight before reacting to this... Let's see how it goes.
One of my favorite all time songs. It's a brilliant, beautiful song. Great story and his guitar is indeed brilliant.
I've listened to it so many times. And it never gets old. It just gets better. There's a great live version of this. Just him on guitar. He's considered one of the best.
Great songwriting and guitar playing - very much in British folk tradition. Thompson is a founding member of Fairport Convention, then did a row of critically acclaimed albums with his then wife Linda, and has a great solo catalogue. So - lots of good stuff to discover. He also does full band electric stuff.
one of the best singer songwriters ever. Richard is prolific, and has releaased over 30 albums covering ever genre from folk to heavy rock and. is .one of the best guitarists around. Check out , Thousand years of popular music. Brilliant!
Richard's playing on the Grizzly Man soundtrack is some of the most powerful and beautiful electric guitar I've ever heard. Dude's a legit master of acoustic fingerstyle, electric, and songwriting.
This entire thing is legendary, and I would also recommend the version by the Del McCoury Band. They do it as a bluegrass song, and it works exceptionally well. This is one of the best songs ever written no doubt.
I saw Richard Thompson at the music Box Theater in Cleveland in the spring. It was probably the best solo show I’ve ever seen. Tremendous musician and an original
Not only is RT playing the guitar, watch him live and you see and hear that he plays it on one guitar in one shot. No overdubs!
The Indians and Greaves and Ariels etc mentioned in the lyrics are other brands of motorcycles.
Your next Thompson track? Beeswing.
Ohhhhh, my poor broken heart 💔❤️🔥 Perfection.
Justin, I could totally see you becoming a Richard Thompson fanboy. He's one of the living legends of the British folk scene, having started out as a teenager and founding member of the legendary folk-rock band Fairport Convention (have you covered anything by them yet?)
Richard Thompson. Original guitarist with Fairport Convention. Dozens of albums since the 70s. Has never stopped recording and touring. Also a fantastic electric guitarist, of whom it's been said that he is "incapable of playing a boring guitar solo."
Love this guy…from his early days with Fairport Convention……to his solo work…..his work with his former wife Linda….and The Richard Thompson Band….just incredible
You're in for a lot of great music from Richard Thompson, be it from Fairport Convention, his work with his former wife Linda, and his solo stuff. He is a musician's musician, and a great songwriter as well. Great upload.
One of the best things about living in the San Francisco Bay Area is being able to see the greatest music festival in the world, year after year…. And it’s always free: The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival has featured pretty much everyone from Dolly Parton to Elvis Costello and more… in a truly glorious setting (Golden Gate Park in Autumn). One particular year I wandered over to the stage that happened to have Richard Thompson playing a set and was riveted by his performance. I literally shed tears listening to him playing this song. One of a handful of memories I’ll always treasure. Terrific guitarist and singer / songwriter.
The line you highlighted 'I see Angels on Ariels in leather and chrome'. Ariels were a British motorbike popular in the 1950's and 60's. as were Nortons and Grieves.
Vincent. The OG Superbike. Love this song. His picking is killer.
I don't know a lot about Richard Thompson but do have the album he made with his wife "Shoot Out the Lights" which is excellent. My favorite track is 'Wall of Death'. I made 2 collections of their songs together.
I know or feel some may disagree but Los Lobos’s cover of Shoot Out The Lights is eff’n cool and also has some great guitar playing by David Hidalgo.
This is a great song. Fortunate to see him live a few times. The last time was when he was out on tour with EmmyLou - smiling for hours after…
How awesome that must have been! Two of my major heroes since the mid 70's.
Richard Thompson has 18 solo studio albums then there are the Fairport Convention albums to go with that.
Saw Richard on his Mock Tudor tour in a pretty much hole in the wall venue. Just wowed by his mostly electric guitar work on his light turquoise electric Ferrington.
I bought, still have a Ferrington picture book and a nylon string Ferrington designed Kramer, so I was super delighted by his guitar choice and his superb performance. Scarfed a poster from the restroom and he nicely signed it. Wonderful night that.
Amazing song. Only found it a few years ago. Instant fave.
Del Mccoury did an interesting Bluegrass version.
He said of the song that he wanted to write one of the old folk highwayman ballads but updated for the present day.
JP I'm sure you knew Richard Thompson without knowing: you must have heard him play with Nick Drake or Bonnie Raitt or John Martyn or Fairport Convention or Cat Stevens/Yusuf or... Check out his more rockin' stuff: Bathsheba Smiles, For The Sake of Mary, Razor Dance...
Thumbs up to the person named "fatty pneumonia" who recommended this song.
LOL. I get the reference. Long live Fez.
Oh yeah, I love the song and Richard Thompson too.
Great song by a great songwriter and guitarist. I have a lot of his back catalogue from his days with Fairport convention, through his solo work, work with his ex wife Linda also Iain Matthews, his duo with Danny Thompson (of Pentangle and his vast and varied solo career as well as contributions to Nick Drake, Sandy Denny and Ashley Hutchings Morris on,Albion Band and French, Firth, Kaiser and Thompson it’s a rabbit hole to dive in, but you have started with a fan favourite, another I love is the track Turning of the Tide, but there are so many
I love RT, and as much as this is a good song, it wouldn't make my Top 50 RT songs. There's a wonderful back catalogue to plunder.
The Del Mcoury Band play a great cover version of this tune. More great picking there as that whole band is world class.
Try Irish folk legend 'Christy Moore' -'ride on' would be the logical place to start:)
First time I heard this I thought it was Stephen Fearing. The guitar playing is Cockburnesque. Terrific song and performance! Glad you covered it!
I still remember Fearing talking about learning to play "I don't wanna know about evil" solo and succeeding only to find out he the version he learned from had two guitarists doing the part he was doing solo.
@@maruad7577 wow. The man is amazing.
First heard this song during the tour. What an experience to have my first reaction as an audience member. I've always heard the song as musically & structually inspired by Irish balladry, but lyrically from all those 60's car crash songs like Dead Man's Curve. More importantly, great reaction and video Justin.
Richard is an incredible guitar player and also a really good songwriter. Another one that you should check out that’s also got a lot of fairly complex finger picking and a great story is called beeswing. His songs tend to be a little on the darker side but really a hell of a writer.
When I was in my pre-teens to mid teens there was a lot of folk music brought into our family home as well as experimental out there music. The latter is more my thing but I do have time for Richard Thompson (and Martin Carthy). Thompson has worked with many very diverse artists including David Thomas of Pere Ubu. As no one else has mentioned this here I will - Hugh Cornwell of the Stranglers played bass in Thompson's school band.
Thank you, Justin, for reacting to some of Richard Thompson's solo work. You will already be quite familiar with his excellent guitar playing, through his work with Fairport Convention and also with Nick Drake. Richard is a fantastic songwriter! I would highly recommend, "Beeswing" from his, "Mirror Blue" album, which is another one of his songs which relates a sad tale. The Song is also the title of his recent memoir, "Beeswing- Fairport, Folk Rock And Finding My Voice 1967-75".
Thanks for this one. One man and one guitar, it really helps appreciation of the the performance if you are able to see what he is doing. As a guitar player, it caused me to re-think my approach to the instrument. My favourite Richard Thompson album remains the first one he recorded with his then wife, Linda, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, where the emphasis is more on the songwriting than the guitar playing, usually the case with his recorded work. Favourite tracks include, The End of the Rainbow and The Great Valerio.
The Great Valerio is one of his greatest songs (and that's saying a lot), and Linda's delivery of it is one for the ages. She sang with complete authority, minimal ornamentation, and no sentimentality. She's one of this country's greatest singers.
A criminally underrated artist!
From his early years with Fairport Convention, to Linda and Richard, to his Solo career he's amazing! He's so versatile from pure folk,rock,blues to covering Britney Spears and a live album with David Byrne! A true old time troubadour!
Buckle up because I think you are going to enjoy his work!
This same album " Rumor and Sigh" from '91 has his biggest US charting song " I Feel So Good ". Also " God Loves a Drunk" .
Richard Thompson! A great guitarist and songwriter. Both accoustic and electric. Check out: Dad’s gonna kill me for Another side of Thompson.
Orher great songs: Beeswing , Cold kisses (accoustic). If love whispers your name, Bones of Gilead (electric).
He’s One of the few artists that still makes relevant and fresh Music more than 50 years after his debut.
Yes, amazing story teller and guitarist. Was blessed to see him on 4 tours in the early 80s after his break up with Linda. Do miss out on his Fairport songs. Had played with Golden Palominos, Fred Frith, and others.
Wait a minute!!!....do you have access to my iPod? Lol 😊
Richard is a legendary musician. You have actually heard him before as he was a founding member of Fairport Convention.
You need to hear/see some of his electric work as well as his acoustic stuff. (Preferably live when he really stretches out ). "Can't Win" is a good example or try to find some of his work with Danny Thompson on bass
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I also loved his song "I Feel So Good" from the same album _Rumor and Sigh_
Love me a good, creative ballad!
He is fantastic live. Funny too
That is Richard on guitar. I read a quote once about the million guitar players who's fingers have bled trying to figure out how to play that. Lots of Richard to explore. Also fantastic on electric guitar.
By the way, Vincent Black Lightning’s are a classic vintage British motorcycle. Thompson tells the story of seeing them on occasion when he was a kid in the 50s and always admiring them. I believe there are only about 19 or 20 still operational in the world, and the last one that was sold at auction went for around $1,000,000. So Red Molly clearly had a valuable inheritance.
Nortons, Indians and Greaves’ are also classic motorcycles.
Richard Thompson is The Guvnor.
Glad you got to this one!
I'll give you a better story, also about a bad boy. Very romantic. Exciting like war. OK there's no romantic angle but it's all about a bad boy who has to rob lots of people to earn what he has, so you can be sure he's had a whole breeding herds worth of a selection of hair colours. Red, black, blonde. Probably no grey, though.
It goes like this: About ten days ago the nephew of one my old folks' helpers was shot dead in some "taxi wars". She came to work crying. She went home looking sad, but saying something like, "That's just how it goes" as she went.
No he wasn't the bad boy.
But the lovely bad boy is sure as hell going to die a sad, sad death, living a life of killing like that, surely? I don't know who the bad boy is who wasted him. (Not in a slang sense. Literally wasted him.) But the story is always about him, so I'll just tell you the bit I know.
I can tell you a better one than that if you like?
It's about another bad boy (again, not one I know, but again, the story is always about him, and it's just that I can only tell you the part I know).
Starts kind of similarly. There's this guy called Sam who grew up in a wild place where people are more human than they are in the cities. You have to meet someone like that to know what I mean. If you live in a very civilized place, you could go through an entire lifetime without seeing someone like Sam, except in a documentary about somewhere wild.
He makes everyone happy, because he has this jaunty walk, and he's always smiling and happy. And kind. Stupidly kind, even. Buys himself a carton of cigarettes and gives them all away. Only keeps one packet for himself in the end. Nothing gets Sam down. Things go wrong, everyone gets grumpy, Sam pitches up, everyone gets positive again.
And of course one day he pitched up at work looking glum. Looking shattered with misery, but not crying.
He had a brother on a disability pension. At very least, the most harmless man on Earth.
And on pension day, one day, he met a bad boy who had to rob him so he could have a better pair of shoes than these Chinese ones he got from the bargain shop. Or something like that. (You're not going to ... earn ... enough to buy a Vincent Black Lightning by robbing people of disability pensions.)
He was a very bad boy (the one who the story is always all about, I mean). He wasn't just forced to rob Sam's brother of his disability pension; he also had to stab him. I don't know why, but he had to stab him. Kill him. Waste him.
I could tell you about a guy called Hlanganisa.
Bad boys took his delivery van, left him at the side of the road.
Were forced by maybe the way one's mother said something harsh to him, once, as a child, or something to come back and try and shoot Hlanganisa dead.
This one's got a happy ending. He lived.
Not a perfectly happy ending, though. They shot him in the ankle, and he had to have that amputated.
And he was too far away from the hospital, in the middle of nowhere, so the medical care came too late to prevent the infection that followed.
So they amputated the thigh a few weeks later, too.
But he lived.
And the bad boys got their down payment on the Black Lightning, so everyone lived happily ever after.
Amen.
You probably know him a little from a Fairport Convention reaction you did years ago. He was a real guitar and musical prodigy in the early days. He was playing revived English folk music, but he had somehow picked up so much American style guitar, with great country sounds. Not an easy thing to do by the age of about 20 in the 60s when access to that music was so much less than what we have today with the internet.
This is a really great song - I've only heard it a couple of times before, but this time it really hit, mainly because of the story.
Should listen to Fairport Convention ‘Liege and Leaf’. Key folk rock album. Solo I love his song ‘Beeswing’ too.
One of my favourite songs as someone who lusted for a Vincent Black Lightening. I had to make do with a BSA Gold Flash 1952.
I love Richard Thompson’s music. I’ve seen him live a number of times, only on his own and not with a band. But I’ve always come away feeling like I’ve heard a full band even though it was one man and one guitar. He’s an incredibly skilled musician. I’ve read many music journalists say that his songs are all about loss. His songs do very often tell tales of romance lost or romance broken. But he once said that if you listen to his songs properly, they are all about love. Not sure how songs like Psycho Street fit in to that, but Richard says so so it must be true. Anyway, who’s gonna argue?
Thanks for reacting to this one.
One of his best songs. He really is a rocker but this song is just him, guitar and amazing lyrics
This was a good time, for sure. Compelling.
Although I'm getting old, I'm a relative younglin. I really want to dig RT but the drawlin vocal grates and the storyline does nuttin for me. I need soul music, commentary for the human dilemma, but this is a short frantic headache inducing motorbike ride where the wind drawl noise and frequent twisting & turnin does little for my wellbeing. A punk vocal and busier than necessary guitar? Talented without a doubt, artistically not in sync with my aesthetic man. Glad I've heard it though.
Now I know why I regard The Lilac Time as the greatest folk band of the 80s&90s and beyond. Yes, not every one's cuppa tea but RT's name was on the cover of "& Love 4 All" so Stephen Duffy was obviously a fan. 52%
Diolch JP. Edit: ignore the above, it deserves 65%atleast as once again, a second listen reveals a passionate live performance. I'm such a moody wally - but at least I'm an honest moody wally, here keen to re-assess my reaction on an enjoyable second listen. 🍞👏
Glad that you've got sunshine
Greetings from rainy cold England
Enjoying your reactions to music of the soundtrack of my life!!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!!...
Thanks Antony! You as well!
Great song and great reaction. Happy New Year! and all the more music in 24! You continue to explore the soundtrack of my life. Tears were shed.
Thank you Ed! Happy 2024 and wish you and your family a great upcoming year!
I've seen Richard Thompson in concert more times than any other performer - with the exception of his vocal foil of many years, Christine Collister, who's on this album and is a *stunning* singer. The first time I saw him was in 1987, and the most recent time was a few months ago, when he played this song better than I've ever heard him play it. He's in his 70s now, and as much of a virtuoso as ever, and actually a better singer now than he was when he started out in the 70s. I've seen him rocking out on electric guitar with a kicking band; alternating between acoustic and electric with small bands including superb players like Dave Mattacks [Fairport Convention], Danny Thompson [everyone] and Pete Zorn; and I've seen him solo. Unmissable every time. IMO he's not only the UK's greatest guitarist of the last 50+ years (nearly 60 in fact), but also our greatest songwriter. Some great songs have already been mentioned, but here's a few more, starting with a few from when he was still with Fairport Convention:
Meet On The Ledge
Crazy Man Michael
A Sailor's Life (trad song)
Genesis Hall
Sloth
With his ex-wife Linda:
I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
The Great Valerio
Dimming Of The Day
Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed
Wall Of Death
And solo, just a few of dozens:
When The Spell Is Broken
How Will I Ever Be Simple Again
Al Bowlly's In Heaven
Beeswing
Cold Kisses
Woods Of Darney
Crawl Back (Under My Stone)
Hope you'll dive in further Justin!
I quite like his very early work on "Reno, Nevada" too. What say you?
@@robertwilloughby8050 I've never heard Fairport's version of Reno, Nevada. The only version I know is a later one by Iain Matthews, recorded live in 1988. Lovely song, although obviously there's no Richard Thompson connection any more.
reading thru the lyrics doesn't pay off like people must think. otherwise, cool
Not at all intended as an insult. Sounded like a million other American folk artists. My folk artist guru wife knew who he was. I did not. (hit like)
He's British.
Thanks. I know. I looked him up. I have been going to American Folk festivals for 40 years. I know what American Folk music sounds like. @@victorbortolussi2964