they're folky, but they also shred. liege & lief and full house are the "folk" albums, but they're extremely electric/fast. the records before that are a bit more rock-folk than folk-rock -- jefferson airplane influence, maybe? all thompson-era fairport records are worth getting though. anyhow, I love richard. was just listening to this guitar lesson he recorded that I guess was released sometime in the 90s. obviously, there's no way i am ever going to sound like him, but it's fun to try out some of his tunings/tricks. and i'll chime in with others' recommendations to see him live -- he is stunning.
― tylerw, Monday, 28 April 2008 18:40 (sixteen years ago) link
yes they are, especially Holidays, but they did it their own way. if you like Bright Lights, you'll like them both if you let them soak in.
I saw the Water CD reissues of Holidays and Unhalfbricking in Amoeba this weekend and wanted to buy them both again
― Milton Parker, Monday, 28 April 2008 18:44 (sixteen years ago) link
are those reissues different from the ryko versions?
― tylerw, Monday, 28 April 2008 18:50 (sixteen years ago) link
bonus tracks rescinded. I never heard them, are they key?
― Milton Parker, Monday, 28 April 2008 18:55 (sixteen years ago) link
Don't remember them being so.
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 28 April 2008 18:59 (sixteen years ago) link
if i remember correctly, the bonus trax on those are drawn from other places, like guitar/vocal ... some good stuff, but probably nothing essential.
― tylerw, Monday, 28 April 2008 19:01 (sixteen years ago) link
Of course, Stormy may come along and prove us wrong.
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 28 April 2008 19:03 (sixteen years ago) link
I don't recall there being any bonus tracks on the Ryko versions of those albums.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 28 April 2008 19:44 (sixteen years ago) link
Henry The Human Fly is a great record btw, far better than the two albums Thompson released after IWTSTBLT.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 28 April 2008 19:45 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah i think i actually had some island import versions of the fairport stuff -- that's the stuff with the bonus tracks
― tylerw, Monday, 28 April 2008 20:02 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHx8xsp8EMI
― gershy, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 04:31 (sixteen years ago) link
bonus trax are good but dispensable... BBC session covers, mostly.
― sleeve, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 05:46 (sixteen years ago) link
the Unhalfbricking and Liege and Lief extra tracks are really great! Unhalfbricking has two unreleased covers, Dylan + The Byrds, I think - 'Ballad of Easy Rider' and 'Dear Landlord' that are easily as good as their general cover repertoire. Liege and Lief has a huge 10 minute version of 'Quiet Joys of Brotherhood', just Sandy singing over a drone, some violin, quiet drums. One of my favourite, most stretched-out Fairport tracks, in fact.
― derrrick, Wednesday, 30 April 2008 07:33 (sixteen years ago) link
and yeah, those are the Island reissues I have, not Ryko.
His live version of "Can't Win" off Watching the Dark includes some of the most incredible guitar playing I have ever heard.
― Jim, Saturday, 22 August 2009 22:33 (fourteen years ago) link
There's a new RT career-spanning box set out. I already have "Watching The Dark" but it looks like a good set if you don't have much already.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Saturday, 22 August 2009 22:50 (fourteen years ago) link
Search out his tour cd Semi-Detachable Mock Tudor Live. You can purchase it at his website, it is without a doubt one of the best live performances caught on tape by anyone.
― Jim, Saturday, 29 August 2009 17:58 (fourteen years ago) link
I also vouch for Rumour and Sigh. The first two tracks are awesome, as is "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" and "Grey Walls"; "Psycho Street" is Hilarious!Yeah, Imagine if Tom Waits had a decent voice or if Eric Clapton had something even remotely like a sense of humour...Thats Richard Thompson in a nutsack.
― Lord Custos, Sunday, March 3, 2002 7:00 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:13 (fourteen years ago) link
was just listening to Small Town Romance in the car today ... nice, low-key solo record. A little bit raw compared to his slicker solo sets these days.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:18 (fourteen years ago) link
I know almost nothing about him - I think my mom had Rumor & Sigh when I was a kid - but I've been listening to a lot of stuff on YouTube and loving most of it. His guitar playing is pretty amazing.
― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:20 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah, it bears repeating, he is consistently phenomenal on guitar -- seek out live versions of "Calvary Cross" ... mindsplitting.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:24 (fourteen years ago) link
Richard Thompson's entire catalog has been so generally on point he's destined to be taken for granted til death. Missteps, sure, but not many outright clunkers over the course of his career, and even most of those clunkers only seem like clunkers compared to his countless highs. I mean, even the guy's most mediocre material is usually pretty strong. I wonder if folks would take him more seriously if he didn't balance the heavy stuff with awkward attempts at levity?
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:29 (fourteen years ago) link
so are there any good-sounding boots with "Tam Lin" with Thompson on guitar? That's such a heavy song and it bet it ripped live but I've not heard it.
― Houston (Euler), Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:29 (fourteen years ago) link
There's a nice version of it on the Fairport Convention BBC set called "Heyday." Well worth checking out. They do a couple of great covers on it (Everly Brothers, Gene Clark).
― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:31 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah, that BBC version kills, though it is a bummer that it fades! it sounds like Thompson is about to take it to the next level, guitar-wise!
― tylerw, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:31 (fourteen years ago) link
Finding a used copy of Amnesia a few months ago was one of my best purchases of the year.
― post-contrarian meta-challop 2009 (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:32 (fourteen years ago) link
Huh, never noticed that it fades. That does suck.
― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:32 (fourteen years ago) link
it is too bad that there aren't any good live recordings of the Sandy Denny/Liege&Lief Fairport era band. I imagine they were something else ...
― tylerw, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:37 (fourteen years ago) link
i think his stuff from the last 10 years or so is very dreary. i mostly listen to the records with linda these days. hand of kindness was good, then you have hit or miss albums from there until rumor & sigh, then i just kinda lose interests. the worst one was mock tudor imo.
― velko, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:39 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah i haven't really like anything too much since Mock Tudor ... oh and the Grizzly Man soundtrack is pretty great too, but not quite a proper "album".
― tylerw, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:40 (fourteen years ago) link
I have an the original Ryko cd of Heyday without the bonus tracks so I've never heard the "Tam Lin" there. But it's a song built for an epic jam and I figure Thompson must have taken flight on it a few times at least.
― Houston (Euler), Wednesday, 2 September 2009 20:40 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah, but are those new albums bad, or just not nearly as good? I really like "Old kit Bag."
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 21:30 (fourteen years ago) link
oh they aren't bad by any means, there are some really good songs on his recent records ... but there's nothing that i've really *loved*
― tylerw, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 21:46 (fourteen years ago) link
and it might have something to do with missing him on his last few tours -- the live show usually gets me more enthused about his new songs.
finally getting around to the Rafferty-produced version of Shoot Out The Lights. "Modern Woman" is pretty interesting for being a prototype of the "uptempo" songs on his post-Linda albums; it would fit in naturally on Rumor and Sigh, for instance. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, though. I could do without the accordion on it.
― Euler, Thursday, 15 April 2010 12:21 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah, that's a funny one. I like it, but it's definitely out of place amidst those other SOTL songs. i too could do without the accordion -- but it is catchy, isn't it?
― tylerw, Thursday, 15 April 2010 14:58 (fourteen years ago) link
You? Me? Us? is one of his finest later albums IMO.
― anagram, Thursday, 15 April 2010 15:12 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah! i've always liked that one, despite some of the Froomier production choices ... "The Ghost of You Walks" is one of my favorite RT songs.
― tylerw, Thursday, 15 April 2010 15:14 (fourteen years ago) link
the version of the Rafferty tapes I listened to had TWO "Modern Woman"s on it...it was the catchiest of the non-SOTL songs, and even though it wouldn't fit on SOTL I'd take it over "Man In Need". Linda's singing on it is weird, though: halfhearted, and who can blame her, given the lyric?
― Euler, Thursday, 15 April 2010 15:16 (fourteen years ago) link
was just looking at the lineup for Richard's Meltdown Fest -- maybe not the most adventurous stuff in the world, but it does not look like a bad way to spend a couple days. Also laughed at the duo show with him and Loudon Wainwright called "LOUD & RICH" ...
― tylerw, Thursday, 15 April 2010 15:29 (fourteen years ago) link
there's a thread on that here:
Richard Thompson announced as curator of Meltdown 2010
― anagram, Thursday, 15 April 2010 15:35 (fourteen years ago) link
har, i guess people were disappointed over there ...
― tylerw, Thursday, 15 April 2010 15:39 (fourteen years ago) link
On the other hand Mirror Blue goes on way too fucking long.
― Throwing Muses are reuniting for my next orgasm! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 15 April 2010 15:50 (fourteen years ago) link
You? Me? Us? is really good once you boil it down by about 50%. The last one that excited me was Front Parlour Ballads, just cause I loved the soundworld of it.
― I Smell Xasthur Williams (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 15 April 2010 16:11 (fourteen years ago) link
Sweet Warrior has some cracking tunes on it, e.g. Dad's Gonna Kill Me, Take Care the Road You Choose &c.
― anagram, Thursday, 15 April 2010 16:25 (fourteen years ago) link
the solo records that bracket the linda years are the only ones i really care about now, mirror blue and mock tudor really turned me off
― velko, Thursday, 15 April 2010 16:30 (fourteen years ago) link
Mock Tudor stuff was better on live releases. When I saw him in (i think) '07 he did an endless solo on 'Hard On Me' that kicked my ass.
― I Smell Xasthur Williams (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 15 April 2010 16:37 (fourteen years ago) link
You? Me? Us? is really good once you boil it down by about 50%.
This is OTM. Sprawled over 2 discs, I quickly lost interest.
"Amnesia" is the last one that gets regular play though there's great stuff on everything since, more or less. I should review the picks they made for the recent RT career-spanning box.
Anyone else like the French Frith Kaiser Thompson records? Wonderful, weird and fun.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 15 April 2010 16:40 (fourteen years ago) link
my theory is that moving to america was probably great for his personal life but terrible for his music
xpost the first ffkt record is very good, second one is dull
― velko, Thursday, 15 April 2010 16:42 (fourteen years ago) link
ergh, i can hardly listen to anything he did after the mid-1980s. he just seems so oddly, extremely eager to please -- so insistent. there's no questioning his talent, but he just seems like he's competing for some trophy or something. i actually get this a little in the linda period (especially shoot out the lights), but it's somehow manageable. henry the human fly and i want to see the bright lights are his finest moments IMO. and maybe 2/3 of pour down like silver i suppose.
― by another name (amateurist), Thursday, 15 April 2010 16:46 (fourteen years ago) link