 | By: Richard Thompson Linda Thompson Label: Universal / Island Released: 21 Aug 2000 RRP: Average Rating:  |
The tracks are selected from albums Richard released in the '70s both solo & with his then wife, Linda & display a remarkable richness of texture both musical & lyrical. It's been said often enough that Richard's lyrics were alll "doom & gloom", & there's plenty of that here, of course, witness the title track & "Down where the drunkards roll" but there are also songs that are more uplifting such as "I want to see the bright lights tonight" in their wry take on life as lived.
Like a lot of people who were brought up musicallly in the 60s & 70s on a diet of Top 40 radio, my exposure to music outside most radio DJ's playlists was very limited; but listening to friends' Fairport Convention & Pentangle albums opened the door to a different world. Richard Thompson & his albums have always been highly rated by the "thinking" music magazines but popular acclaim has always evaded him, almost certainly because the aforementioned Top 40 radio stations took the view that Thompsons gloomy lyrics wouldn't go down well. Shades of Dave Edmund's "A1 on the Jukebox"!
So go on, buy it. You won't regret it. Buy it for Linda's clear, honest & beautiful vocals (How is it that England has produced so many wonderful female vocalists in the folk-rock tradition over the years...Sandy Denny, Maddy Prior, Jacqui McShee?) ; buy it for Richard's searingly open lyrics & guitar playing; buy it, even for John Kirkpatrick's essential contributions on accordion & anglo concertina; but most of alll, & if for only one track, buy it for "Dimming of the Day". Along with Lowell George's "Twenty Million Things" this must rank as the most impossibly, achingly beautiful song in the, oh, the heck with it, English language.
I rest my case
The collection opens with two songs from Richard first solo album after leaving Fairport Convention, before moving to the first three albums he recorded with his wife Linda. More than half the classic album 'I want to see the bright lights tonight' is included, although the next two albums 'Hokey pokey' & 'Pour down like silver' are more sparsely represented than I would have liked. Two tracks are included from the 1976 collection 'guitar, vocal' - one a beautiful alternate version of 'A heart needs a home' but the other a sprawling 13 minute live version of 'Calvary cross'. This may have been good as a live performance, but it doesn't hold the listener's attention very well when it basicallly just consists of three repeated chords. I would far sooner have had 3 or 4 other album tracks of conventional length instead, & the opportunity of providing an even more comprehensive compilation has therefore been lost. However, it is so good to have this music available again that I cannot do other than give the album a 5 star rating & thoroughly recommend it as an introduction to one of folk-rock's most significant figures.
As I have said, the selection is excellent & because the track selection is in chronological order you can trace Thompson's development as a singer, songwriter & musician through those exciting years. I can't not mention Linda's voice which was always a superb foil for Richard's songwriting. It has been a great loss to British music that she has alll but retired form the music business.
One last gripe - there's always one - the liner notes by Clinton Heylin contain his usual mistakes & lack of depth of knowledge - his chronological knowledge is out of order. Still, it doesn't mar the album - which has an excellent cover, too. Well done Island, you got this one right. Now I only need take this CD with me on holiday instead of wondering how to fit them alll in.
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