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One
of a kind
Richard Thompson, a singular man who makes singular
music, has just released his best studio album in years.
By Derk
Richardson
THE STORY
OF the gifted musician bursting the confines of a band is familiar,
as is its parallel number about the runaway ego. (But we're
not here to talk about Mick Jagger.)
Folk rock is
played, necessarily, by a band, and in 1967, Richard Thompson cofounded
Fairport Convention, the unstable London-based coagulation of unpredictable
talents (including Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol, Ian Matthews,
Judy Dyble, Sandy Denny, Dave Mattacks, and many more right up to
this day). Together they helped shape and define England's answer
to the Byrds and Jefferson Airplane. And of course, four years and
four official albums later, Thompson set out on his own, releasing
his first solo album, starring as Henry the Human Fly, in
1972.
While he remains
the exemplar of all that is great about Brit folk rock – by
now it's old hat to point out his triple threats as an unrivaled
master of both electric and acoustic guitar, an impeccable and wily
songwriter, and a singer of shivering passion and conviction –
his career also represents the conundrum of the folk rock musician
whose individual gifts transcend any given context but also require
a band for their utmost expression. Thompson is brilliant and much
loved on his own, as attested to by innumerable solo acoustic tours
and such "official bootleg" recordings as Celtschmerz.
But he has always reached his pinnacles of self-expression
in the company of others, pealing off his longest, most snarling
guitar solos and pushing his voice out of a Sufi-centered Celtic
drone to terrifying edge of ragged lunacy.
Indeed, for
the decade after the release of Henry the Human Fly, Thompson
didn't take solo billing. From 1973's I Want to See the Bright
Lights Tonight through 1982's Shoot Out the Lights, it
was always Richard and Linda Thompson. After the breakup of folk
rock's royal couple, which famously manifested itself in onstage
acrimony and bottle throwing during the Shoot Out the Lights
tour, Thompson immediately resumed recording solo, and but
for two gloriously oddball album collaborations with John French,
Fred Frith, and Henry Kaiser, it's been that way ever since. Still,
Thompson's idiosyncratic, original folk rock (flexible enough in
its blending of elements to be covered by everyone from Bonnie Raitt
and R.E.M. to X and Dinosaur Jr.) reaches its fullest potential
when the marquee reads "Richard Thompson Band."
Which brings
us to the current crossroads in Thompson's recording career. Like
John Hiatt, Bruce Cockburn, Nick Lowe, and other folk and rock veterans
whose consistent artistic quality has always eclipsed their record
sales, Thompson is making the transition from low-priority side
dish in the corporate food chain to main course for a quality-conscious
independent label. After 16 years on Polydor and Capitol, he is
going the indie route, on Cooking Vinyl/spinART, with the release
of The Old Kit Bag, his first studio album since 1999's Mock
Tudor. Moreover, Thompson has ramped up productivity in his
cottage industry of Internet- and gig-only sales of live albums.
What started modestly with the unplugged duo album with bassist
Danny Thompson, Live at Crawley 1993, has burgeoned with
last year's Semi-Detached Mock Tudor, the brand-new More
Guitar!, and the forthcoming 1000 Years of Popular Music.
Commercial independence
suits Thompson's outsider aesthetic. All of the production tricks
of Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake, or Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf,
were never going to help Thompson crack the mainstream pop market.
On The Old Kit Bag, producer John Chelew helps bring
Thompson's gifts into sharper relief, the kind usually found in
concert. It's a refreshingly stripped-down album, with Thompson
picking, slashing, and singing (and playing bits of accordion, dulcimer,
mandolin, and harmonium) against Danny Thompson's sturdy acoustic
bass, Michael Jerome's rock-solid drums, and Judith Owen's vocal
harmonies. Thompson's 1990s albums – Rumor and Sigh, You?
Me? Us?, Mirror Blue, and Mock Tudor – all had grand
moments, but The Old Kit Bag, subtitled "Unguents, Fig
Leaves and Tourniquets for the Soul," is a great leap forward.
On its 12 moody meditations and hard-edged rockers, exploring the
typical themes of pathological romance and cultural corruption,
Thompson sings with more conviction and nuance – whether the
mood is resigned or exultant, defeated or defiant – than he
has in any of his studio recordings. The most chilling example is
the way he takes "A Love You Can't Survive" from a delicate
acoustic ballad and builds it into harrowing emotional hysteria.
Similar performances
abound on More Guitar!, a 1988 live recording compiled
and produced by Oakland guitarist Kaiser. Its 12 songs were captured
in concert not long after the release of Amnesia, Thompson's
fifth solo album after he left Linda. With Clive Gregson (guitar,
vocals), Christine Collister (vocals), John Kirkpatrick (accordion,
vocals), Pat Donaldson (bass), and Kenny Aronoff (drums), the band
was arguably Thompson's best between Fairport Convention and the
one he's touring with today. In terms of tunes, Amnesia still
stands as one of the strongest collections in Thompson's catalog.
This live set includes five from that album – "Don't
Tempt Me," "Can't Win," "Gypsy Love Songs,"
"I Still Dream," and "Jerusalem on the Jukebox."
But others – like "Jennie" from 1986's Daring
Adventures, the powerful "Shoot Out the Lights" from
the album of the same name, and covers of Gene Clark's "Here
Without You" and the Animals' "We Gotta Get Out of this
Place" – more than hold up their end of the bargain. The
singing is spectacular, but More Guitar! lives up to its
billing with chorus after chorus of Thompson's spiraling solos that
careen recklessly and passionately into prolonged climaxes.
On The Old
Kit Bag and More Guitar!, Thompson connects deeply with
his doleful muse and the fellow musicians who enable him to fully
articulate that muse. This is folk rock at its singular best.
Richard
Thompson and band play May 17, 9 p.m, Fillmore, 1805 Geary,
S.F. $25. (415) 346-6000 or (415) 421-TIXS. Thompson also performs
with Christy McWilson May 24, 9 p.m., Cocoanut Grove, 400 Beach,
Santa Cruz. $24.50. (831) 423-7970. Thompson's official live albums
are available at www.richardthompson-music.com
and www.theconnextion.com.
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