He walked into a little guitar shop in Athens, GA when I was working there, in college. I brought out our best old gear and just sat and listened while he jammed for an hour or so. He didn't buy anything, but I was elated! After he left, the owner asked, "Who was that guy? He was really good!" I answered, "THAT was Richard Thompson!" "Never heard of him," he said. GREAT memory!
I had heard the name Richard Thompson for years but knew nothing about his music. First time hearing 1952 Vincent Black Lightning I became an instant fan.
🎼" l see angels and arials in leather and chrome sweeping down from heaven to carry me home..and he gave her one last kiss and died..and he gave her his Vincent to ride 🎼 beautiful lyrics..❤ love from Scotland 🏴🏴
Once again, there’s a Danny Thompson……….accompanying a brilliant guitarist…, Davy Graham, Bert Jansch, John Martyn before RT…….fab video on a fab musician.
Yes, the great DT with the great RT 🙌 Saw/(heard!) them in duo mode on a double bill with Loudon Wainwright 3rd in Sydney’s ‘Basement’ years ago… a memorable night☝️😁 Rock On Richard - 🎸
I've been lucky enough to see Richard perform three times including once with Linda Thompson (Sunny vista tour), solo once in the US (Art Theatre NY) and with a band again a couple of years later in Cardiff. It was all wonderful but a particular stand out moment was during the NY gig when, with his acoustic guitar and as an encore, he blasted out an absolutely barnstorming version of Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away. Totally brought the house down and the New Yorkers just loved it.
I discovered Richard and Linda through my niece Tara and then began to go farther back into history exploring his musical history and fell in love with it. To me he is one of the finest guitarists alive with an unforgettable voice. To me Linda added a dimension that was unforgettable just as Sandy Denny’s had earlier. He is a bard in the true tradition and I am glad to have seen him live twice in Austin which was once reputed as Musical Capitol of The World. Having discovered my Scottish ancestry even though part of his is British, I relate to him as my Scottish soulmate♥️.
RT left so much of this stuff out of his memoir, which dealt with his life through the mid-70s. This is a terrific documentary largely thanks to Linda and Nancy’s participation.
Saw him in Akron,and cleveland OH.down by the old Cuyahoga river, in tne 80s.or so, even shook his hand, he appeard to give it up cautiously... luv "Liviin on barrowed time". and" Hand of kindness," along with my other 400 favoriteRT songs.....
Note that this docu was made in 2003. RT has moved to the East coast as of 2019. New Love. Search for "richard-thompsons-winding-road-leads-to-montclair". Saw him with a Fairport reunion in the min 90s, a buhch of times solo, and again in Saybrook CT 2023. Winding road indeed! His writing perfectly illustrates the permutations of the heart and the ineffability of the human soul. and...God I miss Billy Connolly - RIP.
Amazing docu. Glad I found it. RT and Mark Knopfler are three years young than me but we all have something in common - as beginners we all bought the Bert Weedon book "Play in a day". I still gig weekly at age 77 and I sometimes perform "Vincent Black Lightining". As an owner of a Norton motorcycle I recorded it (It's on RU-vid) as "Norton Commando 1972"
Really good at explaining the how's and why's of Richard Thompson's life, especially with the esteemed and missed John Peel. (nostalgia my middle name)
Saw this for the first time today.. Begins describing a mother who finally gave up on Richard 5 years before - 1998.. ok Richard, this music thing is legit.. Describes a strict authoritarian dad, a police detective, who made Richard's stuttering worse and didn't approve of Richard pursuing music. Only that dad was a guitarist himself and liked it when Richard listened to his Django Reinhardt records. That made me laugh out loud. This guy is a true legend easily since the late 1960's. Saw another video from 2023 Richard playing a Fairport song he wrote in 1969 about homeless people being kicked out of a squat. Song holds up beautifully after all these years.
First saw RT in the original Fairport Convention (Judy Dyble) in London about 67/68 and followed him closely ever since, seeing him live in many different settings. His songwriting and guitar playing are wonderful and his catalogue is amazing. He has been a constant soundtrack to my life. Loved this documentary.
Went to see his 70th birthday gig at the Albert Hall. The huge range of artists who turned up to play with him was a tribute to how much he is loved and respected. One of the greatest but so like him to play it down.
What a great Docu, I saw fairport in the 70’s, absolutely brilliant. Richard is one Britains last standing most talented guitarists. Such a modest bloke too when he has every right not to be, as he is up there with the best past & present.
As a new parent WHOSE INFANT ONLY LIKES ROCK & ROLL AND NOISEPOP, I can corroborate the oddity of singing "The End of the Rainbow" as a lullaby. Feels wrong, but the song is so damn good.
If a blue plaque was placed on the site of the former Cooks Ferry Inn, you would get run over attemping to view it. What was once a famous rock venue is now a roundabout. RIP.
Awesome little documentary & anyone that knows of him knows despite the little quirks he's a musical genius . I wish they had a wee bit more of his thoughts on the time he spent playing with Sandy Deny as that had to be a highlight of a small portion of his career but holy moly they made some fine music with that band . One of the finest players around then & now & Sandy was like the female version of himself . pure talent & genius.
California, always California... Dave Mattox had the right idea in settling in Marblehead, Massachusetts, I'm positive New England would be more agreeable to a Brit coming to America. Even the towns have the same names! 😂👍♥️
In my book, that performance of 'Cooksferry Queen' is one of the best in the history of 'Later...'. The guy's a genius, completely agree with Ms. Raitt's suggestion that he's in the highest pantheon of songwriters.
Saw one of the Shoot Out shows in DC. The tension between him and Linda was thick enough,,, but the performance was sublime. A fan from Fairport days. In school days a group of us once had a mock debate "Resolved: Lord Donald was a sport" (Matty Groves).
Saw his electric trio some years back and I swear it sounded like there were 3 guitars. Mighty, mighty sound, and so melodic. Not to mention the depth in the songwriting.
Fairport Convention was way before my time. I remember Shoot Out the Lights made a huge impression on me, the first 'adult' record I got into. Recently I was listening to a album he made 2018 I think - very much a rock and roll record. I loved it.
An aside that he was a grammar school boy . Indeed , we were at William Ellis school at the same time . No mention of Paul Ghosh and another boy who’s name escapes me . The story is that the head called him in , berated him for all the guitar “ nonsense “ and warned him not to fail his “A “ levels. Six months later they played the Albert Hall 😂
Saw that one and only American tour R & L did in support of the superlative ‘Shoot Out The Lights’ . Before the Internet, info took time to be disseminated, so trouble in the marriage wasn’t really known until the Rolling Stone article some months later. Reflecting, there did seem to be some tension, but nothing overt. Linda sat down on the stage during one of his songs, which seemed to nettle him somewhat.But still a great show!
You probably mean the Byrds. As mentioned in this documentary, Fairport Convention invented folk rock based on traditional British music, which led to Steeleye Span and the Albion Band etc.
Neither Fairport Convention nor Horslips "invented" Folk Rock -- that was arguably the Byrds, a few years before either British/Irish group formed. Time magazine used the term in 1965 to describe Dylan's influence on popular music (eg, after he released Bringing It All Back Home), and it was also applied to the Byrds' music around the time they released Mr. Tambourine Man (which, of course, included a lot of Dylan covers). As for Fairport "versus" Horslips - Fairport released both Unhalfbricking (arguably their first rock-oriented folk album) and Liege & Lief (definitely British folk rock) in 1969, a year before Horslips even formed, and three years before they released their first album in 1972.
He's written some great songs and he can play the guitar but he really is a miserable beggar, sneering at everything, ungrateful, blaming everyone else, wife abandoner. He let's himself down.
