KEEPING UP WITH THE THOMPSONS

Once flippantly but affectionately called ‘the Sonny & Cher of the folk world’, RICHARD & LINDA THOMPSON are worshipped as living legends, a jewel in the crown of Island Records. In the same year the label marks its 50th anniversary, Richard is the subject of a comprehensive box set, while Linda looks to the future with a little help from her fans. TERRY STAUNTON spoke to them both.

Richard Thompson began 2009 by touring his celebrated live show 1,000 Years Of Popular Music. A melodic trawl through the ages, it found the folk figurehead putting his spin on everything from 13th century Latin church songs to 15th century ballads depicting the Battle Of Agincourt, from sea shanties to miners’ laments, from Gilbert & Sullivan to Cole Porter, from The Kinks to The Korgis. A glorious two hours was brought to a close with a spirited reading of Nelly Furtado’s Maneater.

This summer, he’s turned his attentions to his own musical past, and while the Walking On A Wire box set cannot claim to cover an entire millennium, it is nonetheless a breathtaking 40- year travelogue highlighting his prodigious beginnings with folk royalty Fairport Convention, the powerful series of albums he made with his then wife Linda in the 70s and 80s, and his prolific solo output since.

Long regarded as one of the music world’s most inspired and articulate writers, not just in folk circles, Thompson is adept at conveying the darker side of affairs of the heart, odes to his homeland, evocative tales of biker gangs, matinee idols, shell-shocked soldiers, and all manner of human existence. As you might expect from such a learned and enthusiastic scholar of song, no musical style holds any …

by TERRY STAUNTON
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