Sunny on the Outside, Stormy on the Inside

I've never been what you'd call a voracious reader, but I've usually had a book or two on the go at once - up until a couple of years ago anyway. Since then, well for one reason and another I've found it nigh-on impossible to concentrate on any serious reading - I've tried several times, but just found myself struggling through a handful of pages, putting the book down and never picking it up again. This lack of focus hasn't stopped me buying the blighters though and when I moved house in October, my aching back told me just how many unread volumes I'd accumulated. So a couple of weeks ago, when out of the blue I was hit by the overwhelming urge to read, you might naturally assume that I'd pluck one of those unread tombs from the shelf and dig in, but no. Instead, I went out to a newly reopened independent bookshop and purchased a copy of Richard Thompson's recently published recounting of his own nascent musical journey, Beeswing. It turns out I made a good decision, instantly drawn in, I polished it off in a couple of sittings. 

Beeswing is a thoroughly engaging read, written in an easy, conversational style that isn't overwrought and doesn't dwell unnecessarily - for example, by as early as page 21 the initial line-up of Fairport Convention is already in place. Songs are dissected, relationships examined, legendary names dropped (Jimi Hendrix, Syd Barrett, Nick Drake, Phil Ochs etc) and tragedies reluctantly addressed. More importantly than anything, Thompson's writing sends you scurrying back to those early records - and I can offer no higher praise than that. 

Here's a Hutchings/Thompson original from the Fairports' oft overlooked 1968 debut LP. 

Fairport Convention - It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft

Happy 70th Birthday Richard Thompson

Richard Thompson has cropped up on these pages several times over the years, not least here with a stunning performance of what is quite simply one of the greatest songs ever written. Today, Richard hits 70 years of age and thankfully shows no sign of slowing down. Even though his long recording career has resulted in a nigh-on impeccable series of albums, you really do have to see the man perform live to truly appreciate his full genius. I'm due to catch him in concert once again in the Summer, after which I'll be sure to report back.

Many happy returns of the day Mr Thompson.

My Hat's Off to You

I caught Richard Thompson's solo acoustic tour on Saturday evening and watching him perform from just a few feet away was, as always, a jaw-dropping treat. We didn't get 'I Misunderstood' or 'The Ghost of You Walks', both of which he's played recently and are personal favourites of mine, but in all honesty it would be churlish to complain given the wonderful selection we did get. The opening salvo of 'Gethsemane', 'Down Where the Drunkards Roll' and 'Valerie' was simply breathtaking, 'Crocodile Tears' laugh out loud funny and 'Beeswing' had many a grown man in the audience reaching for a hankie to wipe something from their eye. And so it continued, classics rubbed shoulders with forgotten gems, overlooked favourites and even an excellent new song, 'Trying', that's destined for Thompson's next LP in 2018.

In a night of many highlights it was, as ever, the phenomenal '1952 Vincent Black Lightning' that will linger longest in the memory. The older I get, the more I appreciate what an utterly perfect marriage of art, artist and performance this song really is.

Gethsemane

Down Where the Drunkards Roll

Valerie

Crocodile Tears

Beeswing

Beatnik Walking

Uninhabited Man

Push and Shove

They Tore the Hippodrome Down

I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

Who Knows Where the Time Goes?

1952 Vincent Black Lightning

Persuasion

Trying

A Love You Can't Survive

Wall of Death

King Of Bohemia

One Door Opens

Encore: 

Tear Stained Letter

Encore 2:

Waltzing's For Dreamers

Hots For The Smarts

Meet on the Ledge

Bright Phoebus

Unless something really extraordinary occurs between now and December, 'Bright Phoebus' by Lal & Mike Waterson will be my reissue of 2017. On its original release in September 1972, the LP was met by a wall of anger and bafflement from a devout folk establishment that believed exclusively in the passing down of traditional songs from generation to generation and held no truck at all with singers who wrote their own material. That Lal & Mike's remarkable set of  self-written songs were frequently, if indirectly, informed by that very tradition was a fact apparently overlooked by all but a very few, less blinkered souls.

During the course of its 40+ years of unavailability, 'Bright Phoebus' has steadily gained a reputation for being the lost masterpiece that it truly is. I've had an iffy quality bootleg CDr of the album for around 25 years and had long since given up any hope of ever holding a bona-fide copy in my hands, but thanks to the good folk at Domino Records, here it is. The full story of how the songs came to be written and how the recordings came to be made is brilliantly told by Pete Paphides in the accompanying booklet (read an excerpt here), plus there is also a deluxe edition of the reissue which includes a further 12 previously unreleased performances from the period.

If you have any interest at all in the English folk and folk-rock scenes of the late 1960's and early 1970's, you really do need to hear this album. Richard Thompson, Martin Carthy, Ashley Hutchings, Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Dave Mattacks, Bob Davenport and Norma Waterson all lend their considerable respective talents to the recordings, which gives you some idea of the quality threshold we're talking about. And then there's the songs. It's all about those songs. By turns they're dark, desolate, mysterious, beautiful and even, as in the case of the title track, positively jaunty. I honestly can't recommend 'Bright Phoebus' highly enough.

Lal & Mike Waterson - Bright Phoebus

The Ghost Of You Walks

If he were the proprietor of a High Street shop, he could quite legitimately hang a business sign above his door stating something along the lines of - 'Richard Thompson: Making Other Singer/Songwriters and Guitarists Look Pretty Ordinary Since 1968'. On Friday evening Richard Thompson (fronting his Electric Trio) did just that, throughout an incendiary set that touched on all periods of his long career. Highlights? Blimey, now you're asking. '1952 Vincent Black Lightning' never, ever gets old and was utterly spectacular. 'Beatnik Walking' one of several treats from his latest LP, 'Still'. 'Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?', possibly the only song from 'Shoot Out the Lights' I'd never previously seen him perform in concert. A totally inspired cover of beat classic 'Take a Heart' by The Sorrows as a final encore. Best of all though, was a frankly staggering reading of 'Hard on Me' (originally issued on 'Mock Tudor' in 1999) in which Thompson's extended solo was beyond comparison with any other guitar-slinger that I've ever come across and should more realistically be musically likened to how it must have felt to experience John Coltrane in full flight.

I recently flicked through an article that rated all of Richard Thompson's solo LP's in reverse order and was marginally horrified to read that the author had ranked the 1996 double album 'You? Me? Us?' as his worst. I couldn't tell you offhand what title I'd put at the bottom of the heap, the man's quality threshold is so high, I can tell you that it wouldn't be 'You? Me? Us?' though. Fortunately for those punters sitting in my vicinity, Richard Thompson didn't play 'The Ghost Of You Walks' on Friday evening, because If he had, there wouldn't have been a dry eye in my little corner of the house.

Feed the Birds

Here's Mum, aged 15, enthusiastically feeding pigeons near Trafalgar Square. The year was 1948 and the horrors of war were a fading memory, with the promise of good times just around the corner. Dad was just around the corner too. My parents met within two years of this photo being taken and courted for the next five, before marrying in 1955.

18 years later, at the same location, I'm not nearly so confident. Note the big empty space around me. Those pigeons could sense that I wasn't keen. Dad tried every trick in the book to make me interact with the blighters, but I was having none of it.