Richard Thompson CD's & DVD's

Front Parlour Ballads is almost entirely acoustic, with all instruments but percussion played by Richard Thompson himself. Despite the basic approach, however, this is not a sparse album. His guitar playing is as complex as ever, and the songs stand comparison with any of his best.

The melodies shine here as does Thompson's rich baritone (although for many his voice can be an acquired taste). While low-key compared to his louder electric studio outings, "Front Parlour Ballads" still features the rich imagery and use of language that always makes his material better than just about everyone else's.

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Shoot Out The Lights:  Real life intruded on Richard and Linda Thompson and turned this CD into a harrowing masterpiece. The collection was difficult to create.  It also became their final record together, lending extra poignance to such classically grim Richard Thompson titles as "Did She Jump or Was She Pushed" and "Wall of Death."

The combination of Richard's inventive guitar work; his ragged vocals; and Linda's fragile, beautiful singing, all suffocatingly emotional, backed for the most part by longtime Thompson associates from Fairport Convention, make Shoot Out the Lights essential. --David Wolf

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The Best Of Richard & Linda Thompson:  Richard Thompson earned the respect of fans for his guitar playing with Fairport Convention in the late 1960s. But it was the albums he made with his then-wife Linda in the early 1970s that gained him the reputation as one the premier songwriters to emerge from the British folk-rock scene.  The songs on this 16-song collection are taken from the couple's first four albums together:

Linda's slightly husky alto inspired some of Richard's sweetest melodies. The words may sometimes paint a bleak view of human relations, but the beauty of Linda's voice and the perfection of Richard's guitar lines do an excellent job of lightening the heavy mood. --Michael Simmons

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Rumour & Sigh:  As an inimitable guitarist and songwriter also playing Stratocaster, acoustic guitar, or mandolin, Richard Thompson has written an astonishing body of songs that can time-travel from moor and meadow to factory town and cyberspace and keep both tragedy and farce in focus.

This superb 1991 solo album is no exception. Spurred by his darting electric jigs and reels, up-to-the-minute and old as the hills, the set juggles traditional forms and modern production to comment on sex education, homicide and, as always, love gone wrong or tragically interrupted at once a gentle parody of Beach Boys car songs and a rigorously constructed acoustic ballad. --Sam Sutherland
 

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Mock Tudor: A literate songwriter and fearlessly talented guitarist, Richard Thompson is also a complete bust when it comes to romance. Or so Mock Tudor, which details love gone wrong from an early age to present, suggests over and over.

This album once again displays Thompson's mastery of styles to great effect, whilst the looser production represents a break with the albums that came before. As to be expected, his guitar playing is brilliant throughout. Mock Tudor is right up there with Thompson's best work of the 1990s.
 

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Mirror Blue: As usual, Thompson throws himself into his songs, never content to settle for pretty or clever, always asking more from each song, asking it to do something no other song has ever quite done. Fate is playing strange tricks on Thompson, blessing him with a nearly unrivaled talent but keeping him in obscurity

Mitchell Froom's inventive production (surely a personal best) gives each of these songs a delightfully individual feel. Mr. Thompson matches it with his best collection of songs ever, nearly every one a classic. How could anyone give this marvellous CD less than five stars? One of the all time great disks.

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Old Kit Bag:  Thompson is one of the master musicians & storytellers of the 60s British rock scene. Seminal releases with Fairport Convention & 30+ years of solo albums & assorted collaborations mark an eclectic & uncompromising career.

This, his first studio record since 1999, is an intimate, smoky album of narrative songs, recorded as a trio with minimal overdubs, & allowing him to show off his guitar playing. Includes a free bonus disc with 2 exclusive audio tracks  plus a 2 minute 40 second Quicktime clip taken from the BBC documentary on Richard entitled 'A Solitary Life'. Cooking Vinyl. 2003

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DVD: Live In Providence:  One for the fans, Richard Thompson – "Live in Providence" is this legendary guitarist and songwriter’s first commercial concert available on DVD. It was recorded on his The Old Kit Bag tour and includes some of his best loved songs, new and old. Recorded with a 4 camera shoot, the concert footage is beautiful and intimate.

Along with the 13 songs from the show in Providence, there are nine other performances by Richard Thompson from various sources including Austin City Limits and the famed British music program, The Old Grey Whistle Stop

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DVD: Live In Austin, TX:  The Thompson boys deliver the goods and there are few chemistries as magical as those cast by the superb fretwork of Richard Thompson on six string and Danny Thompson on upright.   The sound (especially for those with DTS systems) is fantastic, the song choices perfect, the picture quality is great, and, of course, this particular trio is one of the greatest in folk-rock history

Whether familiar with Richard Thompson's work or not, anyone who appreciates great songwriting, and/or great, innovative guitar playing should own this one

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