Richard Thompson was born April 3, 1949 in Notting Hill Gate, London. He has consistently set songwriting and performance standards others aspire to. He has long been acknowledged both as a sensitive writer and a brilliant and innovative guitarist.
His career began with Fairport Convention with whom he recorded five essential albums including 1969’s Liege and Lief, long regarded as a milestone recording in defining British Folk/Rock and his final album with the group, Full House, released in 1970.
During the 1970s, Richard recorded six albums with his wife Linda, including 1974’s I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight which met with universal critical acclaim, and its title track provided Richard with a hit single in the UK.
The 1980s and 1990s saw a series of highly successful solo albums which superbly demonstrate not only his song-writing talent and guitar wizardry, but also his ability to play a whole range of musical styles – from the mellow and melodic to hard-driven guitar rock.
Released in 2005, Front Parlour Ballads marks Thompson’s first acoustic solo album since 1981 and his first acoustic album of all-original material. Encompassing everything from rollicking tales of quickie marriages in “Let it Blow”, a lilting love song dedicated to “Miss Patsy”, and the devastatingly beautiful lament of “Precious One”, Front Parlour Ballads is a treasure box of stories and characters, all delivered with Thompson’s masterful guitar work, sonorous voice and bittersweet lyrics.
Also released in 2005 were a CD and DVD of a 2001 Richard Thompson performance at Austin City Limits, Richard Thompson – Live From Austin Texas; a DVD of Richard Thompson Band Live in Providence recorded in 2003, Richard Thompson – And Band – Live In Providence ; a 5 CD boxed set, RT – The Life and Music of Richard Thompson, of classic and unreleased songs; and 1000 Years of Popular Music, a live CD and DVD of two performances spanning everything from 13th Century Italian ballads to Hank Williams and Britney Spears.
In early 2010 Thompson formed a band with Pete Zorn on acoustic guitar, flute, saxophone, mandolin, vocals; Michael Jerome on drums, vocals; Taras Prodaniuk on bass and vocals; and Joel Zifkin on electric violin, mandolin, and vocals. They released Dream Attic.
Thompson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2011 for services to music.On July 5th, 2011, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Aberdeen.
In early 2013 Thompson released the album Electric, recorded in Nashville (USA).
In 2014, Thompson released Acoustic Classics, an album with acoustic versions of 14 songs from his back catalogue, on his Beeswing label.
In 2017, Thompson released a second acoustic album titled Acoustic Classics II and Acoustic Rarities, an album of new recordings of rare songs in the Thompson catalogue.
Thompson’s eighteenth studio album, 13 Rivers was released on September 14, 2018.
Discography:
Henry The Human Fly (Island Records, 1972)
I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, with Linda Thompson (1974)
Hokey Pokey, with Linda Thompson (1974)
Pour Down Like Silver, with Linda Thompson (1975)
First Light, with Linda Thompson (1978)
Sunnyvista, with Linda Thompson (1979)
Shoot Out the Lights, with Linda Thompson (1982)
Hand Of Kindness (Hannibal Records, 1983)
Small Town Romance -Live / Solo In New York (Hannibal Records, 1984)
Across A Crowded Room (Polydor, 1985)
Daring Adventures (Polydor, 1986)
Amnesia (Capitol Records, 1988)
Rumor And Sigh (Capitol Records, 1991)
Mirror Blue Capitol Records, 1993)
You? Me? Us? (Capitol Records, 1996)
Industry, with Danny Thompson (Hannibal Records, 1997)
Mock Tudor (Capitol Records, 1999)
The Old Kit Bag (Cooking Vinyl, 2003)
Grizzly Man (Cooking Vinyl, 2005)
Front Parlour Ballads (Cooking Vinyl, 2005)
Live From Austin TX (New West Records, 2005)
Sweet Warrior (Proper Records, 2007)
Dream Attic Proper Records 2010
Live At The BBC (Universal Music/BBC Music, 2011)
Electric (New West Records, 2013)
Acoustic Classics (Beeswing Records, 2014)
Still (Proper Records, 2015)
Acoustic Classics II (Beeswing Records, 2017)
Acoustic Rarities (Beeswing Records, 2017)
Acoustic Classics II + Rarities (Beeswing Records, 2017)
13 Rivers (New West Records, 2018)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.