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Richard Thompson

In 2017, Ivor Novello Award-winning and GRAMMY® Award-nominated legend Richard Thompson gave himself up to the music itself. Picking up a guitar, emotions echoed through his deft fleet-fingered fretwork, poetic songwriting, impassioned picking. Those transmissions comprise his nineteenth solo album, 13 Rivers.

“I never really think about what songs mean,” he admits. “I just write them. Some of them reflect on what happened a few months ago or even a year ago. It’s a process of surveying my life and where I was at.”

In 2017, Thompson began composing ideas for what would become 13 Rivers at his California home. Off the road, he focused on writing. As a result of the defined time period, the music possessed a distinct cohesion.

“I wrote the songs as a group to hang together,” he elaborates. “They belong together in some way and seem to possess a commonality since they were written in the same time and space.”

To capture this vision, he retreated to the famed Boulevard Recording Studio in Los Angeles. Known previously as “The Producers Workshop” and once owned by Liberace and his manager, the locale served as the site for seminal classics by Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Ringo Starr, and Joan Baez. It also hosted the mixing sessions for Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Notably, this marked the first time Thompson self-produced in over a decade and he opted to track analog in just ten days. Engineered by Clay Blair (The War on Drugs), usual suspects Michael Jerome [drums, percussion], Taras Prodaniuk [bass], and Bobby Eichorn [guitar] joined him.

“It’s a funky studio that was quite popular in the sixties and seventies,” he says. “It used to be Hollywood trendy, but it fell into total disrepair. It’s still got some gaps in the walls. I like studios that are honest. It’s about the décor of the sound, and there’s a specific sound to Boulevard. Clay is a Beatles nut, so I could grab a Gretsch off the wall or dial into an amp that had this unbelievable tone reminiscent of The Beatles. They also say Liberace’s ghost still haunts the place, but I hadn’t seen him myself,” laughs Thompson.

13 Rivers commences on the tribal percussion and guitar rustle of “The Storm Won’t Come” as the artist bellows, “I’m looking for a storm to blow through town.” The energy mounts before climaxing on a lyrical electric lead rife with airy bends and succinct shredding.

“Obviously it's been a stressful couple of years,” he sighs. “The song references wanting to change your life—but it’s a difficult undertaking. You have to wait for it to happen naturally. You can’t force it.”

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Book Review

Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975

Read "Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975 Richard Thompson with Scott Timberg 304 Pages ISBN-13 : 978-1616208950 Algonquin Books 2021 Legendary British folk and folk-rock guitarist/singer/songwriter Richard Thompson focuses on his early career in this memoir. The story of his musical coming of age, it is devoted primarily to his years with Fairport Convention, early freelance playing, and work with his ex-wife as Richard and Linda Thompson. The first ...

9
Extended Analysis

Richard Thompson: Electric [Deluxe]

Read "Richard Thompson: Electric [Deluxe]" reviewed by John Kelman


The title may be Electric--and, to be sure, it contains no shortage of the unfettered Celtic quirkiness that's garnered Richard Thompson accolades like “the best electric guitarist since Jimi Hendrix" (Scott Timberg, L.A. Times)--but that doesn't mean there's a paradigm shift going on in the British singer/songwriter's overall modus operandi. Instead, what Thompson does, as he's largely been doing since he first went solo in 1971, is deliver another consistently fine set of original material, playing with a core trio ...

91
Film Review

Richard Thompson Band: Live at Celtic Connections

Read "Richard Thompson Band: Live at Celtic Connections" reviewed by John Kelman


The Richard Thompson BandLive at Celtic Connections Eagle Vision2012 In a career spanning nearly half a century, it wouldn't be unforgivable to put out the occasional duff; with a repertoire of something like 400 original songs, it wouldn't be amiss to expect a writer's pen to dull a tad with age; and with an early career as significant as Richard Thompson's, it wouldn't be beyond the pale to think that the best ...

320
Album Review

Richard Thompson: Dream Attic

Read "Dream Attic" reviewed by John Kelman


Few artists have maintained the unerring consistency of Richard Thompson's near-half century career. After leaving Fairport Convention in 1970--cofounded by the British singer/songwriter/guitarist and bringing electrified energy to music born of the British folk tradition--Thompson's own career grew from those innovations to incorporate an even broader range of stylistic references, all filtered through a particularly dark filter. Shoot Out the Lights (Hannibal, 1982) remains one of the most painful breakup records ever released, charting #9 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest ...

787
Film Review

The Richard Thompson Band: Live in Providence

Read "The Richard Thompson Band: Live in Providence" reviewed by John Kelman


The Richard Thompson BandLive in Providence In the USA: SpinART Records In Canada: True North Records 2004 There are few singer/songwriters who have garnered the kind of widespread critical acclaim for such a lengthy career as Richard Thompson. From his earliest days with the British folk/rock band Fairport Convention, it was clear that Thompson was not only a uniquely talented guitarist with a distinctive style that owed as much to the Uillean pipes ...

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Video / DVD

Richard Thompson: Live at Celtic Connections DVD/Blu-Ray

Richard Thompson: Live at Celtic Connections DVD/Blu-Ray

Source: JamBase

OUT ON DVD AND BLU-RAY JANUARY 31 Eagle Rock Entertainment is proud to issue The Richard Thompson Band Live At Celtic Connections on DVD and Blu-ray on January 31, 2012. His first live concert DVD in over five years, as well as his very first Blu-ray release in his 40-year career, is certainly worth the wait. Recorded in DTS Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Stereo, and filmed in high-definition, Live At Celtic Connections took place in January ...

108

Performance / Tour

Richard Thompson Receives Obe from the Queen, Plans Tour

Richard Thompson Receives Obe from the Queen, Plans Tour

Source: JamBase

LEGENDARY SINGER/SONGWRITER RECEIVES OBE FROM THE QUEEN; ANNOUNCES U.S. AND CANADA TOUR STARTING AUGUST 27 Richard Thompson was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) today for his singular and substantial contribution to music. The award was presented by Queen Elizabeth during the special investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace. Crowning an extraordinary week, Thompson will also be bestowed with an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Aberdeen on July 5, for his “exceptional and distinctive contribution to contemporary music, ...

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Recording

Richard Thompson - Dream Attic (Shout Factory, 2010)

Richard Thompson - Dream Attic (Shout Factory, 2010)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland

Recording an album full of new material in front of a live audience is something of a gamble, but it has paid off handsomely for veteran guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson, his new album captures the energy of his always potent live performance and combines it was an excellent set of new songs to very good effect. He has a tight backing band consisting of Pete Zorn on guitars, flute, saxophone and mandolin, Michael Jerome on drums, Taras Prodaniuk bass, ...

196

Event

Richard Thompson's 'Cabaret of Souls' Premieres -- Will It Ever Be Heard from Again?

Richard Thompson's 'Cabaret of Souls' Premieres -- Will It Ever Be Heard from Again?

Source: Michael Ricci

Officials at the International Society of Bassists wanted new music featuring the instrument to highlight its annual convention happenings this week in Philadelphia.

One of the composers they turned to for a commission was British folk-rock guitarist-singer-songwriter extraordinaire Richard Thompson.

Rather than dashing off a quick melody and variation, Thompson delivered an hour-plus song cycle of sorts titled Cabaret of Souls, the tale of a talent contest set in hell.

“Originally it was going to be eight to 10 minutes ...

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Recording

Richard Thompson and Mirage: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Richard Thompson and Mirage: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Source: All About Jazz

New York, NY--March 2008... Arabesque Jazz announces the release of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot from pianist Richard Thompson. Richard Thompson presents the traditional spiritual to audiences in a format guaranteed to please, and seizes the attention of listeners who are looking for fresh takes on such well-known and emotional material. He deftly intertwines his thoughtful piano style with the inspirational sounds of each musician and his delicate arrangements while weaving together a colorful musical tapestry. Richard Thompson will be sure ...

"The finest rock songwriter after Dylan and the best electric guitarist since Hendrix." —Los Angeles Times

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Hard Luck Stories...

Island Records
2020

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Richard Thompson:...

Newwest Records
2013

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Dream Attic

Shout! Factory
2010

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Industry

King Records
1997

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Generations

Origin Records
0

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Song Without Words

From: Generations
By Richard Thompson

Videos

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