Richard Thompson amp Linda - The Best of Richard Linda Thompson The Island Records Years (16 tracks) +Album Reviews

One of the Music World's Best-Kept Secrets

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 11/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Poor Richard Thompson. Long revered by his peers and his devoted cult following as one the the most gifted singer/songwriter/guitar players ever, he couldn't get arrested if he marched naked in Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. When Rolling Stone magazine picked Richard and Linda's Shoot Out the Lights (1982) as the No. 9 album of the Eighties it had by decade's end still sold fewer than 20,000 copies and never even charted in Billboard's Top 200 album chart. If like millions of other Americans you've never heard of Richard and then-wife Linda Thompson, this is an excellent place to start. The 16 selections collected here are taken from his first four (and only) albums recorded for Island after he left the British folk/rock band Fairport Convention in 1971.It's pointless to quibble over which tracks got left off this collection. All four of the Thompsons' studio albums (Henry the Human Fly, I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight, Hokey Pokey and Pour Down Silver) belong in any true fan's record library, but (alas) they are out of print and this Best of the Island Years does an adequate job of sampling those albums--including a stunning 13-minute live version of "Calvary Cross" from the odds and ends album Guitar, Vocal. Thompson could write upbeat songs like "Hokey Pokey," but more often his songs would probe the dark underbelly of the human condition in songs like "The Poor Ditching Boy," "Down Where the Drunkards Roll" and "Dimming of the Day." These achingly beautiful songs are sung by Linda and/or Richard and feature some of the sharpest guitar playing this side of Eric Clapton.While Richard and Linda's masterpiece may have been Shoot Out the Lights, any of the four Island Records that comprise this collection are worth seeking out. Short of their being individually rereleased, enjoy this generous 77-minute compilation. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"

Sublime music, essential CD

m_noland | Washington, DC United States | 12/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This disk contains material from 4 studio albums that Richard and Linda Thompson made for Island Records in the 1970s, and a couple live tracks which have appeared on other collections. This disk is a must if for no other reason than the Island CDs are out of print and the other Richard Thompson anthology ("Watching the Dark") shortchanges the music from this era which I personally believe was his best. The mixes are extraordinarily clear and despite having listened to some of this music for 25 years, I heard things that I had never heard before.The songs are amazing, reflecting Thompson's interests in rock and roll, being English, England's folk music tradition, and his conversion to Islam. Every track is strong. One of the reasons that I think that this was his strongest period was the presence of then-wife Linda Peters, a highly emotive singer, who provided a healthy counterpoint/balance/tension to Thompson's own voice and guitar. This was particularly important since Thompson tended to record without another guitarist or strong instrumental soloist, so Linda's presence filled out the sound. Her bigger vocal range also allowed him to write more vocally demanding melodies than his own voice could sustain.I have one quibble with the track sequencing (which is easily enough remedied if one really cares). The live versions of "Night Comes In" and "Calvary Cross" are extraordinary, featuring Thompson on guitar, John Kirkpatrick on accordion, Dave Pegg on bass, and Dave Mattacks on drums. These guys express an understanding of dynamics (i.e. the music gets soft, then it gets loud again)that is unheard of in rock music . The only musical comparison I can make is with John Coltrane's classic 1960s quartet with Thompson in the Coltrane/soloist roll and Kirkpatrick creating the chordal structure a la McCoy Tyner. The two tracks were recorded the same night at the same show. They belong together. It couldn't be done on vinyl because of their length, but there is no reason not to sequence them together on disk.Finally, the liner notes and documentation are good. Unlike many greatest hits packages (ok, Richard and Linda Thompson didn't have a lot of "hits") the musicians are actually documented. So, if you want to know played the bass on a particular track, you can look it up. This is an essential CD. Get it. You won't be disappointed."

Superb collection of songs, though possibly not for everyone

Antony D. O'dowd | Honiara, Solomon Islands | 10/30/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For thirty years I have been a closet Richard and Linda fan. While fashions have ebbed and flowed (in folk, as well as everywhere else) I have stuck to my belief that the series of Island albums sampled here constitute one of the absolute pinnacles of recorded folk music. I could not count the number of times I have listened to these songs.Lots of people have taken the view that "Shoot Out the Lights" was the best Richard and Linda album. Others lean more towards "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight", or even "Henry the Human Fly". "Sunnyvista" has had its champions as well, though not all that many. Personally, for me it was always "Pour Down Like Silver" - which is very well represented on this compilation. Nearly three decades later, I haven't changed my mind. I still get a chill down my spine when the sombre and majestic swing of "Night Comes In" kicks in, or when I hear the plaintive melancholia of "Dimming of the Day". If you think folk music should be endless rollicking jigs and reels, or hokey stories about ghosts, goblins and alienated ne'er do wells carving up morally stunted aristocrats, then perhaps this music is not for you. For much of it is slow, lots of it is melancholy and confessional, and the lyrics definitely have a tendency to take you into reflective states. Not all of it - "For Shame of Doing Wrong", "When I Get to the Border" and "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" swing with the best of them - but the basic overall message you will take away from this set of songs is that life is not always a bowl of cherries. Do not play it at parties. If you do, it will be last CD that is played that night, believe me. But not every record is, or should be, a party record. What is contained here is a set of superb singer-songwriter folk songs delivered with genuine emotion and soul, underpinned with a love of real life, and created with a profound recognition of the spiritual need for human beings to draw on each other for support and comfort. These songs will stay with you for a lifetime. At their peak, Richard and Linda were the quintessential husband and wife team (with all the tensions and compromises that entails), with perfectly complimentary skills. It does not hurt that there are a killer set of musicians in the background doing their thing as well. It all went a bit pear-shaped later on, but this is the real stuff. Whether it be the extraordinary live version of "Calvary Cross", or the gut-wrenching existential crisis of "The End of the Rainbow", it is doubtful that you will listen to this CD without being affected. This is the best collection assembled so far, of the best period, of some of the best artists of the medium. Richard and Linda have gone on to to other great things - but this set of songs is very likely what they will be most remembered for. If you haven't caught up with this period yet, this CD is the perfect way to do so."

I WANNA SEE THE BRIGHT LIGHTS TONIGHT

Antony D. O'dowd | 04/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So many have said Richard Thompson could have been Eric Clapton had commercial success not eluded him. That's doing Thompson a major disservice. Clapton's not even a fraction of the songwriter Thompson is,and ol'Slowhand plays blues, whereas Thompson is astonishingly much more versitle. I have no idea why Richard and ex-wife Linda Thompson weren't huge and I won't venture to guess. I will say that Thompson is one of the greatest songwriters in popular rock ever. This disc is proof, although I would recommend the individual albums over this compilation (those being : I WANT TO SEE THE BRIGHT LIGHTS TONIGHT, POUR DOWN LIKE SILVER and SHOOT OUT THE LIGHTS).Key to the fertile period this package chronicles is ofcourse, Linda Thompson, who is perhaps my favorite female vocalist of all time. She has more edge, honesty ,passion and pathos than any singer I've heard in rock since Joplin (but don't think I'm making any comparisions other than on an emotive level).One thing that makes this compilation worthwile is the live version of CALVARY CROSS, Thompson's surreal and epic ode to his dark muse with stellar guitar playing and lines like "I'll hurt you till you need me".Overall there is a black, twisted sense of irony to these songs, which is what makes Thompson so great. He is not afraid to be bitter or pessimisstic. One can see his influence on the young Elvis Costello with barbed lines like "I feel for you you little horror" (from the unrepentant END OF THE RAINBOW).Stand out tracks featuring Linda's talents can be found in the woeful resignation of DIMMING OF THE DAY, not to mention in the country-styled suicide note, WITHERED & DIED. She also manages to put a real sense of desperation into the seemingly jaunty ditty, I WANT TO SEE THE BRIGHT LIGHTS TONIGHT. The couple's perverse sense of humor is never more evident than on DOWN WHERE THE DRUNKARDS ROLL.NIGHT COMES IN showcases Richard's guitar skills and BEAT THE RETREAT shows his power and restraint as a vocaist.Though no tracks from their so called "divorce" album, SHOOT OUT THE LIGHTS are included this is still a wonderful introduction to their work. Still, I would recommend you pick up BRIGHT LIGHTS, SILVER, & SHOOT to get the full story...END"

Search - Richard Thompson & Linda :: The Best of Richard & Linda Thompson: The Island Records Years

CD Details

Synopsis

Similarly Requested CDs

Member CD Reviews

CD Reviews