RT: The Life and Music of Richard Thompson
Label: Free Reed
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It might not have seemed a blessing at the time, being labeled a ‘cult artist’ and then living up to the reputation, but the singer/songwriter, guitarist extraordinaire, former Fairport Convention member, half-of-duo with ex-wife Linda, session man and soloist known as Richard Thompson actually lives a charmed musician’s life. He might not be able to afford the elaborate swimming pool – something tells me he’s OK with this – but he’s also never obliged to perform the same handful of hits to a fickle audience, and he’s made his eclecticism a major part of his appeal.

So secure is his niche that this five-CD collection (with a bonus sixth going to the first 5,000 folks to send back the reply card) owes much of its song choice to Thompson fans who were asked to vote in their favorites. Uniquely enough, the set doesn’t include a single standard version of a Richard Thompson song among its 103 (including the bonus disc) cuts. Instead, these are live versions and alternate studio cuts that range in sound quality with one consistent trait: The man plays his ass off.

The highlights are everywhere. Squeeze’s “Tempted,” Phil Ochs’ “I Ain’t A-Marching Anymore” and Britney Spears’ “Oops, I Did It Again” from the fourth disc of covers are especially fun. The gentle guitar notes that grace “Ghosts in the Wind” and the crushing benediction of the nine-and-a-half minutes of “Calvary Cross” from the third disc (“Epic Live Workouts”) exemplify Thompson’s musical lyricism. Most rewarding is the fifth disc, 15 songs that Thompson’s played in concert but never officially released. How 1971’s “You Got What You Wanted” and 1984’s “In Over Your Head” never made the cut or were transformed into other songs puts Thompson next to Dylan in terms of overwhelming choices and difficult decisions. Topped off with a 168-page full-color booklet with extensive biography, track notes and an interview, this labor of love is something that every Thompson fan should covet and own.

This article appears in Feb 8-14, 2006.