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Richard Thompson: More Guitar

BY CHRIS ROBERSON
It’s become something of a ritual for critics to
start their reviews of Richard Thompson’s work by scratching their
heads over
why he is not
a household name on a rank with John Lennon or Neil Young (or even, one
might add, John Denver or Christopher Cross). At
this point, though, it seems better simply to celebrate the fact that
Thompson has managed
to eke out enough commercial success to see him through a career that
has been musically, if not financially, stellar. Thirty-five years after
his start with Fairport Convention, Thompson continues to release album
after album of outstanding music, long after many of his contemporaries
have seen fit to retire (or, sadly, to keep churning out music that has
little to no appeal. Paul McCartney, I’m looking in your direction).
More
Guitar is a live fan club release on Thompson’s own Beeswing
label. The performances are from 1988’s Amnesia tour, featuring
the crack backing performances of John Kirkpatrick, Clive Gregson, Pat
Donaldson, Kenny
Aronoff, and Christine Collister. Hardcore Thompson fans will recognize
“Can’t Win” as the same version on the three-CD compilation Watching
the
Dark, complete with one fan’s frenzied “Yeeeeooooo!” at
the beginning. That tune, according to Dark’s liner notes,
was recorded on Nov. 7, 1988, in Washington, D.C. It’s unclear
how much of the rest of More Guitar was recorded at the same concert.
The CD’s
liner notes are sadly lacking, providing only performing and engineering
credits
and the information that the tracks were recorded some time during 1988.
Subsequent cuts reflect the band’s
ability to create an atmosphere that is both grim yet ultimately hopeful,
treating pain as inspiration for creativity rather than as an excuse for self-pity. |
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Much
of More Guitar features songs from Amnesia as well as Thompson’s
then-recent
Daring Adventures and Across a Crowded Room. Thompson and
his band showcase their ability to bring real power and excitement even
to lesser songs such as “A Bone Through Her Nose.” The performance
of “Don’t Tempt Me” that starts off the CD thrills almost as
much as “Can’t Win,” with a solid punch from the rhythm section
and outstanding guitar playing by Thompson. Subsequent cuts such as “Gypsy
Love Songs” and “Shoot Out the Lights” reflect the band’s
ability to create an atmosphere that is both grim yet ultimately hopeful,
treating pain as inspiration for creativity rather than as an excuse
for self-pity.
Thompson
connoisseurs will be especially interested in the covers of “We
Got to Get Out of This Place” and Gene Clark’s “Here
Without You,” as well as the fine performance of RT’s own “The
Angels Took My Racehorse Away,” from his first solo album Henry
the Human Fly. Given the high quality of the playing on this CD,
I was briefly tempted to wonder why Richard Thompson has never released
a live album
on a major label. Presumably, one can blame this on the lack of mainstream
recognition I mentioned at the start of the review. Luckily, the existence
of fan club releases such as this do something to remedy that unfortunate
situation — that is, if the fan can figure out how to find the fan
club. Barring that, we’ll just have to hold out hope that eventually
Thompson
will get a fraction of the fame he so richly deserves.
Link: www.richardthompson-music.com

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