Richard Thompson

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风格: #根源唱作人　#民谣摇滚
地区: United Kingdom 英国

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可以说理查德·汤普森这位来自英国重要现代民谣摇滚乐队“费尔波特协定”的创始人，在英国音乐发展史上有着举足轻重的作用。他的传奇音乐生涯，好似一颗划过天空的耀眼流星，代表着乐坛一个时期的发展轨迹。

理查德·汤普森（Richard Thompson）在17岁的时候便组建了英国早期的代表性民谣摇滚乐队 “费尔波特协定” （Fairport Convention），同时他还在创造性地在摇滚中融合布鲁斯和“西海岸”音乐元素，后来他们是在伦敦的苏活区的44俱乐部演出的时候被制作人 Joe Boyd发现，并且在1968帮他们发行了他们的第一张唱片，“费尔波特协定”迅速成名。在接下来的四年当中，“费尔波特协定”逐步形成了自己独特的音乐，透过他们发行专辑 “Unhalfbricking”和“Liege and Lief”，可以看出他们对于民谣摇滚的英式理解。特别是“Liege and Lief ”这张作品长时间以来被认为是英式摇滚的里程碑式专辑，同时这张作品也充分表现了理查德·汤普森作为一名创作者的才华。但在1970年发行的“Full House”这张专辑之后，汤普森便离开了乐队，开始了个人的音乐生涯。

汤普森在1972 年发行了其首张个人作品“Henry The Human Fly”，专辑一经发出便广受好评，同时被认为是汤普森音乐生涯中的又一个高潮。同年他与民谣歌手 Linda Peters结婚，这场美妙声音与创作才华音乐人的结合，直接“孕育”了六张的专辑的诞生。其中1974年发行的第一张专辑 “I Want To see The Bright Lights Tonight”得到了评论界的一致盛赞。1981年汤普森录制了他的独奏专辑 “Strict Tempo”。在这张专辑中汤普森用他标志性的吉他演奏风格为我们描述了他在英格兰群岛和北美地区收集到的丰富的声音和曲调。 “Shoot Out The Lights ”被认为是汤普森最成功的一张专辑。起初由于种种原因该专辑未能发行，直到1982年这张被雪藏的专辑才被 Joe Boyd 重新录制发行，后被滚石杂志评选为“十年最佳唱片”之一。其中的“Walking On A Wire”, 也是他和 Linda的最后一次录音。自1985年起著名歌手Christine Collister 开始在汤普森专辑中的友情献声，并经常在他的现场表演中担任表演嘉宾。这些年来汤普森的音乐生涯继续的稳固向前发展，而他追随者们还在1993年和1994年分别发表了两张致敬专辑 “The World Is A Wonderful Place”和“Beat The Retreat”。

by Brett Hartenbach

For years, Richard Thompson resided in relative obscurity, while at the same time garnering vast critical praise for his magnificent guitar work and the dark wit and richness of his extraordinary songwriting. A founding member of the seminal British folk-rock group Fairport Convention, he remained with the band for five studio albums — Fairport Convention (1968), What We Did on Our Holiday (released as Fairport Convention in the U.S.) (1968), Unhalfbricking (1969), Liege and Lief (1969), and Full House (1970) — and one live recording (Live at the L.A. Troubadour [recorded in September 1970, released 1976], reissued as House Full [1986]). In early 1971, Thompson, feeling that the material he had been writing at the time was not right for the band, decided to leave for a solo career. In between sessions and dates supporting former Fairport mates Sandy Denny and Ian Matthews, he entered the studio to record his first record, Henry the Human Fly (1972), which was a more idiosyncratic version of the British traditional, rock & roll mix that he had begun with his old band. During this time, he also contributed to the rock & roll homage The Bunch (1972) as well as the traditional Morris On (1972), both of which featured various members, past and present, of Fairport Convention and its offshoots. None of these did anything to change the general publics view of Thompson, to the point where Henry the Human Fly gained the notable distinction of being the worst-selling album in the history of Warner Brothers Records.

Following tours of the U.S. (his last for ten years) and the U.K. with Sandy Denny, Thompson ended 1972 by performing dates with singer Linda Peters, who had appeared on both Henry and The Bunch. The couple was married, and in 1973, they began work on their first recording together, the now classic I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (April 1974). The Thompsons went on to release five more records, including Hokey Pokey (March 1975), Pour Down Like Silver (November 1975), First Light (November 1978), Sunnyvista (1979), and Shoot Out the Lights (February 1982). Between 1975 and 1978, however, Richard and Linda all but dropped out of the music scene when they moved into a Muslim community outside of London. During this period, Guitar, Vocal (1976), a collection of outtakes and live recordings from Richards career, was released to fill the void. It would also be his final release for Island Records, his U.K. home since 1968. Returning to the music business in 1978, the Thompsons recorded First Light for Chrysalis Records, which showed a definite Islamic and North African influence, along with their characteristic British folk-rock. Sunnyvista followed to more public indifference, and they were dropped by the label.

The early 80s would prove to be a period of major ups and downs, both professionally and personally, for Richard and Linda. Without a record contract, the pair demoed eight songs in the summer of 1980, before going into the studio for their next project, with singer/songwriter Gerry Rafferty producing. Rafferty had gained a great deal of success during the latter part of the 70s, and being a huge fan, was looking to bring the Thompsons music to a larger audience. The subsequent tracks were dumped due to Richards dissatisfaction with the outcome. In the meantime, Richard went back to work by himself in 1981, recording a collection of instrumental tunes entitled Strict Tempo!, which he released independently on his own Elixir label. Richard and Linda eventually ended up back in the studio, with former Fairport manager and producer Joe Boyd, to re-record some of the material from the Rafferty sessions, as well as three new songs. The finished product, Shoot Out the Lights, was the most powerful album in the Thompsons oeuvre, as well as their first real breakthrough. Released by Boyds own Hannibal Records, it not only received universally glowing reviews, but was also their biggest seller to date. It also marked the end of their marriage, and following a tumultuous tour of America, their musical partnership as well.

Richard remained with Hannibal for 1983s Hand of Kindness, before leaving for a major-label deal with Polydor the following year. Cajun artist Jo-El Sonnier scored a Top 20 country hit in 1988 with his cover of Thompsons Tear-Stained Letter from that album. A live, solo acoustic set taken from shows recorded in New York City in 1982 entitled Small Town Romance (1984) was released just prior to his departure from Hannibal. With Joe Boyd once again producing, Across a Crowded Room (February 1985) came one year later for Polydor. The record was a success by Thompsons standards, if not the labels, and after a disappointing showing by the follow-up, Daring Adventures (October 1986), he was released. A concert video from the Across a Crowded Room tour was issued in 1985.

Once again between labels, Thompson found various side projects to keep him busy, including a soundtrack for the BBCs The Marksman and a record (Live, Love, Larf & Loaf [1987]) with former Magic Band drummer John French and avant-garde musicians Fred Frith (Henry Cow) and Henry Kaiser. The quartet, called simply French Frith Kaiser Thompson, recorded a second album, Invisible Means, in 1990. Thompson then struck a deal with Capitol Records and released Amnesia (October 1988) with producer Mitchell Froom at the helm for the second of what would be a string of five records. His first release for the label, Amnesia, kept Thompsons career in a bit of a holding pattern, but it was Rumor and Sigh (May 1991), though not exactly making him a household name, that took him to another level commercially. And though his sound and approach had been picking up more of an American flavor, he continued to retain ties to his traditional roots, from the use of accordion, hurdy-gurdy, mandolin, hammered dulcimer, and various medieval instruments, to songs such as the folk ballad 1952 Vincent Black Lightning and Dont Sit on My Jimmy Shands.

Throughout the 90s, Thompson maintained his fervent cult following and recorded three more solo albums for Capitol, including Mirror Blue (1994), the double-disc you? me? us? (1996), and Mock Tudor (1999), as well as working on Hard Cash (1990), a collection of songs inspired by a BBC documentary about the British working class, a soundtrack for the film Sweet Talker (1992), and a concept album about the industrial age (Industry [1997]) with bassist Danny Thompson. Hannibal, which had been purchased by Rykodisc, issued a three-CD retrospective of Thompsons career in the spring of 1993, entitled Watching the Dark, while also continuing to keep Thompsons (solo and with Linda) pre-1984 catalog in print.Capitol dropped Thompson from its roster in 2001, shortly after the release of the compilation Action Packed: The Best of the Capitol Years, and in 2003 he returned to the ranks of the independent recording artists with his album The Old Kit Bag, released by Cooking Vinyl in the U.K. and Spinart in the United States. Thompson continued to follow the indie path with his next release, 2005s Front Parlour Ballads, a primarily acoustic effort that Thompson recorded in his own garage studio.

In 2000, Island Records released the single-disc The Best of Richard & Linda Thompson: The Island Years, culled from Richard and Lindas time with the label. As a testament to Richard Thompsons reputation as one of the eras finest songwriters, as well as a guitarist nonpareil, two tribute albums were released: The World Is a Wonderful Place (1993) (Victoria Williams, Christine Collister, Tom Robinson, Plainsong, and others) and Beat the Retreat (October 1994) (R.E.M., Bob Mould, X, June Tabor, Bonnie Raitt, Dinosaur Jr., Martin Carthy, and others). The former also includes a previously unreleased song/recording of Richard and Lindas. In 2006, Free Reed released RT: The Life and Music of Richard Thompson, a five-disc set of outtakes, live recordings, and album cuts, many of which were pulled from Thompsons personal collection.

Richard Thompson

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