As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Favorite Musical Artists: Richard Thompson


Mark Deming begins his excellent biography of Richard Thompson at allmusic.com with the following sentence: “An iconic figure in British folk-rock, Richard Thompson is arguably the genre's greatest triple threat: a dazzling guitarist, an outstanding songwriter, and a strong and evocative vocalist.” I’d certainly agree, but would add “compelling live performer” to the list. One of the advantages of following a non-superstar act (speaking commercially, rather than in terms of talent) is that you get plenty of opportunities to see them in small, intimate venues (Rams Head, Barns at Wolf Trap, the Birchmere) at a reasonable price: since I started this blog, I’ve seen Thompson on 5 separate occasions, not counting his brief opening set for Bonnie Raitt at Wolf Trap.
 
Favorite songs:
 
Al Bowlly's In Heaven
Keep Your Distance
1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Tear-Stained Letter
Wall Of Death*
 
Valerie
I Misunderstood
King Of Bohemia
Dimming Of The Day
I Feel So Good
 
Don't Renege On Our Love*
Hots For The Smarts
Uninhabited Man
Beeswing
Crawl Back (Under My Stone)
 
Walking The Long Mile Home
Waltzing's For Dreamers
When The Spell Is Broken
How Will I Ever Be Simple Again
Crocodile Tears
 
* - Richard and Linda Thompson
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