Customer Reviews

Beat the Retreat: Songs by Richard Thompson

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4 star:		(6)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Back in 1994, when this album was released, we were in the midst of a short-lived vogue for tribute albums. A bunch of celebrity musicians would appear on these albums and offer their covers of a well-known artist's songs. As you might imagine, the results were usually mixed. Generally, though, the better the songs, the better the album turned out to be.

This is certainly true in this case. Richard Thompson is among the very best songwriters around (and a fine guitarist to boot), and this album features some of his best songs. Almost every song here is at least pretty good, with the exception of "A Heart Needs a Home", which is utterly ruined by Shawn Colvin's Whitney-Houstonesque vocal pyrotechnics. That's a shame, since it's a really great song, and a more restrained style would have done it much greater justice.

The good songs include "When the Spell is Broken", featuring some nice slide guitar by Bonnie Raitt; "The Madness of Love", in which Graham Parker sings with a spirit of tense longing typically found in Richard Thompson's music; "Turning of the Tide", in which Bob Mould sounds eerily like Richard Thompson himself; the Five Blind Boys of Alabama's cover of "Dimming of the Day"; June Tabor's version of "Beat the Retreat"; and Dinosaur Jr.'s searing rendition of "I Misunderstood", which is actually much, much better than the original, something almost unheard of in tribute albums. (Incidentally, J. Mascis seemed to appear on every single tribute album ever made, and whatever he performed, it was usually one of the highlights of the album.)

The album closes with what I regard as its best track, Maddy Prior and Martin Carthy's "The Great Valerio", in which Maddy Prior actually outdoes Linda Thompson's singing (unimagineable!), and Martin Carthy completely reworks the song to fit his own style, making the song his own, almost as Jimi Hendrix once made "All Along the Watchtower" his own.

This album didn't get a whole lot of attention when it came out, and it remains pretty unknown and underrated. That's a shame, since it is one of the best examples of its genre, and the artists generally perform Thompson's songs with a lot of feeling for their spirit, but without so much reverence that they become mere slavish imitations.

This gets my vote as my favorite tribute album of all time, and in my opinion it's one of the best ever put together. Richard Thompson, a founding member of Fairport Convention who has had a devoted cult following both here in the States and in his native Britain, is a formidable songwriter, not to mention one of the best folk and rock guitarists alive. He is one of those musical talents who has unjustifiably been denied large-scale commercial success. But he probably would consider the admiration of his peers more important than that anyway, and it's shown in abundance on this collection. Contrary to the track record of most tributes, this one hasn't a weak song on it. Packed with talent, it represents a variety of styles, from the crunchy rock of Dinosaur Jr., Bob Mould and X to the quiet folk of Martin Carthy and Maddy Prior (co-founders of another classic Brit folk-rock band, Steeleye Span). Everyone grafts their own style to these songs, and mostly they are quite successful. Graham Parker's "The Madness of Love" is a highlight, as is Bonnie Raitt's "When the Spell Is Broken" (backed by the gospel greats The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, who also do a goosebump-raising version of "Dimming of the Day"). Another Brit-folk great, June Tabor, turns in a fine rendition of the title track, and David Byrne gives a restrained but effective reading of "Just the Motion". National treasure Beausoleil does a "bontemps" version of "Valerie" (which was also a country hit for another artist whose name escapes me). The closest to missteps here are from two of my favorite bands. Los Lobos' "Down Where the Drunkards Roll" is so low-key as to be almost somnambulant; and in R.E.M.'s version of "Wall of Death", Michael Stipe's phrasing seems clumsy to me - I much prefer Nanci Griffith?s cover of that tune. Overall, though, this is an affectionate and well-conceived tribute to an artist who easily deserves it.

I don't usually like tribute albums because the songs are rarely as good as the originals. If you're a Thompson fan (I am) you'll be inclined to feel that way about this collection. Don't. Almost all of these songs are strong enough to hold up to the individual styles of the artists. R.E.M. is particularly good, then again they had one of Thompson's best songs to work with. Bottom line: this is one of the best tribute albums out there.

I imagine the only thing that would have pleased Richard Thompson more in receiving this tribute would have been to toast a few pints with the gentlepeople involved. Perhaps he did.

I am familiar with the Richard Thompson catalog ("Shoot out the Lights" having special significance to me), but I am by no means a fanatic or completist. Given the self-deprecating sense of humor which comes through in his lyrics, I have to doubt that even RT would take himself so seriously.

Remember: this wasn't meant to be an introduction to Richard Thompson, it's "tribute" to him by folks who obviously admire his songwriting, and as such its a damn fine piece of work.

If, like me, you're lacking a canonical knowledge of his works, you probably won't quibble with what was done to these to tunes anyway, so you'll just listen to them. And you'll find every tune included in this collection given a fine and proper go. The musicianship shows incredible craftsmanship, the renditions are heartfelt, and the production is pristine. Special props go to the Los Lobos, Beausoleil and Shawn Colvin/Loudon Wainwright tracks.

I was sad to see this is out out-of-print as I see this not solely as a tribute to Mr. Thompson, but also as a chance for folks to hear artists on the collection who don't get a lot of attention (the aforementioned Beausoleil, for one).

Look for it used, and buy it if you can. If you're a folky/artsy/roots fan you'll definitely enjoy it. We can then at least put back an imaginary pint or two with RT & friends at the pub in our minds in celebration of this loving tribute.

I was looking through the bins for Richard Thompson when I ran across this, which I guess is a tribute of some kind. Of course they didn't have any real Richard Thompson albums, so I bought this. I like it a lot. When I play the two last songs it sounds like the batteries on my CD player are about to give out, but otherwise the selection and performances are good. Los Lobos really stand out.

Rolling Stone (3/9/95, p.64) - 3 Stars - Good - "...Over a nearly 30-year career...Richard Thompson has established himself as a guitar virtuoso and extraordinary songwriter. BEAT THE RETREAT contains some energized renditions of his material..."

Q (11/94, p.126) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...The range of performers involved here underlines the reach of Thompson's art....BEAT THE RETREAT achieves a continuity of mood that places it above most `tribute' albums..."

Dirty Linen (12/94-1/95, p.62) - "...BEAT THE RETREAT shows just how much a great song can ignite the creative spark within even the most mainstream artists..."

Option (3-4/95, p.93) - "...does justice to a darkly masterful songwriter and guitarist..."

A prolific and talented sogwriter, and (with Sandy Denny) the driving force behind the early and easily most brilliant iteration of Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson has finaly received in this cd (first released in 1994 -- I've had a horrible casette copy that I've longed to replace ever since) exactly the retrospective that he deserves, or better, that he deserved in the middle-90s as he has continued since then to produce great music in his own right. The line-up of contributors is extraordinary, and I think that at least one of the cuts, David Byrne's cover of "Just the Motion," may well outshine the original. It's hard to pick just a few favorites: let's try "Wall of Death" (R.E.M.), "When the Spell is Broken" (Bonnie Raitt), "Down Where the Drunkards Roll" (Los Lobos), "The Madness of Love" (Graham Parker), "A Heart Needs a Home" (Shawn Colvin and Loundon Wainright III), and "Dimming of the Day" (The Five Blind Boys of Alabama). Thompson's incandescent rage is here, but so is his irony, his dark humor, and his heart-breaking longing for a world where every heart, even the drunk, broken and disillusioned can finally find a home and a place to rest, even if that rest is the too-long sleep that we call death.

These "tribute" albums are no doubt intended as a compliment, but they usually do a disservice to the honored songwriter. This is especially true on this set, because Richard Thompson is a greater and more unique performer than arguably anyone who covers his songs here. Despite their punk roots, X and Bob Mould don't rock any harder than RT did on the originals of the songs they covered. The various folkies on the album have nothing on Richard, Linda Thompson, or Sandy Denny when it comes to great ballad singing. And so on...

Be glad it's out of stock. Treat yourself to the real thing.

This disc opens decently enough with west coast post-punk rockers X turning in a decent cover of "Shoot Out The Lights". I always grimace a little when I hear people do this song, having heard Thompson do a chilling acoustic version live that will never be topped (although Bob Mould gives it a run for the money).
Unfortunately some songs are just made to be performed by certain artist. That is never more obvious than on the rest of this album as a parade of capable artist, one after the other, turn in a career spanning collection of songs from this guitar and songwriting master which never stand up against the originals.
However, Thompson is quite worthy of a tribute disc and I'm glad to see him reconized. This disc is out of print now, but while your waiting for a used one to pop up on Amazon.com, check out my webcast at www.live365.com. Look for SPINJUNKIES ADULT ALBUM ROCK and I always have a track or two from this disc in rotation, as well as a couple from Richard & Linda Thompson.

This kind of compilation CD tends to bring together elements of the music culture that listeners might not otherwise hear together. The duet by Shawn Colvin and Loudon Wainwright III on the song "A Heart Needs a Home" is a collaboration which belongs on an album like this more than anywhere. All the songs on "Beat The Retreat" are by Richard Thompson, so it can be assumed that the performers are his fans. I hardly qualify for that group. I was previously only aware of his song, "Dimming of the Day" from the Bonnie Raitt performance on the "Longing in Their Hearts" CD in 1993. "Beat the Retreat" came out in 1994, with Bonnie Raitt singing "When the Spell is Broken" and The Five Blind Boys of Alabama doing "Dimming Of The Day" in their own style.

My opinion of music was much better in 1994 than it is today. That each of the musicians on this CD could find a song by Richard Thompson and learn it well enough to make it their own for a single performance shows some versatility that is beyond the common opinion of hit makers as people who are totally devoted to doing their own thing. In the case of Los Lobos doing a simple song like "Down Where the Drunkards Roll," it seems like the effort was to lower expectations: this is so much less than I expect from a song by Los Lobos. I don't know much of the work of some of the artists represented. The world might be full of female vocalists like June Tabor, that I don't know, who sounds great, but that I never heard before. When I go to a concert, I'm more likely to hear the guys, and I heard X once as an opening act without wanting much of that music. But this CD is more like real music to me, and even X does a good job.

The great song for me was "Wall of Death" performed by R.E.M. with John Keane playing pedal steel guitar, so it didn't sound exactly like most R.E.M. songs. The first hint is Michael Stipe singing, "Oh no, no, . . . " It is all about a carnival, with a list of attractions, but the others don't measure up:

On the wall of the death, all the world is far from me
On the wall of death, it's the nearest to being free.

You are going nowhere when you ride on the carousel,
I may be strong, but what's the use of ringing a bell?
Switchback will make you crazy,
Where is the bearded lady?
Oh, let my take my chances on the wall of death.