Up Front and Down Low

Teddy Thompson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 17, 2007)
• Original Release Date: July 24, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Verve Forecast
• ASIN: B000QXDCI8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,425 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #29 in Music > Alternative Rock > New Wave & Post-Punk > Urban Folk

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Yes, Teddy Thompson's parents are renowned folkies Richard and Linda Thompson. And, sure, he's spent the past few years touring the world with his good friend Rufus Wainwright, who recently wrote a song about their inimitable relationship called "Nobody's off the Hook." But it's Thompson's rich, twangy voice that deserves the spotlight. After turning out two thoroughly underappreciated albums of original material--it would be pushing it to even call them cult favorites--the lovelorn singer-songwriter takes on a dozen classic country tunes on Up Front and Down Low. It's a good fit, the bitter sentiments the inform his own work paired with the sterling melodies of Ernest Tubb's "Walking the Floor Over You" and Elvis Presley's "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone." Thompson gives each of the tunes a masterful makeover, polishing them up with an all-star cast of players that includes Iris DeMent, Tift Merritt, and Marc Ribot. Wainwright offers string his own "Down Low" into the mix without breaking the mood. It's the kind of stuff that could represent a breakthrough moment, as long as nobody gets distracted by the fact that he was born and raised in a Sufi commune. --Aidin Vaziri

Product Description

Teddy Thompson's self-produced Upfront & Down Low features his angelic voice in distinctive and heartfelt readings of beloved country classics: George Jones' "She Thinks I Still Care" Ernest Tubb's "Walking the Floor over You" and Merle Haggard's "My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers." It also includes Dolly Parton's bittersweet "My Blue Tears" and the Elvis Presley chesnut "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He's too cool for the room (so join the cult), July 18, 2007

By 

Jesse Kornbluth "Head Butler" (New York) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Up Front and Down Low (Audio CD)

When last I considered Teddy Thomp'son, he was building his cult. A very elite cult, because 'Separate Ways seemed to be so special that you could say, well, a lot of people just didn't have ears good enough for it.

Except it wasn't "special." And it wasn't "too good." It was great writing and great music and a remarkable voice, start to finish, without a single dud. I don't know why only a few of my nearest and dearest flipped for it. Maybe because it was depressing, in a wonderfully funny way.

Like this line: "I wish when the phone rang/it wasn't always you."

Not exactly a universal sentiment, is it?

So let's call Teddy Thompson an acquired taste --- until the day one of his songs becomes an unlikely hit and tens of thousands rush back to fall in love with all the great music they so breezily rejected.

And what of the follow-up to "Separate Ways"?

It's no follow-up at all. "Upfront & Down Low" is country. Classic country, if you will: songs by George Jones, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, the Everly Brothers, Elvis. Thompson uses a standard backup band, but he adds a string section, courtesy of the arranger responsible for the strings on Nick Drake's CDs.

Sounds like a vanity project? Not in the least. Teddy Thompson --- who didn't hear music that wasn't country until he was 16 --- understands this music completely. And delivers it authentically. But that understates. What happens in "Upfront & Down low" is captured magic, the alchemy of great taste and a compelling voice.

I went to see Teddy Thompson preview this CD in a downtown club. It was one of those rare nights: a small room, no more than a hundred people in the audience, all of them very much on the singer's side. Two violinists, a cellist and a string bass player came onstage first, then a drummer and a slide guitarist, then Thompson. Hard to miss him --- he was wearing a white suit. "I'm from the corporate office of Willie Wonka," he explained.

Naturally he apologized for the tone of the songs: "These songs are depressing. That's what country music is about."

But the songs needed no apology. They were flawless, if not exactly fun, and the title song, which he wrote, just might be the best. That song was, of course, the most depressing. Funny. I can't get it out of my head.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absurdly great, October 26, 2007

By 

Daniel Gunter (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Up Front and Down Low (Audio CD)

I bought this after hearing it in one of Amazon's brick-and-mortar competitors. I didn't know who Teddy Thompson was when I heard it. I only knew that it sounded incredible.

I was born in 1957 on a cotton farm. My parents were sharecroppers. Hank Williams and Ray Charles were the soundtrack of my childhood.

It is amazing to me that this young Brit has released a CD that my mother would have loved (had she lived to hear it). Thompson has chosen great songs, and he has a great voice. He doesn't sound like someone trying to sound "southern"--but he sounds reasonably "southern." His voice is rich and resonant, and he does not have to resort to tricks: no melisma, no shouting, no growling. The arrangements are tasteful: everything is done well, and nothing is overdone.

I have been listening to this CD for a couple of months. It keeps getting better. I urge you to try it. If you're a fan of good country music (Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Bill Monroe), I think that you'll be impressed. If you're not already a fan of country, I think that this CD will open a door to a wonderful world.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teddy Thompson's Torch & Twang, July 24, 2007

By 

John Buckingham "Smokey Raku-Potts" (Worcester, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Up Front and Down Low (Audio CD)

One usually doesn't think of men as being classic torch singers, but with UP FRONT AND DOWN LOW, New York-based young Brit singer/songwritier Teddy Thompson makes a stunning claim to that style of heart-achey pop music. Backed with tasteful arrangements on classic country tunes and his one original, Thompson unleashes his clear, plaintive and often soaring tenor to astonishing effect - particularly on "Walking the Floor Over You", "My Heart Echoes", "She Thinks I Still Care", Dolly Partron's "My Blue Tears" and his own "Down Low". Thompson delivers terrific phrasing on all tracks, especially putting over the wonderfully sarcastic edge of "You Finally Said Something Good (When You Said Goodbye)", which opens with a jaunty string quartet cakewalk. That number and the witty "Let's Think About Living" are the most upbeat among the album's 12 listed and one hidden track, a sweet and mournful "Don't Ask Me to Be Friends". Listeners who enjoyed Thompson's contributions to the BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN soundtrack will be delighted to find that UP FRONT AND DOWN LOW continues his forary into classic country & western music and delivers one of 2007's best sung albums in the process. No doubt about it - Teddy Thompson is absolute torch and twang. Look out, k.d....