The Best of Richard & Linda Thompson: The Island Records Years [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Richard & Linda Thompson, Linda Thompson

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 1, 2000)
• Original Release Date: August 1, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Fontana Island
• ASIN: B00004VW14
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,088 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Richard Thompson earned the respect of fans for his guitar playing with Fairport Convention in the late 1960s. But it was the albums he made with his then-wife Linda in the early 1970s that gained him the reputation as one the premier songwriters to emerge from the British folk-rock scene. The songs on this 16-song collection are taken from the couple's first four albums together: Henry the Human Fly (actually a Richard Thompson solo record with Linda's background vocals), the classic I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, Hokey Pokey, and Pour Down Like Silver. Linda's slightly husky alto inspired some of Richard's sweetest melodies, such as "Dimming of the Day," "For Shame of Doing Wrong," and "Down Where the Drunkards Roll," even as their sometimes rocky relationship caused him to write some of his gloomiest lyrics. The words may sometimes paint a bleak view of human relations, but the beauty of Linda's voice and the perfection of Richard's guitar lines do an excellent job of lightening the heavy mood. --Michael Simmons

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Music World's Best-Kept Secrets, November 18, 2000

By	Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Poor Richard Thompson. Long revered by his peers and his devoted cult following as one the the most gifted singer/songwriter/guitar players ever, he couldn't get arrested if he marched naked in Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. When Rolling Stone magazine picked Richard and Linda's Shoot Out the Lights (1982) as the No. 9 album of the Eighties it had by decade's end still sold fewer than 20,000 copies and never even charted in Billboard's Top 200 album chart.

If like millions of other Americans you've never heard of Richard and then-wife Linda Thompson, this is an excellent place to start. The 16 selections collected here are taken from his first four (and only) albums recorded for Island after he left the British folk/rock band Fairport Convention in 1971.

It's pointless to quibble over which tracks got left off this collection. All four of the Thompsons' studio albums (Henry the Human Fly, I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight, Hokey Pokey and Pour Down Silver) belong in any true fan's record library, but (alas) they are out of print and this Best of the Island Years does an adequate job of sampling those albums--including a stunning 13-minute live version of "Calvary Cross" from the odds and ends album Guitar, Vocal.

Thompson could write upbeat songs like "Hokey Pokey," but more often his songs would probe the dark underbelly of the human condition in songs like "The Poor Ditching Boy," "Down Where the Drunkards Roll" and "Dimming of the Day." These achingly beautiful songs are sung by Linda and/or Richard and feature some of the sharpest guitar playing this side of Eric Clapton.

While Richard and Linda's masterpiece may have been Shoot Out the Lights, any of the four Island Records that comprise this collection are worth seeking out. Short of their being individually rereleased, enjoy this generous 77-minute compilation. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sublime music, essential CD, December 21, 2000

By	m_noland "m_noland" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This disk contains material from 4 studio albums that Richard and Linda Thompson made for Island Records in the 1970s, and a couple live tracks which have appeared on other collections. This disk is a must if for no other reason than the Island CDs are out of print and the other Richard Thompson anthology ("Watching the Dark") shortchanges the music from this era which I personally believe was his best. The mixes are extraordinarily clear and despite having listened to some of this music for 25 years, I heard things that I had never heard before.

The songs are amazing, reflecting Thompson's interests in rock and roll, being English, England's folk music tradition, and his conversion to Islam. Every track is strong. One of the reasons that I think that this was his strongest period was the presence of then-wife Linda Peters, a highly emotive singer, who provided a healthy counterpoint/balance/tension to Thompson's own voice and guitar. This was particularly important since Thompson tended to record without another guitarist or strong instrumental soloist, so Linda's presence filled out the sound. Her bigger vocal range also allowed him to write more vocally demanding melodies than his own voice could sustain.

I have one quibble with the track sequencing (which is easily enough remedied if one really cares). The live versions of "Night Comes In" and "Calvary Cross" are extraordinary, featuring Thompson on guitar, John Kirkpatrick on accordion, Dave Pegg on bass, and Dave Mattacks on drums. These guys express an understanding of dynamics (i.e. the music gets soft, then it gets loud again)that is unheard of in rock music . The only musical comparison I can make is with John Coltrane's classic 1960s quartet with Thompson in the Coltrane/soloist roll and Kirkpatrick creating the chordal structure a la McCoy Tyner. The two tracks were recorded the same night at the same show. They belong together. It couldn't be done on vinyl because of their length, but there is no reason not to sequence them together on disk.

Finally, the liner notes and documentation are good. Unlike many greatest hits packages (ok, Richard and Linda Thompson didn't have a lot of "hits") the musicians are actually documented. So, if you want to know played the bass on a particular track, you can look it up.

This is an essential CD. Get it. You won't be disappointed.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars essential listening, April 24, 2001

By	Sean M. Kelly (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Richard Thompson is one of the greatest singer/songwriters, as well as guitarists, alive today, yet there are few reviews of any of his lps, either solo, or with the Fairport Convention. Thompson is well known among guitarists and followers of folk music, yet, when I pulled out the old Rolling Stone that showed the greatest lps of the 1980's, in which the amazing "Shoot Out the Lights" was #9, my friends who read it all said the same thing- WHO??? Such is the luck of our hero.

This collection of his amazing Island Records output (almost all of which, sadly, has been long out of print) is a God send for fans of his that don't have these gems, or for novices who have heard the name and want to dabble in his work.

The focus of the lp is mainly his lps with then-wife Linda- "I Want See the Bright Lights Tonight," "Hokey Pokey," and the religiously tinted "Pour Down Like Silver," with a track from Richard's 1st solo effort- "Henry the Human Fly" (still reputedly the worst selling lp Island ever released). The interplay between Richard's wonderful guitars with either his melancholic vocals ("The End of the Rainbow" is a great example) or Linda's ("The Great Valerio" a prime example) made for some downright dreary works that brimmed with raw emotion.

Despite the mysterious lack of material from "Shoot Out the Lights," their last lp before their divorce, more from Richard's "Guitar/Vocal" lp, ("Calvary Cross" does grace this lp) or from their "First Light" lp ("Restless Highway" or "Died for Love" would have made great additions to this lp), this Island anthology does a great job introducing the world (many for the 1st time) to the amazing artistry of Richard Thompson. Hopefully this 1st stop will not be your last.