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Front Parlour Ballads
 
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Front Parlour Ballads

Richard Thompson (Artist)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews) | More about this product
Price: $17.98 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.

Samples
Song Title Time Price
listen  1. Let It Blow 4:52$0.99 Buy Track
listen  2. For Whose Sake? 2:30$0.99 Buy Track
listen  3. Miss Patsy 3:57$0.99 Buy Track
listen  4. Old Thames Side 4:03$0.99 Buy Track
listen  5. How Does Your Garden Grow? 2:09$0.99 Buy Track
listen  6. My Soul, My Soul 5:33$0.99 Buy Track
listen  7. Cressida 3:26$0.99 Buy Track
listen  8. Row, Boys, Row 2:33$0.99 Buy Track
listen  9. The Boys of Mutton Street 2:53$0.99 Buy Track
listen10. Precious One 3:48$0.99 Buy Track
listen11. A Solitary Life 4:10$0.99 Buy Track
listen12. Should I Betray? 3:29$0.99 Buy Track
listen13. When We Were Boys At School 3:25$0.99 Buy Track

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Front Parlour Ballads + Sweet Warrior + Rumor and Sigh
Price For All Three: $36.96

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  • This item: Front Parlour Ballads ~ Richard Thompson

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (August 9, 2005)
  • Original Release Date: August 9, 2005
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Cooking Vinyl
  • ASIN: B00069I7B4
  • Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,820 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #69 in  Music > Folk > Traditional British & Celtic Folk > British Folk

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This selection of largely acoustic, predominately solo performances finds Richard Thompson trading the guitar pyrotechnics of his electric albums for greater intimacy, vocal subtlety, and emphasis on his storytelling lyrics. Though this is Thompson's first acoustic release of all-original material, "Row, Boys, Row" and "The Boys of Mutton Street" could pass as traditional British folk balladry, while the droll humor and stately musical grace of "Miss Patsy" recall some of Thompson's early work with Fairport Convention. The songwriting is as ambitious as the arrangements are minimal, from the bitter misanthropy of the character study in "A Solitary Life" to the bittersweet yearning of "Cressida" to the hypnotic insistence of "My Soul, My Soul." In "Let It Blow," Thompson applies his sharp wit to the tale of a serial husband with a penchant for quickie marriages, as the weddings signal the end of the romance. Even when he turns down the volume, he never tones down the creative intensity. --Don McLeese

Recommended Richard Thompson Discography


Fairport Convention, Unhalfbricking
Fairport Convention, Liege & Lief
Fairport Convention, Full House

Richard & Linda Thompson, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
Richard & Linda Thompson, Shoot Out the Lights
Hand of Kindness



From Amazon.co.uk

Front Parlour Ballads is almost entirely acoustic, with all instruments but percussion played by Richard Thompson himself. Despite the basic approach, however, this is not a sparse album. His guitar playing is as complex as ever, and the songs stand comparison with any of his best. The opening track, "Let It Blow," is a funny account of a relationship conducted in the grubby glare of the tabloids, and "For Whose Sake?" and "Miss Patsy" are sterling illustrations of Thompson's ability to frame modern sentiments and stories within time-served folk idioms. "Boys of Mutton Street" starts with a riff which is surely intentionally ­ an echo of Thompson's previously best-known acoustic song, "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," and "Solitary Life" sounds like it might be Thompson's take on Radiohead's "Fitter Happier." There has been bizarrely little recognition of the possibility, but after the resounding classics Mock Tudor and The Old Kit Bag, Front Parlour Ballads suggests that Thompson may well be in the prime of his long and extraordinary career. --Andrew Mueller

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Customer Reviews

29 Reviews
5 star:
 (13)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (9)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Cooking At Home, August 12, 2005
By K. H. Orton (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
If some disgruntled reviewers have compared this to a home demo, they're not too off the mark. This is Thompson's most stripped down release since the "nude" half of YOU?ME?US?. It's mostly just JT, his guitar & a sackful of tales.

The emphasis seems to be more on song & less on Thompson's virtuostic playing. Which will lead to some disappointment for those looking for the raging solos of SHOOT OUT THE LIGHTS. Though his trademark shredding has taken a backseat here, there are a fair share of brilliant moments on things like the brooding "My Soul". But Thompson has always proved himself to be a wickedly playful lyricist & PARLOR's acoustic approach provides the appropriate backdrop.

The catchy opener,"Let It Blow" cynically lampoons a nation's obsession with celebrity marriage. "Boys Of Mutton Street" praises the all-too-fleeting joys of gang violence. Though I might add, musically it's a bit reminiscent of "Vincent Black Lightning 1952".

"Miss Patsy" introduces us to a terrorist who's been "fighting shadows on the wrong crusade". Despite having 2nd thoughts after handed the cyanide pill, Thompson still damns his protagonist to "rot & pine away in a foreign prison". An interesting notion, considering Thompson converted to Islam in the 70's.

"Row Boys Row" questions the wisdom of "kneeling with your arse poking free" and the idyllic pleasures of misanthropy are recalled in " A Solitary Life". Finally, "Boys At School" closes the book with a chill.

Personally, I found this a lot more to my liking than OLD KIT BAG which just didn't grab me except for "Gesthemene". And though his albums since RUMOR & SIGH have had their share of irreplaceable gems, I always felt the production was a bit heavy handed. So I've been wanting to hear him strip things down like this for quite a while. Which is one of many reasons why FRONT PARLOR BALLADS has left me a very happy fan indeed.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of Thompson's best albums 4 1/2 stars, August 17, 2005
With his remarkable acoustic performances, it's a wonder it took Thompson this long to release "Front Parlour Ballads" but I'm glad he did. Yes, he's tackled acoustic before ("You? Me? Us?" and a couple of other releases)but nothing with material this strong. In a remarkably consistent career, the material here is top notch and it ranks as one of his finest albums. The melodies shine here as does Thompson's rich baritone (although for many his voice can be an acquired taste). While low-key compared to his louder electric studio outings, "Front Parlour Ballads" still features the rich imagery and use of language that always makes his material better than just about everyone else's.

"Let it Blow" opens with a rollicking combination of acoustic (and electric guitar thrown in to accent the music if my ear doesn't deceive me) could easily become a radio hit with its catchy melody. While it may lack the immediate fireworks of "Rumour and Sigh" but makes up for that with amazingly assured songcraft and strong melodies. There's few songs I can think of here that would have benefited from a backing band and booming electric guitars and drums.

Thompson plays almost everything here and is accompanied by Deborah Dobkin on occasional percussion. Produced by Thompson in collaboration with Simon Tassano, "Front Parlour Ballads" benefits from the stripped down approach here. While I love many of the albums that Thompson made with producer Mitchell Froom, Froom's overly decorative production touches wouldn't fit here. Tassano and Thompson use the less is more approach not too dissimilar to the unadorned approach by producer Joe Boyd on some of Thompson's albums.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars splendid! , January 2, 2006
I live with a Fairport/Richard junkie, and I've had 6 years luxurious exposure to this music now. I love it, but I'm no expert. That said... Miss Patsy and a couple other elements of this album bring Steve Tilston to mind-- not just the spare guitar sound, but the bluesiness. When We Were Boys At School is classic Richard, boiling a bit of life down to the really sad reduction; the depressing reality, expressed so beautifully. This album is growing more captivating with each play, and is already one of my favorites. Acoustic Richard is the best.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved This Richard Thompson Album Too
I tend to enjoy anything Richard Thompson does and this album is no exception. Yes, it is mainly acoustic but the recording is lush and colorful. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Lynn Ellingwood

2.0 out of 5 stars my least favourite since '91
This has very little dazzling guitar work from RT. His publicist certainly wanted to make his money by proclaiming: "Best work yet"! "RT is back and better than ever"! Read more
Published 18 months ago by J. Forst

5.0 out of 5 stars The essence of a hidden protest song
This is the first RT solo album I've heard. A friend had been recommending him to me for a while. Probably because of his fine guitar playing and his tendency to arrange his... Read more
Published on December 8, 2005 by Gary Millstein

2.0 out of 5 stars Richard Thompson's "Pink Moon?"
Listening to this CD (something I, sadly, don't foresee myself doing much in the future), I was struck by its resemblance to Nick Drake's brilliant "Pink Moon. Read more
Published on October 24, 2005 by Celtic Bassist

5.0 out of 5 stars RT Scores Again
By my count, this is Richard Thompson's twentieth studio release as a solo artist (or duo with former wife Linda), and like all of his other albums it is uniformly excellent... Read more
Published on October 7, 2005 by Steve Vrana

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Thompson's very best
First of all, I'd like to say that the reviewer who compared the tracks on this CD to "outtakes from the Nude disc of You? Me? Us?" spoke quite disingenuously. Read more
Published on October 3, 2005 by William M. Feagin

4.0 out of 5 stars R.T. unveils a wicked change-up!
When I heard that this was to be an accoustic album, I was just slightly disappointed, but I needn't have worried. R.T. Read more
Published on September 23, 2005 by Barry Stinson

5.0 out of 5 stars Richard fools us all again!
For anyone even remotely thinking they are having or will be having problems with Richard Thompson's latest solo outing, keep listening! Read more
Published on September 20, 2005 by William Knuttel

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing acoustic album is Thompson's worst in decades
For the last 20 years or so, Richard Thompson has done an admirable job of keeping his A material and B material separate. Read more
Published on September 3, 2005 by woburnmusicfan

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
very well done. simple and totally brilliant. brilliant in songwriting and performance, production and engineering.
Published on September 2, 2005 by John Vavrek

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