Richard Thompson, Sweet Warrior (Shout Factory, 2007)
Richard Thompson, Live Warrior (Beeswing Records, 2009)
I first became aware of Richard Thompson back in the day; I was a young folkie kid, and so was he. He played guitar for Fairport Convention. I didn't pay any attention to him. There was too much other stuff going on. Then one day not quite 20 years ago, I found a copy of Rumor and Sigh in a used record bin for only $3. I was hooked as soon as I listened to it! It was earth-shattering. I felt the same way when I first listened to Hendrix, or to Ry Cooder, and stood in awe of another master of the fretboard. Since then I have collected so many Richard Thompson records, CDs, cassettes, boots, official and otherwise, that the RT section of my collection is bursting at the seams! And I still can't get enough.
So, when Cat offered me Sweet Warrior for review ... well, I couldn't say no. I look at the date of release and see that it says 2007! That's a long time ago in RT years. I can hardly believe it's been that long. I slipped the disc into the player and was struck by the familiarity of the sound. That tone, that style, that precision, and all in the first few notes -- there's no mistaking that this is Richard Thompson. Not that the song is an old one, but he writes the most distinctive melodies and plays the most unique riffs anywhere. A little dissonance, the drummer matching the beats of the guitar, all over the fretboard RT's fingers dance. Then that voice, not unpleasant and not Dylanesque, it's just what RT sounds like. There's nothing standard about this guy! He's simply his own man, and the world of music thanks him for that.
When I ran into him on the way to the stage one summer day in Denver, he teased me for wearing a Web-site T-shirt, because it was not from his newly minted site but rather from a discussion group. Then he jumped up on the stage and played acoustic versions of his songs for ninety minutes. Just him and the Lowden. It was extraordinary. But on Sweet Warrior, it's all electric, the green Strat-styled axe that Danny Ferrington made for him. Even the sound that he wrings from that block of wood and wires sounds decidedly like ... nothing but Richard Thompson. Right from those first few notes, you know what you're getting.
Open the CD booklet and you find the inspiration for the title. A sonnet by Edmund Spenser: "Sweet warrior when shall I haue peace with you? / High time it is, this warre now ended were: / Which I no longer can endure to sue. / Ne your incessant battery more to beare: / So weake my powres, so sore my wounds appeare..." You get the drift. And these themes of war and survival, calls for peace, love, and understanding flavour the whole album. The war of relationships and the war in the Middle East, it's all conflict and all fit for comment.
"I see young girls with old faces
I see good girls in bad places
I see plain girls in finery
And every one be the death of me.
Needle and thread, needle and thread
Hand me down my needle and thread
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
I'll thread up my needle and then
Gonna sew my soul back together again..."
Love lost, love found. This is the theme of most rock and roll, but nobody phrases it quite like RT. By the second song he is already shouting "Come on, do your worst boy ... hit me where it hurts ... I'll never give it up!" Things settle down a bit musically for "Take Care the Road You Choose" (although the message is still harsh) but "Mr. Stupid" tells the tale of a divorce that's not going well, and it's about the closest to a standard "rock" song that you get from RT (kudos to Judith Owen for the harmonies!). I should mention the backing band, who acquit themselves wonderfully. Michael Hays on rhythm guitar, Taras Prodaniuk on bass or Danny Thompson on acoustic bass, and Michael Jerome on drums. It's a simple classic rock band setup. Sara Watkins adds fiddle on "Dad's Gonna Kill Me" (and he's talking about Baghdad, not his father!). Joe Sublett guests on two tracks playing tenor sax. Fourteen songs altogether, fourteen slices of Thompsonesque magic.
Since 2001, Thompson, after experiences with Polygram and Capitol Records, has funded the recording of his own albums and leased them out to smaller labels (like Shout Factory), and he has seen healthier sales due to healthier promotion! He also has released a series of self-released live albums, which true RT fans treasure. From the acoustic duo disc Live at Crawley (recorded with long time bassist Danny Thompson) to last year's Live Warrior these albums have been collector's treaures. Live is the way to appreciate Richard Thompson, and as good as his studio albums might be, when he grapples with a song in concert it becomes a living breathing thing!
Live Warrior documents a series of shows in places like Nurenberg, Albany, Gateshead, Saratoga, and Columbus. The band included Michael Jerome, Danny Thompson or Taras Prodaniuk, and old friend Pete Zorn on guitar, mandolin, saxes, and vocals. Eight songs from Sweet Warrior appear in live versions, which open up spaces for more guitar work. The recordings are wonderfully done by Tom Dube, who's been traveling with Thompson for years. The Warrior tracks are complemented by a half-dozen classics from Richard's song bag. He's got hundreds of them! He reaches back as far as 1982's Shoot Out the Lights for "A Man in Need" also touching on the albums Hand of Kindness ('83), Daring Adventures ('86), Amnesia ('88), and my old favourite Rumor and Sigh from 1991. Not just the hits, but great songs every one. And dynamite performances too.
Richard Thompson tours with an electric band, or with an acoustic guitar. He records in the studio in different formats too. But, however he presents his powerful songs, he is a master. Funny, with a biting wit, always ready to comment on modern life, through a sensibility (and knowledge) of the history of song that stretches way back (check out his 1000 Years of Popular Music), Richard Thompson is more than a guitar hero, more than just another singer-songwriter. He's one of a kind, and these two CDs just add to the proof.
