Life at the Label: Adventures of a Metalhead in Jazzland II: Richard Thompson

Life at the Label: A Metalhead in Jazz Land II
Richard Thompson 

My boss often strolls in while I’m working and asks about the music I’m playing. Sometimes I teach him stuff (usually about the history of FLDM) and sometimes he gives me awesome recommendations. This time, the boss really, really gave me something I didn’t even know I needed.

I have a penchant for what someone once called “sad old man drinking music.” It’s not that the singers are old, persay, just that grizzled old men might listen to this music while sipping scotch in a dimly lit room. Solo Dax Riggs, Man’s Gin, Townes van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, you get the idea. I was singing along to Erik Wunder’s sweet, soulful voice when my boss let me know he had something in the stacks that I might like.


Richard Thompson. So, apparently I missed the memo on this guy (He’s on a Rolling Stone list of 100 Best Guitarists) Maybe it’s because I never got into his project, The Fairport Convention, or because I wasn’t alive in Britain the 60s, or because I think his hat is silly. But regardless, Richard Thompson speaks to me in a way that only other “sad old man drinkers” have. (I’m not implying that Thompson is a sad old drunk, by the way! He even covered Britney Spears- like really, really well!)



What I enjoy about this is simple: it’s soulful, thoughtful and heartfelt. There’s passion in metal, don’t get me wrong, but there’s something I really love about songwriters who truly bare their souls to the world. There’s something so comforting, so raw and so terrifying about music that really captures the beauty and catastrophe that is the human experience. (As a side note, this is probably in part why I love A Pregnant Light.) There’s no shortage of songs about Satan, about gore, about politics, but I most identify with artists who capture and showcase true human emotion, especially the sad stuff we’d rather not dwell on. not dwell on.  I am fully aware this probably says all kinds of weird shit about me.

Thompson’s renowned guitar playing is beautiful and thoughtful, but not overly flashy. He creates a mood perfectly suited to his emotional lyrics. It’s not overly flashy, and from what I’ve heard, not technical- although apparently if you see Thompson live, it’s solo city. His speaking voice and between-song anecdotes are quite charming.  What his guitar playing is is consistently lovely and interesting.

His “brief discography,” containing only music released under his name spans twenty plus albums- not to mention his work with Fairport Convention, his countless collaborations (including Nick Drake), or the stuff he released with his then-wife while they lived in a British Sufi community(seriously). There’s no shortage of material to dig into and I'm just getting started. While I’ve only scratched the surface, here’s a great playlist to get you started!



Check out Life at the Label: Adventures of a Metalhead in Jazzland I.

Edit: Just came to Wall of Death...which is a song I first heard Dax Riggs cover.  Riggs' covers have introduced me to TONS of amazing artists I would've missed otherwise.  Anyway, I love when stuff comes full circle like that.

Enjoy the original Wall of Death.