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Richard Thompson Page 3

Thompson's sensitivities were evident as far back as the '60s. Even then, in his father's Fats Waller albums, in early hints of Middle Eastern music and the first washes of psychedelic rock washing over from the New World, Thompson recognized something universal and wondered why no one else could hear how it all might fit together.

"I've always had a problem, growing up in London around a British folk tradition but also listening to rock and roll and not finding anyone who was playing the music I really wanted to hear," he says. "Really, what I wanted to hear didn't exist, so it was necessary for me to go out and create it."

The mission began at age 17, when Thompson co-founded Fairport Convention, the seminal folk-rock band whose significance only grows more apparent with time. In 1968 they recorded their eponymous debut, whose fusion of folk elements with rock energy inspired a generation of British musicians in a manner often compared to that of the Band in North America. After just two years, however, Thompson left to begin the journey he continues to this day, as a solo artist in pursuit of his own unique insights.

The milestones have been many: Henry the Human Fly (1972), marking Thompson's emergence as a distinctive singer; I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974), the first of six acclaimed collaborations with his first wife, Linda Peters; First Light (1978), whose exotic flavorings nod toward Richard's and Linda's embrace of Islam; Strict Tempo! (1981), an instrumental project nourished by folk and jazz, complete with a string arrangement of Duke Ellington's "Rockin' in Rhythm"; Shoot Out the Lights (1982), his last collaboration with Linda, hailed now by Rolling Stone as one of the ten best albums of the '80s; Hand of Kindness (1983), an exuberant exploration of the big-band aesthetic; Amnesia (1988), Rumor and Sigh (1991), and Mirror Blue (1994), each reflecting Thompson's interest in exploring new approaches to studio production. …

Through this work, as well as his guest appearances on albums by performers as diverse as the Cajun band Beausoleil, blues doyenne Bonnie Raitt, New Zealand pub-rockers Crowded House, and avant-guitarist Henry Kaiser, Thompson built a sterling reputation among his peers as a player and composer.

Beat the Retreat, a tribute album featured covers of Thompson's songs by such diverse artists as REM, Los Lobos, Bob Mould, X, and the Five Blind Boys of Alabama. John Mellencamp spoke for many of Thompson's admirers in admitting that "Richard Thompson could say more in one line than I could in a whole song."

With Kit Bag, the time may have finally arrived for Thompson to receive that same level of recognition from the public at large. "The major labels have been concentrating almost exclusively on Top 40," he muses, "but now they're in crisis. The industry is changing. Different strata are appearing. Slowly but surely, audiences will find it easier to find the music they really want to hear." For many, that search will lead them to Kit Bag and, through it, to Richard Thompson, whose own quest for excellence is long underway and yet far from over …

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