Richard Thompson 4-CD Box En Route

From the Fairports to the present.

By Blurt Staff

It's not the first time Richard Thompson has been given the archival treatment. In 1993 Rykodisc/Hannibal put together a three-disc collection, Watching The Dark: The History of Richard Thompson, which dipped back to 1969 and the guitarist's Fairport Convention days then brought things up through his solo career, to 1988. And there have been assorted best-ofs and rarities collections (some of them mail order only) over the years as well. Just the same, on June 30 Shout! Factory will pay tribute to Thompson with a new 4-CD box Walking On A Wire: Richard Thompson (1968-2009), and while it doesn't necessarily go deep in terms of rarities (aside from a handful of motion picture soundtrack cuts), it does cover the man's entire career, dipping into his extensive back catalog.

See the full tracklisting below.

That aforementioned stretches back over 40 years. Songs from every Richard Thompson album are represented on Walking On A Wire, beginning with the trail-blazing folk-rock group Fairport Convention, of which he was a founding member as a teenager, to his duo albums with then-wife Linda Thompson, as well as his 20 plus years as a critically acclaimed solo artist. Thompson will tour the US and UK this spring and summer.

The songs chosen for this selection of his work were carefully assembled and aim to provide a real sense of Richard Thompson, as well as to celebrate the diversity of his music - rock 'n' roll with folk, jazz, rockabilly and the odd waltz thrown in - the scope of his songwriting, and the sheer virtuosity of his playing. Walking On A Wire impressively includes 71 tracks from albums released by 15 different labels, and includes a 60 page booklet with new notes by Patrick Humphries.

Early on in his career Thompson was singled out as a songwriter of distinction; as a guitarist, he was being compared by critics to more established "guitar heroes" such as Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. He reached a new level of critical and commercial success in the 80's and 90's during his Capitol Records period, during which he recorded what is perhaps his signature song, "1952 Vincent Black Lightning."

Declared by Rolling Stone as one of the Top 20 Guitarists of all time, the iconic British folk-rock legend is one of the world's most critically acclaimed and prolific songwriters. Thompson's songs, of which he's written more than 400, have been covered by R.E.M., Elvis Costello, the Pointer Sisters, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, and many more. Thompson has been received by rock royalty, such as Bruce Springsteen, and Elvis Costello, as well as by real royalty, Queen Elizabeth II. Thompson is also the recipient of an Ivor Novello Award for Songwriting, the Orville Gibson Award for guitarists, and the 2006 BBC Lifetime Achievement Award.

Richard Thompson has carefully chosen his projects over the years, including the score for Werner Herzog's film Grizzly Man, 2003's stripped-down The Old Kit Bag, which included the sombre " Gethsemane " and the atmospheric "A Love You Can't Survive," and 2007's Sweet Warrior (Shout! Factory), from which the final three tracks of this collection are taken, and which featured the provocative reflection of the Iraq War "Dad's Gonna Kill Me," the ballad "She Sang the Angels to Rest," and "Needle and Thread," which recalls prime Fairport. Walking On A Wire: Richard Thompson (1968-2009) finally provides fans a comprehensive collection of Thompson's work.

Walking On A Wire: Richard Thompson (1968-2009)

Disc One :

1. Time Will Show The Wiser - Fairport Convention Fairport Convention

2. Meet On The Ledge - Fairport Convention What We Did On Our Holidays ( U.K. ), Fairport

   Convention ( U.S. )

3. Genesis Hall - Fairport Convention Unhalfbricking

4. Crazy Man Michael - Fairport Convention Liege & Lief

5. Sloth - Fairport Convention Full House

6. Roll Over Vaughn Williams Starring As Henry The Human Fly

7. The Poor Ditching Boy Starring As Henry The Human Fly

8. The Angels Took My Racehorse Away Starring As Henry The Human Fly

9. The Great Valerio - Richard & Linda Thompson I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight

10. When I Get To The Border - Richard & Linda Thompson I Want To See

      The Bright Lights Tonight

11. Withered And Died - Richard & Linda Thompson I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight

12. I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight - Richard & Linda Thompson I Want To See

      The Bright Lights Tonight

13. Down Where The Drunkards Roll - Richard & Linda Thompson I Want To See The Bright Lights

     Tonight

14. The Calvary Cross - Richard & Linda Thompson I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight

15. I'll Regret It All In The Morning - Richard & Linda Thompson Hokey Pokey

16. Old Man Inside A Young Man - Richard & Linda Thompson Hokey Pokey

17. For Shame Of Doing Wrong - Richard & Linda Thompson Pour Down Like Silver

18. Night Comes In - Richard & Linda Thompson Pour Down Like Silver

Disc Two:

1. Dimming Of The Day/Dargai - Richard & Linda Thompson Pour Down Like Silver

2. A Heart Needs A Home - Richard & Linda Thompson (guitar, vocal) ( U.K. ), Live! (More Or Less)

    ( U.S. )

3. Don't Let A Thief Steal Into Your Heart - Richard & Linda Thompson First Light

4. Strange Affair - Richard & Linda Thompson First Light

5. Sunnyvista - Richard & Linda Thompson Sunnyvista

6. Sisters - Richard & Linda Thompson Sunnyvista

7. Rockin' In Rhythm Strict Tempo!

8. Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed - Richard & Linda Thompson Shoot Out The Lights

9. Man In Need - Richard & Linda Thompson Shoot Out The Lights

10. Shoot Out The Lights - Richard & Linda Thompson Shoot Out The Lights

11. Wall Of Death - Richard & Linda Thompson Shoot Out The Lights

12. Walking On A Wire - Richard & Linda Thompson Shoot Out The Lights

13. Tear Stained Letter Hand Of Kindness

14. How I Wanted To Hand Of Kindness

15. Hand Of Kindness Hand Of Kindness

16. Beat The Retreat (Live) Small Town Romance (Live/Solo In New York, 1982)

17. I Ain't Going To Drag My Feet No More Across A Crowded Room

Disc Three:

1. Little Blue Number Across A Crowded Room

2. She Twists The Knife Again Across A Crowded Room

3. Valerie Daring Adventures

4. Turning Of The Tide Amnesia

5. I Still Dream Amnesia

6. Waltzing's For Dreamers Amnesia

7. Read About Love Rumor And Sigh

8. I Feel So Good Rumor And Sigh

9. I Misunderstood Rumor And Sigh

10. 1952 Vincent Black Lightning Rumor And Sigh

11. Put Your Trust In Me Sweet Talker (Original Soundtrack)

12. From Galway To Graceland (Live) Watching The Dark

13. I Can't Wake Up To Save My Life Mirror Blue

14. MGB-GT Mirror Blue

15. Mingus Eyes Mirror Blue

16. Beeswing Mirror Blue

17. Taking My Business Elsewhere Mirror Blue

18. King Of Bohemia Mirror Blue

19. Don't Roll Those Bloodshot Eyes At Me (Live) - Richard Thompson with Danny Thompson Live

      At Crawley 1993 - Richard Thompson with Danny Thompson

20. Razor Dance (Voltage Enhanced) you? me? us?

Disc Four:

1. Hide It Away (Voltage Enhanced) you? me? us?

2. Last Shift - Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson Industry -

    Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson

3. Big Chimney - Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson Industry -

    Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson

4. Lotteryland - Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson Industry -

    Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson

5. Persuasion (Live) - Richard Thompson Celtschmerz (Live UK '98)

6. Cooksferry Queen Mock Tudor

7. Bathsheba Smiles Mock Tudor

8. Hard On Me (Live) Semi-Detached Mock Tudor

9. Gethsemane The Old Kit Bag

10. A Love You Can't Survive The Old Kit Bag

11. A Legal Matter (Live) 1000 Years Of Popular Music

12. Main Title From Grizzly Man Grizzly Man (Original Soundtrack)

13. Al Bowlly's In Heaven (Live) Live From Austin TX

14. I'll Never Give It Up Sweet Warrior

15. Dad's Gonna Kill Me Sweet Warrior

16. She Sang Angels To Rest Sweet Warrior