Richard Thompson and the history of pop music
Since the eponymous debut of Fairport Convention in 1968, Richard Thompson has released nearly 80 albums, depending on how you try to count them, including seminal work with his (now ex-) wife Linda, but not counting all of the guest appearances he's made on the records with his friends.
So it's no wonder that Thompson said he had "hands-off" involvement with the development of his second box set, the five-disc "RT: The Life and Music of Richard Thompson," released in February.
"It was a big project, with hundreds of hours of live tape to go through," he said. "I don't have the time or passion for that kind of thing, but I had the power of veto to weed out the things that were just too out of tune or too horrible to sit through.
"But there's some good, edgy stuff that made it in," he said.
As if taking on four decades of Richard Thompson music wasn't enough, the British songwriter and guitarist will soon release a DVD version of his "1,000 Years of Popular Music," a culmination (or is it?) of a project that began at the turn of the millennium.
"Like so many great things, it began with Playboy magazine," he said. "In 1999, they contacted me to contribute to an article where they asked different musicians to list the 10 greatest songs of the
millenium.
"What they really meant was the 10 greatest songs of the last 20 years, but I took them literally, started at 1000 AD and worked my way up.
"They didn't use my list, but the thought was there, and when the Getty Museum booked me for a show, I did some research and worked out a concert with that theme."
With vocalist Judith Owen and percussionist Debra Dobkin, Thompson has taken "1,000 Years" on the road several times since then, constantly researching and revising the program, including everything from ancient British folk tunes to the Beatles and Britney
Spears.
"There's a lot out there and you can unearth some gems that people have forgotten about," he said.
He chose the low-tech trio format partly because of the convenience of traveling that way, but also for the irony.
"I think it's important for this show to be minimalist," he said, "otherwise, you'd have to do it with an orchestra.
"Plus, there's something ridiculous and charming about three people performing a show this ambitious. There's a tongue-in-cheek quality about it that I like."
For his current sweep of America, Thompson is taking it down even further: Just the man and his guitar.
"It doesn't get much smaller than that," he said. "I have thought about just sending out my guitar.
"There's a kind of honesty about standing in front of an audience with an acoustic instrument. There's no need to question your motives."
