Linda Thompson - Discography
Yes, yes, Richard Thompson is a musical genius and one of the best songwriters of the entire folk-rock genre and a guitarist of (justifiably) legendary abilities, but what initially drew me to his work was the vocals of his former wife, the incomparable Linda Thompson. This is an almost complete discography of her solo releases. If anyone has a copy of her 1985 album, One Clear Moment (especially the Rhino remastered edition, with a plethora of bonus tracks), please please please post it. I have it on vinyl--but no way to mp3 it.
From allmusic:
Born Linda Pettifer, Linda Thompson, then known as Linda Peters, made an inauspicious debut as half of Paul & Linda in 1968. The duo, which included singer Paul McNeill, recorded two singles, the first being a cover of Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" for MGM in the U.K. In 1972, following a couple of years of session work, singing commercial jingles, and working the folk clubs around London, she teamed with friend Sandy Denny and other assorted members of the British folk-rock scene to record Rock On, a collection of early rock & roll favorites, under the name of the Bunch. She was featured on the King-Goffin classic "The Loco-Motion" and a beautiful duet with Denny on Phil Everly's "When Will I Be Loved."
Peters met Fairport Convention guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson in 1969, but did not work with him until 1972 when they performed together on the Rock On record and later that year on Richard's solo debut, Henry the Human Fly. That same year, Richard and Linda were married, and in 1974, with the now classic I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, began a musical partnership that would span nearly ten years and six critically acclaimed, yet commercially unsuccessful, albums. During this time Linda would also make her mark as one of the finest female voices in pop music. The Thompsons' musical, as well as personal, relationship came to an end just as they were gaining some long overdue notoriety, especially in the U.S., with their brilliant and moving 1982 release Shoot Out the Lights. The record, recorded on a shoestring budget for tiny Hannibal Records, has been widely heralded as one of the true masterpieces of the rock & roll era and garnered Linda Thompson honors as Female Vocalist of the Year in many year-end critics polls. 1982 also saw the couple embark on their first and only U.S. tour.
Following the breakup, Linda performed in the English theater, touring with The Mysteries and appearing in the National Theatre's production of Don Quixote, before signing with Warner Bros. Records in 1985. The subsequent record, One Clear Moment, produced by Hugh Murphy (Gerry Rafferty), turned out to be her only post-Richard album. Hysterical dysphonia, a psychological inability to produce speech sounds which had plagued Thompson on and off throughout her career, eventually ended it. A project for CBS in the late '80s was aborted because of her vocal difficulties, although one track from those sessions, a reworking of Richard and Linda's classic "Dimming of the Day," eventually surfaced on the 1996 compilation Dreams Fly Away.
Thompson, having retired from music and running an antique jewelry shop in London, had some success as a songwriter, mostly in collaboration with Betsy Cook. Their "Telling Me Lies," recorded for the Trio LP by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris, earned the pair a Grammy nomination for 1987's Country Song of the Year, with Thompson and Cook performing it on the broadcast. Thompson resurfaced in 2002 with Fashionably Late, her first new record in 17 years, on Rounder Records. A second Rounder release, Versatile Heart, appeared in 2007.
Linda Thompson - Tudor Lodge Demos (1972)
Shortly before marrying Richard Thompson, Linda (then known as Linda Peters) joined the progressive folk rock group Tudor Lodge for a series of demos. And here they are, highlighted by a lovely cover of Carole King's "It's Going to Take Some Time." Taken from the Tudor Lodge cd, "It All Comes Back."
TRACKS
01 Morocco
02 It's Going to Take Some Time
03 Look at Me
Quality - 320 kbs
Password - highqualitymp3
Code:
http://rapidshare.com/files/192214088/LT_TL_72.rar
Linda Thompson - Dreams Fly Away
From allmusic:
Dreams Fly Away, a retrospective of the career of Linda Thompson, is a terrific introduction to one of the great female voices in popular music. With a healthy dose of rare and unreleased tracks, along with previously available material from her career with Richard Thompson and solo, this is a must for fans and novices alike. The unreleased gems include a haunting, live "The Great Valerio," what may be the definitive version of Sandy Denny's "I'm a Dreamer" from the Gerry Rafferty-produced Shoot Out the Lights sessions, and "Pavanne," recorded live in Hamburg, Germany.
TRACKS
01 Lonely Hearts
02 Walking on the Wire [Alternative Take]
03 I Live Not Where I Love
04 Sometimes It Happens
05 For Shame of Doing Wrong
06 Talking Like a Man [Remixed B Side]
07 Sisters
08 Shay Fan Yan Ley
09 One Clear Moment [Remix]
10 First Light [Demo]
11 Pavanne [Live]
12 Many Dreams Must Fly Away
13 I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
14 The Great Valerio [Live]
15 Insult to Injury
16 The Poor Boy Is Taken Away
17 Blackwaterside
18 Telling Me Lies
19 I'm a Dreamer [From the Rafferty Sessions]
20 Dimming of the Day [New Version, Previously Unreleased]
Quality - 320 kbs
Password - highqualitymp3
Code:
http://rapidshare.com/files/192214091/LT97.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/192321303/LT97.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/192325518/LT97.part3.rar
Linda Thompson - Give Me a Sad Song (2001)
From allmusic:
A follow-up to Dreams Fly Away, Give Me a Sad Song is a compilation of rarities and previously unreleased material spanning the years 1970-1986. As its title suggests, it is a melting pot of grievous tales whose poignancies are revealed by Thompson's ever-emotive vocals. Of particular note is a chilling performance of Leonard Cohen's "Story of Isaac," taken from a pre-Richard 1970 session with Martin Carthy on guitar. Five tracks are taken from this set of demos for Tangent records and also include David Ackles' mournful "Down River" and a sparse version of Lennon/McCartney's "Get Back." Ironically, some of the album's best tracks are mid-'80s collaborations between Thompson and Betsy Cook, when Thompson's career had fallen into relative obscurity. As is typical of the period, too-glossy production values tend to mar the songs' elegance and simplicity. The album finishes with a sublime rendition of John Prine's "Aimless Love."
TRACKS
01 Story of Isaac
02 Down River
03 Fire and Rain
04 From a City Balcony
05 Get Back
06 Sometimes It Happens
07 Embroidered Butterflies
08 After Frost
09 You Missed the Sunflowers at Their Height
10 Restless Boy
11 The World Is a Wonderful Place
12 Abandoned
13 Hell, High Water and Heartache
14 Her Father Was a Sailor
15 When I Mention Love
16 Give Me a Sad Song
17 Aimless Love
Quality - 320 kbs
Password - highqualitymp3
Code:
http://rapidshare.com/files/192345708/LT01.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/192405916/LT01.part2.rar
Linda Thompson - Fashionably Late (2001)
From allmusic:
Linda Thompson's first recording in 17 years is a stunning brace of poetics and grace. For a woman who literally lost her voice for more than a decade due to a stress disorder, Thompson reveals that she is at full strength as a vocalist, and perhaps more importantly, with this recording she clearly establishes herself as a songwriter as well....This is a comeback record to be proud of; it not only sates the appetite of those fans who felt Linda Thompson left the scene too abruptly, but it is also the British folk record that everyone interested in the genre has been waiting such a long time for.
NB: The first track, Dear Mary, features Richard Thompson (and her children Teddy and Kamila), on their first recording together since 1982.
TRACKS
01 Dear Mary
02 Miss Murray
03 All I See
04 Nine Stone Rig
05 No Telling
06 Evona Darling
07 The Banks of the Clyde
08 Weary Life
09 Paint and Powder Beauty
10 Dear Old Man of Mine
Quality - 320 kbs
Password - highqualitymp3
Code:
http://rapidshare.com/files/192405918/LT02.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/192405920/LT02.part2.rar
Linda Thompson - Versatile Heart (2007)
From allmusic:
Thompson's heart may be versatile, but her forte is her ability to imbue songs of remorse, loss, and frustrated desire with a soulful beauty and an implied state of grace. Every album is deeper, more sensitive, and more inspiring than the last -- and this one is no exception.
TRACKS
01 Stay Bright
02 Versatile Heart
03 The Way I Love You
04 Beauty
05 Katy Cruel
06 Nice Cars
07 Do Your Best for Rock 'n Roll
08 Day After Tomorrow
09 Blue & Gold
10 Give Me a Sad Song
11 Go Home
12 Whisky, Bob Cooper and Me
13 Stay Bright
Quality - 320 kbs
Password - highqualitymp3
Code:
http://rapidshare.com/files/192405921/LT07.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/192445461/LT07.part2.rar
Linda Thompson - Solo Discography (most of it)
Linear Mode
