This Frequently Asked Questions file has been created to provide basic information on the purpose of the RT Discussion List, information on how to contribute to the list, and background on Richard Thompson and his music.

The FAQ should provide new members of the RT Discussion List with some information on topics that have already been discussed on the list.

The RT Discussion List FAQ is not intended to be a comprehensive, critical, or biographical study of Richard Thompson. Nor is it intended to be a comprehensive discography of his work. There will be, however, quite a few references throughout to other sources of information for those who seek more information than this FAQ is intended to provide.

This list was created to facilitate global discussion, via the Internet, of the music of Richard Thompson. Topics for discussion include all matters Thompson-related (songwriting, guitar techniques, reviews, concert info, etc.). Comments on Fairport Convention and projects that RT has been involved with are OK, too.

On May 25, 1993, Allyn Dimock dimock@das.harvard.edu asked on rec.music.folk if there was an RT discussion list on the Internet. On May 31, 1993, Brian White brw@jazz.njit.edu replied to Allyn's post and offered to manage an RT list if one did not exist. At this time, Brian asked for a show of "electronic" hands, as to potential interest.

On June 3, 1993, those who had sent Brian private email on their desire to be included in the proposed RT discussion list received a message with the following opening paragraph:

"If you got this message, you've been added to the Richard Thompson mailing list as a "charter subscriber", which buys you absolutely nothing! Of course, if you didn't receive this message, how would you know? :^)"

So, this list was officially "born" on June 3, 1993. The total number of "charter subscribers" was a small but enthusiastic 34. Four countries were represented: Australia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Charter members were Brian White, Gerry Pirrung, Dan Kozak, Paul Woods, Diane M. Terry, David Ewing, Doug Henkle, Chris Revie, Bob McC, Shane Youl, Ray Peck, Mark Linimon, Gordon Banks, Philip Foster, James Finn, Louis Cornelio, Garth Payne, Patrick Nielsen-Hayden, Ken Ficara, Martin Jonas, Cliff Joslyn, Pete Gibson, Ethan Jones, Fred M. Hamilton, Ray Smith, Noel Lackey, Dan Clancy, Mark Hessman, M.L. Bailey, Carl E. Anderson, Henry Koretzky, Glenn W. Lea, Colm Mulcahy, and Charlie A. Jamison.

The list has now grown to approximately 820 subscribers representing 20 countries. These countries are Australia, Canada, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, United States, and Wales.

This list was created by, and continues to be maintained by, Brian White brw@jazz.njit.edu at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ, USA. Maintaining a discussion list can be time-consuming and is always a non-paying job. (But Brian says it's also fun and through the list he has met some great folks!) Without his efforts, this list would not exist. We should all keep this in mind. We should also be very grateful to Brian for keeping the list healthy. THANKS, Mr. List Maintainer!

You may send email messages to Brian at brw@jazz.njit.edu.

When you have something to contribute, send your thoughts to the following address: r-thompson@listserver.njit.edu. Your message will then be distributed to all members of the RT list who have their mail options set to receive mail from the RT list.

When you want to respond directly to anyone who sends a message to the RT list, **do not** reply to r-thompson@listserver.njit.edu. Reply directly to the individual's private email address. If you reply to the address r-thompson@listserver.njit.edu, your message will automatically be distributed around the world to all those RT Discussion List subscribers who have their mail options set to receive messages from the list. Look for the individual's email address in the header of the message. Understand how your local email system works. Specifically, understand how your local email system's "reply" function works. Remember to reply to the _individual's_ email address, not the _list_ address.

If you make this mistake and send private email to the list-- welcome to the club. There are a few of us who have made this mistake in the past.

If you wish to receive the list messages in digest form (all of the individual messages sent out to you in one or two email messages each day) send email from your subscription address to:

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with the statements:

unsubscribe r-thompson subscribe r-thompson-digest

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If you wish to change back to the "regular" non-digest message distribution option, send an email from your subscription address to:

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with the statements:

unsubscribe r-thompson-digest subscribe r-thompson

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If you wish to stop receiving messages from the RT Discussion List, send email from your subscription address to:

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If you receive the *digest* version of the RT Discussion List, send email from your subscription address to:

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If you wish to start receiving messages from the RT Discussion List again, send email from your subscription address to:

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subscribe r-thompson (for the regular subscription)

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If you ever need another copy of this FAQ, send email from your subscription address to:

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with the statement:

get r-thompson faq

in the body of the message.

Soon after, you should receive an email message from the listserver which will contain the FAQ.

There is also an html version of the FAQ at Shane Youl's Shane.Youl@mel.dit.csiro.au RT Web site. The URL for this html version of the FAQ is: http://www.mel.dit.csiro.au/~sfy/RT_FAQ.html.

To get an index of what RT Discussion List files are archived and available, send email from your subscription address to:

listserver@listserver.njit.edu

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index r-thompson

in the body of the message.

Soon after, you should receive an email message from the listserver which will contain a list of the digest numbers and their respective sizes.

To obtain individual RT Discussion List digest files, send email from your subscription address to:

listserver@listserver.njit.edu

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get r-thompson digest-name

There are now two different "styles" of names; the original one (r-thompson-#) and "v01.nXXX", where "XXX" is the digest number. Check the dates of the index listing to make sure you are getting what you want.

You may put multiple requests of this type in a single email message, but the list maintainer asks that you please be kind to the machine supporting this list service and try to break up your requests.

Some facts gleaned from various radio and print interviews:

Richard John Thompson was born on April 3, 1949, in London, England. He grew up in a family with widely varied musical tastes. His Scottish father, a policeman, played dance band guitar, and his great-uncles performed in a Scottish country and jazz dance band.

RT has mentioned childhood memories of hearing his father's records of Les Paul, Django Reinhardt, and other guitar virtuosos.

He had a guitar by the age of 10. After a few years of classical guitar lessons, he started playing in a series of "cover" bands.

RT has mentioned his sister, five years his elder, as an important musical influence. Specifically, he mentions hearing rock and roll music (Buddy Holly and Gene Vincent, among others) played at home from her record collection, as well as the opportunities he had to learn guitar chords from her boyfriends while they waited for her to get ready for dates.

While in the cover bands, RT played guitar-heavy songs by the likes of The Shadows, The Ventures, Chuck Berry, and Duane Eddy.

RT has stated that he wrote his first song at about the age of 16, at a time when Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs were strong musical influences.

RT briefly apprenticed in a graphic design school, studying stained-glass window design. By the age of 17, he was playing in Fairport Convention. They had recorded by 1968, and during the following three years FC would become one of the most important and influential musical groups in the genre of folk-rock.

RT left FC in early 1971 and soon after began work as a session musician and solo artist. He married Linda Peters in 1972, and R&LT went on to record six albums together and tour extensively. Their final tour, and their only US tour, occurred in 1982 in support of the recording _Shoot Out The Lights_. They divorced soon after the completion of this tour and have both since remarried.

The last decade has seen RT perform hundreds of concerts both as a solo artist and as the leader of various bands. Major band tours occurred in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1994 and 1996. He also continues to record both as a much sought-after session musician and as an original artist and splits his non-touring time between homes in England and California.

Some facts gleaned from various interviews with Linda Thompson:

Linda Peters grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. Linda's mother was a vaudeville performer whose performing name was Vera Love, Specialty Dancer. Linda never really had any formal musical training. She was singing in small folk clubs, doing some session work, and recording jingles around the time that she met the members of FC in 1969 - 1970.

RT was still in FC when he and Linda met. She later sang back-up vocals on _Henry the Human Fly_ and was part of the group that recorded as "The Bunch." Richard and Linda were married in 1972.

As previously mentioned, LT recorded six albums with RT and performed with him at many concerts. She shares songwriting credits with him on two songs: "Pavanne" from _First Light_ and "Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed" from _Shoot Out The Lights_.

Following the divorce, LT worked at the British National Theatre and recorded one solo album, titled _One Clear Moment_. This recording has since been deleted. A follow-up project, recorded in Nashville, TN, was never released. This recording included such musicians as James Burton, Bruce Hornsby, Jennifer Warnes, and Jim Keltner. Evidently, LT was not satisfied with her vocals recorded during this project. This album would have included a number of LT original compositions, as well as songs written by Cheryl Wheeler, Sandy Denny, and Lucinda Williams.

A 1985 demo of Linda singing "Her Father Was A Sailor" can be heard on _Circle Dance: The Hokey Pokey Charity Compilation_. You can also hear Linda singing a duet with Richard on the mysterious track number 13 of _The World Is A Wonderful Place: The Songs Of Richard Thompson_.

The autumn 1992 issue of _HP_ features an interview with LT. At that time she was living in London and selling antique jewelry in Bond Street.

Longtime Thompson associate Ed Haber was involved in the production of the Linda Thompson retrospective, titled _Dreams Fly Away_. This CD was released in July, 1996. Since the release of the CD, LT has done a number of interviews, both on the radio and in print. She appeared on the cover of the July issue of _Folk Roots_ magazine.

The band Fairport Convention was formed in London in 1967. The band members, at that time, included Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol, RT, Shawn Frater (soon replaced by Martin Lamble), Judy Dyble, and Iain Matthews. The band was named after a house owned by the Nicol family, called Fairport.

FC is generally considered the originator of folk-rock--that is, electrified music with rock influences that draws on traditional melodies, motifs, and instrumentation. When RT joined the band, the repertoire included covers of songs by North American singer-songwriters (notably Bob Dylan), as well as some originals. To gain some understanding of RT's early contributions to the band, he is given either full or partial songwriting credit for 5 of the 12 songs on _Fairport Convention_, recorded when he was still a teenager!

With the addition of Sandy Denny, the group began to perform traditional British folk songs such as "Tam Lin" and "She Moves Through The Fair."

There were many personnel changes in the early years of FC. Sandy Denny replaced Judy Dyble, Iain Matthews quit to pursue a solo career, Ashley Hutchings departed to form Steeleye Span, Sandy Denny later formed the band Fotheringay, Dave Swarbrick was added to play fiddle, Dave Mattacks joined to play drums, Dave Pegg came along to play bass. Other members over the years included Trevor Lucas, Bruce Rowland, Jerry Donahue, Ric Sanders, and Martin Allcock.

Although FC is best known for launching the careers of RT and Denny, they were only with the band for a few early years. RT departed from the group in 1971 after contributing to the following recordings: _Fairport Convention_, _What We Did On Our Holidays_, _Unhalfbricking_, _Liege And Lief_, and _Full House_.

FC continued on after RT left the group, and the current lineup, Simon Nicol, Dave Mattacks, Dave Pegg, Martin Allcock, and Ric Sanders are today still touring, releasing albums, and hosting the yearly reunion at Cropredy.

Mitchell Froom is a musician and record producer. To date, he has produced four of RT's recordings: _Daring Adventures_, _Amnesia_, _Rumor And Sigh_, and _Mirror Blue_.

He has also produced albums for Suzanne Vega, Los Lobos, Elvis Costello, Crowded House, and American Music Club, among others.

Joe Boyd has been associated with an impressive list of musicians throughout his career. Boyd produced albums by FC, Martin Carthy, The Incredible String Band, Shirley & Dolly Collins, Nick Drake, the McGarrigles, Toots and the Maytals, Maria Muldaur, 10,000 Maniacs, R.E.M., Pink Floyd, and RT, among others!

Boyd produced the following RT albums: _Shoot Out The Lights_, _Hand Of Kindness_, and _Across A Crowded Room_, and was the executive producer of LT's CD, titled _Dreams Fly Away_.

His early production work was significant to the development of British folk-rock. Since those early projects, he has remained involved in the music industry through continued production work and involvement with Hannibal Records.

Some facts gleaned from David Thomas' _Hokey Pokey_ article on Jimmy Shand:

Jimmy Shand was born in East Wemys, Fife, Scotland, on January 28, 1908. After working as a coal miner, delivery van driver, salesman, and accordion demonstrator, he began a recording career that would span decades. Shand and his band performed numerous tv and radio sessions and toured worldwide.

His first commercial records were produced in 1933. RT collects Jimmy Shand's recordings that were released on the Beltona label. During the 1950's, a new Jimmy Shand recording was released each month!

You can hear some of RT's versions of Jimmy Shand tunes on _Henry the Human Fly_ and _Strict Tempo_. The song "Don't Sit On My Jimmy Shands" appears on _Rumor And Sigh_. RT has jokingly called this song "cultural revenge." By that, he means revenge for all the obscure American surf and car lyrics that went out to the world and confused many non-Americans who listened to them. To "get back" at the Americans, RT sings a song about a Scottish accordion player and country dance band leader! The "Lawrence Welk of the Glens," as he calls Jimmy Shand!

David Thomas' article on Jimmy Shand appears in the summer 1992 issue of _HP_. David also assisted with the production of _Jimmy Shand: the King of the Melodeon Men_. This is the 21 track compilation of Jimmy Shand's Parlophone and Regal Zonophone recordings (EMI 7243 8 29898 20). (UK CDEMS 1530, cassette TCEMS 1530). Highly recommended!

Al Bowlly was born on January 7, 1898, in a town that is now known as Maputo, Mozambique. He died on April 17, 1941, in a London cafe bombing.

Bowlly toured as a guitar and banjo player before making his first record in 1927. He recorded hundreds of songs during the 1930's, mainly with Roy Fox and Ray Noble. He moved to New York City with Ray Noble in the mid 1930's and went on to have an NBC radio show there. Moving back to England in 1937, Bowlly headed his own tours and continued recording.

Two of his best-known recordings are the Ray Noble compositions, "Love Is The Sweetest Thing," and "The Very Thought Of You." Bowlly's much-loved voice can still be heard on EMI and BBC recordings, as well as other compilations.

RT's song "Al Bowlly's In Heaven" appears on _Daring Adventures_.

Danny Thompson...where to begin! Danny has had a varied and quite remarkable career as a bass player thus far. By the age of 17, he had played in skiffle bands, strip clubs, and traditional jazz groups. He mentions the blues, and particularly Big Bill Broonzy, as early musical influences.

At the age of 18, Danny was playing with the great English jazz tenor saxophonist Tubby Hayes.

He was a founding member of the important British band Pentangle. Other musicial associations include work with John Martyn, Little Walter, and Josh White, among others. His record _Whatever_ can be found on the Hannibal label.

Danny is an active session musician, and you can hear his double-bass, named "Victoria," on many albums, from Indigo Girls to Everything But The Girl.

Since 1993, he has toured extensively with RT, in both acoustic and band tours.

In addition to all that, has has also started a British jazz label, titled "The Jazz Label," formed an organization called "The Fellowship Of British Jazz Musicians," and continues to serve as compere at the Cropredy Festival. The man can also sing one mean sea chantey!

Anne Briggs is a British folk singer and songwriter who influenced such musicians as Sandy Denny, June Tabor, Bert Jansch, and Fairport Convention.

Musically, she has been associated with A.L. Lloyd, Frankie Armstrong, and Johnny Moynihan, among others. She recorded a few albums before her early retirement from the music business.

RT has been asked about her, in relation to the woman in the song "Beeswing," from _Mirror Blue_. He has stated that it is a completely fictional song, but there are quite a few bits in there that refer to someone very much like Anne Briggs.

FFK&T are John French, Fred Frith, Henry Kaiser, and Richard Thompson. Together, these musicians have recorded two albums: _Live, Love, Larf & Loaf_ and _Invisible Means_.

The Bunch included Sandy Denny, RT, Ashley "Tyger" Hutchings, Pat Donaldson, Dave Mattacks, Dundee Horns, Gerry Conway, Ian Whiteman, Trevor Lucas, Linda Peters, and Tony Cox. This group of musicians recorded one album together, titled _Rock On_.

RT was once involved in a band that included Ralph McTell, Dave Mattacks, and Dave Pegg. They called themselves The GP's (The Grazed Pontiffs). A live recording was made on August 14, 1981, at Broughton Castle, Oxfordshire, England, and released some 10 years later as _Saturday Rolling Around_.

The title comes from Tennyson's poem "The Lady Of Shalott."

	"And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
	 The knights come riding two and two:
         She hath no loyal knight and true,
         The Lady of Shalott."

RT's album title comes from this Archibald MacLeish poem, posthumously published in _Collected Poems, 1917-1982_ (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1985):

	"Rumor and sigh of unimagined seas,
	 Dim radiance of stars that never flamed,
	 Fragrance of petals never strewn from trees,--
	 Meaning of words unsaid and never named;

	 So from a silence I have made you songs,
	 So from a starless night a rose of stars.
	 Can you not hear how all the stillness jars
	 With music, and the darkness throngs?"

This song title refers to a pub in England. It is also the imaginative location for the song.

The song was originally titled "Jack Straw's Castle," which is a gay pub in the same general location as the King of Bohemia. RT changed the title before the song's release on _Mirror Blue_. He did this because people were asking him if it was a homosexual song, which it is not.

When asked this question, RT often provides two different descriptions. One is that the "Wall of Death" is a motorcycle daredevil stunt where the rider drives around a bowl-shaped area horizontally. The other description is that it is a kind of fairground ride where the floor drops away from a spinning room. Centrifugal force sticks the people to the wall as the floor drops down. RT has said that he often saw this sort of ride at the Hampshire fair in London.

RT's song "Wall of Death" appears on _Shoot Out The Lights_.

The Vincent Black Lightning is a rare and very fast British motorcycle. Fewer than 30 were made in 1952.

The Vincent company went out of business in the mid-fifties, but not before manufacturing some of the most famous "classic" British motorcycles.

Vincent motorcycles are best remembered for their high quality, lightness, design innovations (such as the coil spring beneath the seat), and speed. Post-war Vincents were considered the fastest standard motorcycles in the world. The 1000cc Rapide was rated at 110 - 115 mph, while the Black Lightning, the machine owned by our James Adie and passed on to Red Molly in RT's song "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" (_Rumor And Sigh_), was claimed to run at 150 mph! Indeed, American Rollie Free broke the American speed record of 136.183 mph when he went 150.313 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, in 1948 on a Black Lightning and then 156.58 mph in 1950. The previous record dated back to 1937!

The Vincent company produced Black Lightning motorcycles in very small numbers between 1948 and 1954.

In terms of romantic, rare, fast, and dangerous British symbols, RT could not have chosen a better icon than the Vincent Black Lightning!

This was one of the first topics discussed on the RT Discussion List. Many list members contributed their opinions on which albums should be listened to and purchased first. There were lots of different opinions.

Rather than try to summarize these opinions, this question will be answered purely from the perspective of the writer of this FAQ. To make this very clear--this is my opinion. My advice: grab your credit card and go buy them all! :-)

Seriously, I suggest that the best place to start is _Watching The Dark: The History of Richard Thompson_. This is the three-cd set released by Ryko/Hannibal in 1993.

This collection of previously released studio recordings, rare live recordings, and other previously unreleased studio recordings is indispensable to gaining an understanding of RT's musical development. It also includes an informative booklet with details on each of the 47 tracks included. You cannot go wrong starting here, IMHO.

• 1972 The Bunch _Rock On_ (RT was part of this group)
• 1972 _Morris On_ (RT performing with Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick, and Barry Dransfield)
• 1972 _Henry The Human Fly_ (RT's first solo record and a classic!)
• 1974 _I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight_ (with Linda Thompson)
• 1975 _Hokey Pokey_ (with Linda Thompson)
• 1975 _Pour Down Like Silver_ (with Linda Thompson)
• 1976 _(guitar, vocal)_
• 1978 _First Light_ (with Linda Thompson)
• 1979 _Sunnyvista_ (with Linda Thompson)
• 1981 _Strict Tempo!_
• 1982 _Shoot Out The Lights_ (with Linda Thompson)
• 1983 _Hand Of Kindness_
• 1984 _Small Town Romance_ (now deleted)
• 1985 _Across A Crowded Room_
• 1985 _Doom And Gloom From The Tomb_ (the first Flypaper production)
• 1986 _Daring Adventures_
• 1987 _Live, Love, Larf & Loaf_ (with John French, Fred Frith, and Henry Kaiser)
• 1988 _Amnesia_
• 1990 _Invisible Means_ (with John French, Fred Frith, and Henry Kaiser)
• 1991 _Doom And Gloom From The Tomb II: Over My Dead Body_ (the second Flypaper production)
• 1991 _Saturday Rolling Around_ (with the GP's: Ralph McTell, Dave Pegg, and Dave Mattacks)
• 1991 _Rumor And Sigh_
• 1993 _Watching The Dark: The History of Richard Thompson_
• 1994 _Mirror Blue_
• 1995 _Live At Crawley 1993_ (Concert recording with Danny Thompson)
• 1996 _You?Me?Us?_

Yes. As of this writing, three tribute albums have been released:

1. Dave Burland's album _His Master's Choice: The Songs Of Richard Thompson_, includes Clive Gregson, Christine Collister, and RT, among others.
2. _The World Is A Wonderful Place: The Songs of Richard Thompson_, released on Green Linnet Records, contains 18 tracks by such artists as Christine Collister, Victoria Williams, Plainsong, and Martin and Jessica Simpson, among others.
3. _Beat the Retreat_, released on Capitol Records, includes 16 tracks of RT songs performed by such artists as Bonnie Raitt, R.E.M., Maddy Prior, Los Lobos, and Martin Carthy, among others.

Yes. A number of bootleg releases have been mentioned in _Hokey Pokey_ and other music publications. The author of this FAQ and the RT list administrator do not encourage the purchase of these recordings. The artist receives no royalties from the sale of bootlegs, and the sound quality of many bootlegs is far from the quality of legitimate recordings.

This recording contains 14 songs specially recorded for a BBC tv series on exploitation in the workplace titled "Hard Cash." To date, this series has not been broadcast. Three RT compositions are included: "Time To Ring Some Changes," "Mrs Rita," and "Oh I Swear." Clive Gregson and Christine Collister also appear on two songs on this recording.

RT collaborated with Peter Filleul and contributed to the soundtrack of this motion picture. Previously, RT had also collaborated with Filleul on other soundtrack projects, including one titled _The Marksman_.

This soundtrack album consists of 11 tracks. RT plays a variety of instruments on this recording: electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, mandolin, and hammered dulcimer, and also provides lead vocals on three songs: "Put Your Trust In Me," "To Hang A Dream On," and "False Or True."

Four _Hokey Pokey_ charity albums are currently available on the Green Linnet label. From the liner notes: "All proceeds from the sale of these albums will be distributed to various schools and charities for disabled children."

• Volume 1: _Circle Dance_. Includes Clive Gregson and Christine Collister, FC, RT, and LT, among others.
• Volume 2: _All Through The Year: A Calendar In Music And Song_. Includes John Kirkpatrick and Sue Harris, FC, and the "Mele Kalikimaka Serenaders" (RT, Henry Kaiser, and others), among others.
• Volume 3: _The World Is A Wonderful Place: The Songs Of Richard Thompson_. This recording was discussed in the previous question on RT "tribute" recordings.
• Volume 4: _Out On The Rolling Sea: A Tribute To The Music Of Joseph Spence & The Pinder Family_. Includes Victoria Williams, Taj Mahal, and David Lindley, among others. RT was not involved in this album.

These tapes were produced by the US RT fan club "Flypaper" and compiled by Frank Kornelussen, Edward Haber, and Ilana Pelzig. _Doom And Gloom From The Tomb, I_ was produced in 1985, and _Doom And Gloom, II: (Over My Dead Body_) was produced in 1991. These tapes included rare live recordings, early FC recordings, R&LT material, various studio demos, etc.

The first volume of D&G is sold out. Those seeking out volume two should contact "Flypaper." The address is

Flypaper
J.A.F Box 7095
New York, NY 10116
USA

These are the official t-shirts of the RT Discussion List. They were designed by Dee Gennarelli Deeg1225@amug.org. The quote that appears on the back of the shirt comes directly from RT. The quote, now proudly worn around the world, is "They're worse than real critics, they're amateur critics!" RT said this to list member Steve Kilpatrick kilpatri@vms.cis.pitt.edu at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, RI, on April 18, 1994.

Dee's artwork, which appears on the front of the t-shirt, can be viewed at Shane Youl's Shane.Youl@mel.dit.csiro.au RT Web page. The URL is http://www.mel.dit.csiro.au/~sfy/RT/ML.html.

There have been a number of reprintings of the t-shirt, and these were directed by Larry Slavens rooster@ins.infonet.net.

Dee presented RT and Danny Thompson with list t-shirts on August 3, 1994, at the Chautauqua Park Auditorium in Boulder, CO.

At this point, hundreds of t-shirts have been purchased by RT Discussion List members, and they are a common sight at RT concerts and outdoor music festivals around the world. The supply has been depleted, though, and there are currently no longer any for sale.

RT was asked to choose a charity to receive funds remaining after t-shirt production/mailing costs, and his choice was Amnesty International.

In addition to the t-shirt sales, the RT Discussion List has held a number of charity auctions. As of September 6, 1996, approximately $2,162 USD has been donated to Amnesty International as a result of these efforts.

The "Doom And Gloom From The Net" t-shirt project, and the charity auctions, have been, and continue to be, a smashing success. The work of Dee Gennarelli and the rest of the RT Discussion List is making a difference in our world!

Yes! A discography has been created and is updated by Shane Youl Shane.Youl@mel.dit.csiro.au.

The most recent version of this document can be retrieved from the listserver host computer (listserver@listserver.njit.edu). If you wish to have a copy of this discography, send email from your subscription address to:

listserver@listserver.njit.edu

with the statement:

get r-thompson discography

in the body of the message.

Soon after, you should receive an email message from the listserver that contains the discography.

Many thanks to Shane Youl for keeping this important discography updated!

Yes. There are lyrics for a few R&LT songs at "ftp.uwp.edu" in "pub/music/lyrics/t/thompson.richard" and in "pub/music/lyrics/t/thompson.richard.linda".

World Wide Web access to these University of Wisconsin-Parkside Music Archives and Lyrics Pages is at: http://archive.uwp.edu.

Yes. There are chord progressions and/or tablature for a few RT songs at the On-Line Guitar Archive at http://www.olga.net.

Chord progressions and partial tablature have also been posted on rec.music.makers.guitar.tablature.

Yes. Shane Youl Shane.Youl@mel.dit.csiro.au has created an impressive WWW home page for RT information. The URL is http://www.mel.dit.csiro.au/~sfy/RT.

Dan Krebs dkrebs@gbn.net has also created a WWW home page on RT. The URL is: http://csbf.gbn.net/~dkrebs/thompson.html.

RT's current record company, Capitol Records, has included information about him on their WWW page. The URL is http://www.hollywoodandvine.com.

Another place well worth accessing is "Folkbook" a fine WWW site for acoustic music maintained by Steve Spencer spencer@cgrg.ohio-state.edu. The URL is http://www.cgrg.ohio-state.edu/folkbook/.

Yes. A three-audiocassette set with printed tablature and music, titled _The Guitar Of Richard Thompson_, has been produced by Happy Traum for Homespun Tapes. Homespun's telephone number, as of the writing of this FAQ, is 1 (800) 33-TAPES, and for those calling from overseas, (914) 246-2550. Their mailing address is Box 694, Woodstock, New York 12498.

Another project that RT was involved in was a videotape titled, _Rock Guitar: A Guide From The Greats_. This instructional videotape included RT, Ron Wood, and Michael Schenker. It is no longer available for purchase.

RT also collaborated with Niles Hokkanen on a two-audiocassette set with book, titled _The Electric Mandolin_. This set focused on mandolin theory, techniques, and improvisation. For more information, write to

Niles Hokkanen
P.O. Box 3585
Winchester, VA 22604
USA

In addition to these, an _Amnesia_ songbook was published in 1989 by Cherry Lane Music Company, Inc., Port Chester, NY 10573-430. The ISBN is 0-89524-427-6. The songbook was written for piano and guitar chords only, no solo transcriptions or open tuning information is included. This book is probably out of print now.

Currently, RT's main recording and performance guitars are a Lowden L-32 acoustic (medium-sized body with cutaway), a few Ferrington solid-body electrics, and Fender Stratocasters. He has said this of his main Strat: "It's a fifty-something, '57 or '58, with a '55 neck, pretty much stock, but with a modified tone circuit."

Yes. During the _Across A Crowded Room_ tour, a concert performed at Barrymore's in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, was filmed. The date of this show was April 10, 1985. This concert recording was officially released in videotape format, then later in laser-disc format. As of the date of this FAQ, list members are reporting that copies of the laser-disc version of the concert do not seem to be available. Used copies occasionally are listed in publications such as _Goldmine_, but new copies are apparently not being produced in the US at this time.

Yes. _Fairport Convention: It All Comes 'Round Again_ is a 110-minute documentary that "traces the history of Britain's premier folk-rock group, Fairport Convention." It includes interviews with past and present band members, journalist Patrick Humphries, and producer Joe Boyd along with rare archival footage dating back to 1968.

The stereo VHS videotape was produced in 1987 by Fairport Associates, Ltd. The telephone number on the videotape case is (718) 624-6803.

Two concert performance videos have also been produced. _FC Live At Broughton Castle, 1981_ is a video recording of the second FC reunion concert that was held on August 14-15, 1981. It includes some 23 songs and features Dave Pegg, Dave Swarbrick, Simon Nicol, RT, Dave Mattacks, Bruce Rowland, Judy Dyble, and Ralph McTell. At the time of the writing of this FAQ it is available in British video format from Musikfolk, 60 Weymede, Byfleet, Surrey, KT14 7DQ, UK.

The other FC concert performance video is _FC Live At Maidstone, 1970_. This is a short (less than 35 minutes) video of the _Full House_ line-up performing at the Maidstone Fiesta in July, 1970. It also includes rare performance footage of Matthews Southern Comfort. It is also currently available in British video from Musikfolk.

Yes. The first book was written by Patrick Humphries. _Meet On The Ledge: The History Of Fairport Convention_. London: Eel Pie Island Pub. Co., 1982. ISBN:0906008468. This book is apparently now out of print.

A second book was written by list-member Martin Woodward martin_woodward.frontline@flnotes6.frontline.co.uk and Fred Redwood. Titled, _The Woodworm Era (The Story Of Today's Fairport Convention)_, this book is published by the Jeneva Publishing Company, PO Box 5918, Thatcham, Berks, RG18 9YY, UK. At the present time, it is available from this address.

Another book, written by John C. Falstaff, titled _The Fairport Connection_, has been announced in _Hokey Pokey_, but as of the date of the writing of this FAQ it is still not in print. When published, this book will include full discographies of FC, Sandy Denny, R&LT, and RT, among others associated with FC.

A list of musicians that performed in RT's touring bands was compiled by FiL Wisneski pwisnesk@gandalf.rutgers.edu, and is now updated by Charlie A. Jamison cjamison@lib.ursinus.edu.

To get a copy of this list, send email from your subscription address to:

listserver@listserver.njit.edu

with the statement:

get r-thompson tour-bands

in the body of the message.

In the 1988 interview included in Clinton Heylin's book, _Gypsy Love Songs & Sad Refrains_, RT stated that he was "rather ambivalent" about people trading his concert performance tapes. His main problem with this seemed to be having "off nights" getting out to people on tapes.

Some 5 years later, in an interview with list member Jeff Soldau, published in _Taper's Quarterly_, RT had similar comments. Some excerpts from this interview, reproduced with the permission of the publisher, provide some additional insights into RT's "ambivalence" towards concert tapes:

RT:  Jeff from the magazine, looks like a fine publication.
TQ:  Thanks...it's about live music, which you do very well, and about people
     who record, collect and trade live recordings.
RT:  Oh, those rip-off bastards!   (this was said tongue-in-cheek, according to
Jeff).

Then later in the interview, the topic is discussed again:

TQ:  What do you think about people taping your shows?
RT:  What do I think...well...I quite like having a board tape, or something as
a reference.  How do I feel about other people taping?  Hmmm...I don't think
they affect record sales.  I think the people who tape the shows are people
that buy all the recordings.  They really are.  What I don't like is the fact
that a performance I don't necessarily like can get out.  One of the things
about having a career is trying to control your output, you're never "on" every
night, or bad songs in a night...bad tunings, bad something or other...you get
all kinds of things that affect a performance.

--------

That being said, there are quite a few list members collecting and trading RT live performance and radio session tapes. The list maintainer suggests that anyone wishing to trade tapes send a message to the list indicating an interest and requesting private email replies. This procedure will keep the volume of "tape-trading" messages off the list, yet will facilitate the sharing of RT tapes.

Trading tapes of RT's official recordings, a practice that detracts from sales of the albums and thereby hurts RT's reputation, chart position, and bank account, should not be discussed on the RT Discussion List.

It is also assumed that those trading RT tapes have previously purchased his albums.

Yes, on October 17, 1991, at the Auditorio de la Cartuja, Seville, Spain. At this "Guitar Greats Festival," RT played electric and acoustic guitars. He accompanied Dylan on electric guitar (along with the Jack Bruce Band) on "All Along the Watchtower," and on acoustic guitar on "Boots of Spanish Leather," "Across The Borderline," and "Answer Me." RT also participated in the all-star jam on "Shake, Rattle And Roll," and "I Can't Turn You Loose."

The Cropredy Festival is the musical event started in the early 1980s involving the members of FC and held each August. RT has performed at many of these annual outdoor festivals.

The Festival is held in the small village of Cropredy, North Oxfordshire, England. This village was the site of the Cropredy Bridge battle, which occurred on June 29, 1644. At this battle, the Royalists defeated the Parliamentarians under Sir William Waller.

The Cropredy Festival provides a great opportunity for RT Discussion List members to meet, face to face, and list meetings are organized and occur there each year.

For information on the festival and other Cropredy related items, such as Cropredy-related CD's, write to

Woodworm Records, 
PO Box 37, 
Banbury, Oxon., OX16 8YN, UK

or send a fax to 01869 337142.

Festival Tours, based in California, provides assistance with travel and tour arrangements. This is Nancy Covey's company. Nancy Covey is RT's wife. Festival Tours has organized and offered tours to the UK for the Cropredy Festival in the past. At the time of the writing of this FAQ, Festival Tours could be reached by calling the following telephone number: (818) 346-5146.

_Hokey Pokey_ is the "official" newsletter for fans of Richard Thompson and related music.

It is produced by Andrew Quarrie <106020.1742@compuserve.com> in Great Britain and published on an irregular basis. Information can be obtained by contacting the following address:

Hokey Pokey
c/o Andrew Quarrie 
Field Corner 
Millham Lane 
Dulverton 
Somerset TA22 9HQ
ENGLAND.

_Dirty Linen_ is the journal of folk, electric folk, traditional, and world music published in the USA. The address is

Dirty Linen
P.O. Box 66600
Baltimore, MD 21239-6600
USA

_Dirty Linen_ also maintains a WWW home page. The URL is http://www.dirtynelson.com/linen/.

_Flypaper_ is the RT fan newsletter published in the USA. For information, write to

Flypaper
J.A.F. Box 7095
New York, NY 10116
USA

As of the date of this FAQ, regular issues of _Flypaper_ are not being produced, but the publishers maintain a free mailing list. _Flypaper's_ primary purpose, these days, is to send out RT tour mailings and distribute RT's approved live recordings, such as the _Live at Crawley_ CD.

This is a book written by Clinton Heylin. The full title of the book is _Gypsy Love Songs & Sad Refrains: The Recordings Of Richard Thompson + Sandy Denny_. It had previously been published in two separate volumes: _Twenty One Years Of Doom And Gloom_ and _Sad Refrains_. The one-volume edition (c1989) has the following address on the title page:

	Labour of Love Productions
	P.O. Box 34
	Sale,
	Cheshire
	M33 2HL
	England

Of interest to fans of RT, the book includes two interviews with him (1982 and 1988) and a list of his concerts, studio sessions, and radio broadcasts from 1967 to September of 1989. The second part of the book includes information on the studio recordings, radio broadcasts, and soundboard and audience recordings of Sandy Denny.

At the time of the writing of this FAQ, copies of this book have proven to be very difficult to find. To anyone seriously interested in the career and live performances of RT, however, it is an indispensable reference and worth seeking out.

The following books and periodicals have been useful while doing the research for this FAQ and are recommended to anyone interested in learning more about RT.

• The _Rolling Stone Index: Twenty-Five Years of Popular Culture 1967-1991_. Ann Arbor, MI: Popular Culture, Ink, 1993.
• _Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music_. London: Viking, Penguin, 1989.
• _Strange Affair_ (previously cited in this FAQ)
• _Gypsy Love Songs And Sad Refrains_ (previously cited in this FAQ)
• _Meet On The Ledge_ (previously cited in this FAQ)
• _Taper's Quarterly: The Magazine of Live Music And Concert Taping_. (For information on this publication, send email to Jeff Soldau lava@well.com )
• _Hokey Pokey_, _Flypaper_, _Dirty Linen_, _Folk Roots_, _Guitar Player_, _Acoustic Guitar_, and _The Performing Songwriter_.

There are also a few very informative files available from the listserver at NJIT. Descriptions and directions on how to get these documents are listed below.

Ian Pearson Ian_Pearson@mail.magic.co has made available an interview that he conducted with RT in December of 1993, as well as an article, based on this interview, that he published in the Canadian music magazine _Impact_.

To get the RT/Pearson interview file, send email to:

listserver@listserver.njit.edu

with the statement:

get r-thompson.pearson.int

in the body of the message.

To get the RT/Pearson _Impact_ article, send email to:

listserver@listserver.njit.edu

with the statement:

get r-thompson.pearson.art

in the body of the message.

For those interested in Leonard Cohen, there is also an Ian Pearson interview/article on him available at NJIT. To get it, send email to:

listserver@listserver.njit.edu

with the statement:

get r-thompson pearson-cohen.art

in the body of the message.

Carol Watson watson@hg.uleth.ca has made available an article on RT written by Michael Bloom that was published in _Rhythm Music Magazine_. To get this file, send email to:

listserver@listserver.njit.edu

with the statement:

get r-thompson RMM-review

in the body of the message

Many thanks to the following list members for their willingness to help me with this project:

Trevor Buck buck@innotts.co.uk 
Diane Fronczak DF911@aol.com
Dee Gennarelli DeeG1225@amug.org 
Steve Kilpatrick kilpatri@vms.cis.pitt.edu 
Henry Koretzky hrk@psulias.psu.edu 
Larry Slavens rooster@ins.infornet.net 
Jeff Soldau lava@well.com 
Steve Spencer spencer@cgrg.ohio-state.edu 
David Thomas David.Thomas@brunel.ac.uk 
Brian White brw@jazz.njit.edu 
Pam Winters pmw@access.digex.net 
FiL Wisneski pwisnesk@gandalf.rutgers.edu 
Paul Woods Paul.Woods@bristol.ac.uk and 
Shane Youl Shane.Youl@mel.dit.csiro.au.
 

Special thanks to Brian White for serving so well, and for so long, as the RT discussion list administrator, Pam Winters for continuing on as the fine editor of this FAQ, Steve Spencer for assisting me with the formatting of this document, and Dee Gennarelli and Paul Woods for their encouragement and information sent to me all along the way.

Thanks also to those who send the author private e-mail on this FAQ. It is gratifying to know that RT fans find this document useful.

Until he either quits or is fired, :-) the responsibility rests on the shoulders of Charlie A. Jamison caj@access.digex.net.

Indeed! Help me make this FAQ a better source of information. RT and the members of this list deserve nothing but the best! Email your thoughts, corrections, suggestions, etc., to me at caj@access.digex.net.

Thanks!