Richard & Linda Thompson

BIOGRAPHY

Richard Thompson (born 1949), formerly the lead guitarist and a songwriter for Fairport Convention, and Linda Thompson (née Pettifer, born 1947) formed a duo after marrying in 1972, releasing six albums together between 1974 and 1982. Their debut, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974), and their final release, Shoot Out the Lights (1982), stand as critically acclaimed touchstones of British folk rock, the latter nominated by Rolling Stone as best album of 1982. The couple's growing involvement with Sufism, a mystical form of Islam, shaped mid-1970s work like Pour Down Like Silver, whose cover pictured a turbaned Richard Thompson. They separated in 1982, just as Shoot Out the Lights was earning them overdue recognition in the US; Richard resumed his solo career while Linda later recorded on her own, her work at times affected by hysterical dysphonia.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Richard & Linda Thompson fused folk rock, country rock, and art rock into albums built on intricate guitar work and bleak, narrative-driven songwriting. Their records were well reviewed but sold modestly, in part because Thompson's dismal worldview reportedly kept them off the charts. Shoot Out the Lights, made as their marriage was collapsing, became a landmark example of personal turmoil transmuted into art, arriving just as the duo were finally gaining wider notice in America.

GEORGE'S PLAYS

George has played this artist 2 times.

PLAYED ON WOKE1

• I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight2 PLAYS