Well, I'll officially be away until Sunday, at least. I'm off on a mini vacation, and frankly, I hope to spend absolutely no time thinking of posting. The point of the trip, ostensibly, was to see my nephew in his school play--a red-haired Midwesterner of Swedish descent, he's playing Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof, but hey, if he can tap into his vast genetic reservoirs of guilt and despair, he should be fine--but it turns out Richard Thompson is in concert in Omaha tonight, so suddenly that's the most important thing in the world.
I've shown plenty of Thompson clips in this space before, and dammit, it's time for more. He's easily one of the best songwriters we have at the moment, as evidenced by this, possibly the gloomiest breakup number ever written. "All your magic and your ways and schemes/All your lies come and tear at your dreams"--brilliant.
However great Thompson's prowess as a songwriter, it's equaled or even exceeded by his abilities as a guitarist--he's simply the best, period. One of the joys of seeing him in concert is that you never know when he'll let loose with an oddly chosen cover showcasing his amazing fretwork, as happens on this old Louis Jordan tune:
Here's another cover. It seems like a joke at first, but typically, Thompson eaisly finds the dark, dark heart of even the most disposable pop song.
Hope you enjoyed. Be back soon.
