Richard Thompson

By almost universal consent, Richard Thompson has been acclaimed as Britain's greatest singer-songwriter for the last three decades. There might have been some dodgy times in the mid-‘80s, but he came back from it, and for the last several years has enjoyed an unprecedented run, with songs like "Waltzing's For Dreamers" and "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," a piece destined for future trad. repertoires, if it's not already there. The cream of his records for the Capitol label has just been released as Action Packed - The Best of the Capitol Years, which Thompson termed "an end of contract thing. I did my six albums before the mast, and it's a thing record companies do."

It's a neat summation of the last few years, but doesn't capture all the facets of a man who's let himself occasionally wander down some other paths from time to time, such as his Industry disc with bassist Danny Thompson, or the all-instrumental Strict Tempo.

"That one was fun and it was quick," he explained. "It's nice to do side projects, things that aren't in any sense ‘career,' collaborations with other people, things that sometimes challenge you and pull you out of your normal style and perimeters in music. It's exciting, and it can prod you in new directions, and stimulate your own style. You can come back from those enriched. There are a bunch of potential collaborations, but nothing firm at the moment."

"I've always found a real resonance with the modes and sounds of Scottish music. Perhaps I'm just indoctrinated, or perhaps it's something you inherit, but I love it."

One thing that's astonishing, given that much of his writing draws heavily on traditional music, is that he's never recorded an album of traditional songs. But, he said, "I've never thought I was the best person to do it. There are some great singers and players who do it full-time, so I've always been slightly shy. However, at this point I'm probably happy enough with the way I perform it that I would consider doing it, and it's been an idea at the back of mind."

Whether it could happen in the near future, though, depends on a number of factors.

"I'm trying to figure out the business, record labels and how that's going to work. Until that's in place, I don't know what the next album is. It could be a small, Internet-only. I have various preparations underway, and various records in a sort of ready-to-go way, but I'm not sure what's next."

Action Packed features a pair of tracks previously unavailable on CD, and one new song, "Persuasion," which teams Thompson with his son Teddy, who's beginning to make his own mark as a singer-songwriter, carrying on the family tradition.

"He was in the band in 1999 and 2000, which was great fun," Thompson recalled. "We did a couple of acoustic tours together, too, and we've done other things occasionally. At this point he's fairly over-qualified to play with the old man, and he's forging his own career. That's absolutely the right thing to do."

Inevitably, "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" made the cut, still a standout in his repertoire, covered by any number of artists, a fact that surprises him because "you think if you have a song that's fairly poppy, with three verses and a good hook, that's a song people would cover. But this is a five or six verse ballad. It's surprising, in a pleasant way, that people would pick up on it. It's my most-requested song in concert. The structure is very influenced by Scottish balladry, but uses contemporary images and objects."

Throughout the years, Scottish music, its melodies, drones, and images, have cropped up in his music.

"I grew up in London, but in a Scottish family. My father, as an exiled Scot, almost had more emphasis on being Scottish. The bookshelves were lined with Burns and Walter Scott, there were Jimmy Shand records every five minutes. I've always found a real resonance with the modes and sounds of Scottish music. Perhaps I'm just indoctrinated, or perhaps it's something you inherit, but I love it."

When he started out with Fairport Convention, and even in his early years as a solo player, Thompson was tagged as a folkie. Since then it has, perhaps, become less obvious in his work. Or, alternatively, his definition of folk has broadened - this is, after all, a man who called the Clash ‘folk.' How does he see folk music these days?

"It's always hard to interpret the word," he replied, "it means so many different things to different people. According to one definition, Eminem is folk, and so are the Clash. According to another, there's a more political interpretation, where it's just the music of the working people. There are a lot of false trails in that word."

But in Richard Thompson, the byways always lead to a fruitful conclusion.