Richard and Linda Thompson

Richard Thompson is a hardly a household name these days, but back in 1975 he was a true cult artist. After cutting his teeth with preeminent Brit folk-rockers Fairport Convention, the guitarist moved on to a solo career that never fully broke from his extended musical family. Joining forces with then-wife Linda, he released albums like I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight and Pour Down Like Silver that featured killer guitar work and great songs – although the pair never gained much attention on this side of the pond.

By 1982, the couple would do a messy final tour for their swan song masterpiece Shoot Out the Lights, but in 1975 they were firing on all cylinders with a strong rhythm section – Dave Pegg on bass, Dave Mattacks on drums and John Kirkpatrick on button accordion. But it was Linda’s white soul vocals and Richard’s mesmerizing guitar playing that stole the show.

With side trips to traditional British folk dance tunes and Hank Williams and Buck Owens to leaven the set, Thompson is free to play guitar solos that sound humanly impossible. And he’s not just showing off — his parts fit the songs perfectly. But during the real crackerjacks, he positively levitates. The fourteen minute “Calvary Cross” and “Night Comes In” have long been considered his apotheosis and not that far removed from John Coltrane’s adventures. (Fans of Neil Young and Television take note.) And compositions like “For Shame of Doing Wrong” and “A Heart Needs a Home” outrank the work of most singer-songwriter types of the era.