•
Rating: Every time I look at the front and back cover of this album, I'm struck by a slight sadness. In fact, while the main image depicts a statue (presumably plaster) of R Thompson with the guitar surrounded by mirrors, the back instead shows the same statue broken in multiple places (head, torso, legs, and the end part of the guitar) next to a plaque (placed under the sculpture of a head) with the inscription: Elvis 1935-1977. Personally, I interpreted the meaning of these images as a deep reference to music. From a certain point of view (especially when listening), music remains so to speak "perfect" over time in all its facets (mirrors), yet at the same time, it is laden with internal wounds never fully healed, like the untimely death of Elvis...
Thompson (b. 1949 GB) is the founder of Fairport Convention and is undoubtedly a skilled and meticulous guitarist with an original vocal tone and considerable songwriting abilities. He stayed with the FC until 1971, then decided to continue his career alongside Linda Peters (his wife), producing a series of albums based on a certain type of electric Folk-Rock-Country. In the '80s, the couple separated both artistically and personally, and while Thompson continued to release albums, despite the critical period for English Folk, Linda quickly disappeared from the scene. Richard's collaborations with artists engaged in various musical genres are countless.
The CD consists of thirteen songs with a total duration of about fifty-five minutes. Perhaps, the only flaw of this work is the tone that is at times slightly "heavy", but which nonetheless becomes a negligible aspect after a good series of listens. You can find both relaxing tracks like "The Way That It Shows," "King Of Bohemia," and "Beeswing,” as well as almost enigmatic tracks like "Mingus Eyes," "Taking My Business Elsewhere" (a small and moving masterpiece), and "Easy There, Steady Now," but also more properly Rock songs like "Shane And Dixie," "Mascara Tears," and "Ride in Your Slipstream." Throughout the album, there is a certain inner tension and a particular almost "metallic" sound, perhaps due to the production by M Froom, which I personally enjoy.
Worth mentioning is the excellent guitar work by Thompson, not for the technical aspect, but for the originality and almost "rigorous" dedication of the instrumental passages, with sophisticated and never trivial sounds. However, the album requires a few listens to be fully appreciated. The booklet is also excellent as it (for once) contains the lyrics of the songs and a series of amusing photographs where the (small) statue of Thompson is placed in the most unlikely places like: a small garden next to fake animals, in a box, in front of a round mirror, on a carpet together with other "knick-knacks" presumably for sale. Album rating 4.3 out of 5 (figurines).
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 MGB-GT (03:37)
I've got a little car and she might go far
She's the mistress of my heart now
She's a '65 with an overdrive
I fixed her in every part now
2 in the front and 2 in the back
110 on the old Hog's Back
She's my MGB-GT she's a runner now
I welded the sills and the old floor pan
Cut the rust with the torch and the hacksaw
Took the Rostyles off, put the spoke wheels on
Got a brand new Salisbury axle
WHen I drive through town the girls all smile
They say, there's a man with retro-style
MGB-GT she's a runner now
Lockheed discs and twin SUs
Original chrome on the grill now
Looks llike a dream in racing green
Competition's standing still now
I sprayed her body, I strengthened her frame
I stripped her right down and built her up again
MGB-GT
An Alpine's fine if you've got the time
And a Healey'll set you back some
TR4 cost a little bit more
But it don't have the same attraction
Hard top handy case of the weather
I don't care if it rains forever
MGB-GT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
08 Mingus Eyes (04:47)
What a fool I was
What a thin disguise
Brando mumble
Mingus eyes
Was a time she fell
But then she got wise
Brando mumble
Mingus eyes
Never had the squint of James Dean
or the Stanislavsky tears
Or the rebel hunch that kills
Or the smile that slowly disappears
What a fool I was
What a thin disguise
Brando mumble
Mingus eyes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 Beeswing (05:33)
*
*
I was nineteen when I came to town
They called it the Summer of Love
They were burning babies, burning flags
The hawks against the doves
I took a job in the steamie
Down on Cauldrum Street
And I fell in love with a laundry girl
Who was working next to me
{Refrain}
Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine a breath of wind might blow her away
She was a lost child, oh she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay
And you wouldn't want me any other way"
Brown hair zig-zag around her face
And a look of half-surprise
Like a fox caught in the headlights
There was animal in her eyes
She said "Young man, oh can't you see
I'm not the factory kind
If you don't take me out of here
I'll surely lose my mind"
{Refrain}
...So fine that I might crush her where she lay...
We busked around the market towns
And picked fruit down in Kent
And we could tinker lamps and pots and knives
Wherever we went
And I said that we might settle down
Get a few acres dug
Fire burning in the hearth
And babies on the rug
She said "Oh man, you foolish man
It surely sounds like hell.
You might be lord of half the world
You'll not own me as well"
{Refrain}
...So fine a breath of wind might blow her away...
We was camping down the Gower one time
The work was pretty good
She thought we shouldn't wait for the frost
And I thought maybe we should
We was drinking more in those days
And tempers reached a pitch
And like a fool I let her run
With the rambling itch
Oh the last I heard she's sleeping rough
Back on the Derby beat
White Horse in her hip pocket
And a wolfhound at her feet
And they say she even married once
A man named Romany Brown
But even a gypsy caravan
Was too much settling down
And they say her flower is faded now
Hard weather and hard booze
But maybe that's just the price you pay
For the chains you refuse
{As Refrain}
Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
And I miss her more than ever words could say
If I could just taste all of her wildness now
If I could hold her in my arms today
Well I wouldn't want her any other way
*
*
*
13 Taking My Business Elsewhere (04:26)
If she's not here by now, then I guess she's not coming
If she's not here by now, then I guess she don't care
Oh waiter, I won't waste your time anymore
You've already started to sweep down the floor
And I guess she's not coming, so I'll head for the door
I'll be taking my business elsewhere
It wasn't for me, that spark in her eyes
It wasn't for me, that halo in her hair
When she touched me a lump rose up into my throat
But she must act that way with any old soak
And waiter you don't seem to share in the joke
So I'll be taking my business elsewhere
She called me her fantasy and boldly she kissed me
I'll never get over the sheer surprise
Of her acting that way and I'm healing OK
But for the eyes of her
Oh it's cold in the rain and it's dark and it's sad
And I'll miss her tonight on my lonely back stair
I'm sorry for taking so much of your space
I'll move down the street to some friendlier place
'Cause I guess she's not coming, and you're sick of my face
I'll be taking my business elsewhere
I'll be taking my business elsewhere
Loading comments slowly
