Needle and thread [4:43]
I'll never give it up [3:22]
Take care the road you choose [6:44]
Mr Stupid [3:53]
Dad's gonna kill me [5:16]
Poppy-red [4:37]
Bad monkey [5:13]
Francesca [5:17]
Too late to come fishing [4:36]
Sneaky boy [2:59]
She sang angels to rest [3:25]
Johnny's far away [4:53]
Guns are the tongues [7:27]
Sunset song [5:38]
rec. House of Blues Studio, Encino, California
It has been forty years since
Richard Thompson entered the public stage
as co-founder of the Fairport Convention.
Since then he has built up a magnificent body
of work, and a reputation as one of the finest
songwriters and guitarists (both acoustic
and electric) on the planet. Somehow, however,
he has never received the commercial appeal
so richly deserved.
This is yet another powerful
and rewarding release in a career of staggeringly
high consistency. It also contains some of
his darkest sentiments. For example, the ‘Dad’
in one of the key tracks, Dad’s Gonna Kill
Me, is short-hand for Baghdad and describes
the thankless task of soldiers in that conflict:
‘Dad’s in a bad mood, Dad’s got the blues
It’s someone else’s mess that I didn’t choose
At least we’re winning on the Fox Evening
News…’
The following song, Poppy-Red,
recounts the death of a wife or lover (‘Now
my love makes her bed where poppies grow over
her head’) while Guns are the Tongues
recounts the recruiting of young lads into
the IRA. Of course, darkness is not new to
the Richard Thompson cannon (a 1990s compilation
was aptly called ‘Watching the Dark’), but
I expect that the level of despair inhabiting
many of his songs may come as something as
a shock to the uninitiated. Yet Thompson was
never one to pander to the tastes of the masses,
and this is something that has earned him
great loyalty among, ahem, Dickheads (as we
are sometimes called!).
This album doesn’t contain
specific tracks that catch the attention as
immediately as, say, Beeswing (1994),
1952 Vincent Black Lightning (1991)
or Shoot Out the Lights (1982), but
repeated hearings reveal a complex, unified
body of songs. A number of the tracks are
absolutely superb. Take the Road you Choose
contains some of Thompson’s most wistful singing
and an achingly beautiful refrain. Francesca
has a reggae feel to it, intercut with sharp,
inimitable guitar work and wonderful percussion
(played by Michael Jerome). The lyrics of
Too Late to Come Fishing, in their
depiction of a fall from grace conjure memories
of Dylan’s It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.
The penultimate track, Guns are the Tongues,
packs a dramatic punch, and is surely one
of Thompson’s greatest story songs. The guitar
line on Sunset Song has echoes of Cold
Kisses (from You? Me Us?) and is an evocative
and deeply satisfying piece to end this fine
album.
A word must be said about
Danny Thompson (no relation) who provides
superb support on most of the songs. One of
the greatest living acoustic bass players,
he has played on many of the key recordings
of the last 40+ years (including those by
Pentangle, Bert Jansch, Nick Drake, Tim Buckley,
and even Rod Stewart). When the two Thompsons
play together (as they have frequently on
record and on tour), they virtually never
fail to impress.
To my mind, Sweet Warrior
is Richard Thompson’s finest release since
Rumor and Sigh, back in 1991 – an outstanding
achievement given the prolific (and excellent)
output he has shown in recent years. In the
1960s, Thompson often turned to Bob Dylan’s
songs for inspiration. It seems fitting that,
decades later, both artists remain at the
top of their game when many, if not all, of
their contemporaries are left trading on past
glories.
Peter Bright
CD Reviews
PROPER RECORDS PRPCD032 [68:10]
