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Jeff Tweedy is producing Richard Thompson and I can die a happy man!


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Pulled from Richard Thompson's Facebook feed!

 

That's pretty cool! Makes sense. Saw that the Loft's Facebook posted a picture of an Orange amp and said they couldn't wait to reveal who was playing through it. Guess we know now!

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Anyone know if there's a story behind the one-off co-headline gig Wilco did with RT at NYC's Beacon Theater in 1999? Wilco went first and played longer than RT, much to the dismay of his faithful, LOL: http://www.rtlist.net/2leftfeet/index.html?review83.htm

 

Funny that it took 15 years for them to reconnect and now collaborate.

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They did do some dates on Bob Dylan's Americanarama tour together. I think they shared the stage once or twice on that.

At a minimum, they played together at Noblesville, Cincinnati, Duluth, Peoria, Chicago, Clarkston, and Toronto on that tour. I remember some pictures (tweets, maybe?) that indicated that Nels and Richard hit it off. Not surprised by that.

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At a minimum, they played together at Noblesville, Cincinnati, Duluth, Peoria, Chicago, Clarkston, and Toronto on that tour. I remember some pictures (tweets, maybe?) that indicated that Nels and Richard hit it off. Not surprised by that.

Wilco/Jeff Tweedy & Richard Thompson are two of my favorite artists ever. I was lucky enough to have caught the last two in Clarkston, MI & Toronto, ON. They did "California Stars" & an absolutely epic & mind blowing version of Richard's old Fairport Convention classic "Sloth", with Richard & Nels trading & intertwining solos that were just mind blowing...then in Toronto they also did Richard's old Fairport Convention days arrangement of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" with Jeff & Feist singing the Ian Matthews & Sandy Denny parts of that duet arrangement. And in Clarkston, they raised the roof by closing with a cover of The Beatles "Tomorrow Never Knows"!!

 

Richard Thompson working with Jeff Tweedy is about as perfect a match as I can think of... I hope this means that he might utilize Wilco and/or it's various members (Jeff & Nels & maybe even Pat on guitar)...I love all eras of Richard's works...but my faves are his duet album with his wife Linda Thompson...and... I think things were also uniquely especially amazing at the end of his stay with Fairport Convention where he & Dave Swarbrick on Violin were creating things that sounded like a cross between Television, The Velvet Underground & Reinhardt& Grappelli. I think Nels pushed him to those rare places that he & Swarb inhabited.

 

And finally, I'm betting that this pretty much seals that Richard Thompson will be playing at Solid Sound 2015!!!! I'd love him to headline the 3rd day with Wilco as his backing band!!!!

Love to see him play both electric & acoustic sets too. Yo La Tengo played twice (one standard & once as a live soundtrack to a film) when they did Solid Sound in 2013. But I'm just looking forward to the sparks that are likely to be flying!!!
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The great hope that there would have been some kind of a compilation Roadcase Release from Wilco's many & varied AmericanaramA performances, especially the various incredible collaborations/guest stars (Richard Thompson, Ian Hunter, Beck, Bob Weir, Sean Lennon, Cibo Matto, Feist, Warren Haynes, My Morning Jacket, Bob Dylan etc., etc.) just never materialized. So, outside of any recordings that are being traded about out there (might be around, don't know, others feel free to chime in here) this is all they we've got of any footage of Wilco & Richard Thompson together on that tour.

"Sloth" by Wilco & Richard Thompson... 7/12/13 Bridgeview Park, IL
Better Quality & longer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM_9bH8qwrg
Pooer Quality & shorter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i9JUEnO9i8

"Suzanne" by Wilco & Richard Thompson & Feist... 7/15/13 Toronto, Ontario
Very short excerpt, & poor quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWPLyb5cPSw

"Sloth" by Wilco & Richard Thompson... 7/9/13 Duluth, MN
Very short excerpt & poor quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UF8jPfAVeE

 

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Anyone know if there's a story behind the one-off co-headline gig Wilco did with RT at NYC's Beacon Theater in 1999? Wilco went first and played longer than RT, much to the dismay of his faithful, LOL: http://www.rtlist.net/2leftfeet/index.html?review83.htm

 

Funny that it took 15 years for them to reconnect and now collaborate.

That was a fascinating read. Richard Thompson has some very devoted and articulate followers.

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Here is the set list from that show at the Beacon in 1999:

 

1. California Stars 
2. I'm Always In Love 
3. I Must Be High 
4. How To Fight Loneliness 
5. Hotel Arizona 
6. Red-Eyed And Blue 
7. I Got You (At The End Of The Century) 
8. Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(again) 
9. She's A Jar 
10. A Shot In The Arm 
11. Misunderstood 
12. Hesitating Beauty 
13. Christ For President 
14. Forget The Flowers 
15. Can't Stand It 
16. Casino Queen 
17. Outta Mind (Outta Sight)

 

That's a beauty. I can see why Richard Thompson fans were unhappy, though, especially if they did not understand that it was a co-headline show with each getting 75 minutes. Wilco put 17 songs into their 75 minutes, RT did 12 (many fewer than other shows on his tour that fall). I lived near NYC at the time, and did not go see this. We all make mistakes in life - one of my many. C'est la vie.

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Someone else here just posted that Richard is recording his next album with the same band, an electric trio, as he toured with last (great band BTW)...but...I'm still hoping for some guest star spots from members of Wilco. For Solid Sound I'm guessing that we'll get an Richard Thompson Band electric trio show with some guest starring from at least Nels Cline & Jeff Tweedy, then I'm sure he'll sit in with Wilco some, & I'm hoping that he might also play an acoustic set there as well.

 

My fave works of Thompson's are his albums with Linda. I love the solo material, but generally the earlier the better, & that's not to say that there aren't great songs on the more recent albums. It's just that the albums are often good to very good with great songs, but very similar sounding. That said, I can tell you that I thought the last album "Electric" was not only the freshest sounding & feeling album I'd heard from him in years, but also that it had his best songwriting in ages too. I honestly think it was his best since "Rumor & Sigh"- so that'd be his best in over 20 years. I hope he's got a great set of songs ready for Tweedy producing, because I think Jeff is even a more exciting prospect than Buddy Miller (and I love Buddy!).



 

 

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And, that's a wrap! Thompson, as always works pretty fast, & this picture & update was posted today by "The Loft" noting the album is now done...

https://www.facebook.com/TheLoftRec...0452572070755/742060812576594/?type=1&theater

I love the fact that Vince's big THANK YOU banner, signed by the fans in line at the last of the Winterlude shows, is hanging on the wall behind Richard.
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  • 1 month later...

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