An exhilarating document of a mid-eighties Richard Thompson Band performing at the very top of their game.
Release Date: 26th January 2024
Label: Store For Music
Formats: 2xCD
Already, it seems, an air of mystery has developed around Live in Nottingham, 1986, the latest in the ever-growing line of live Richard Thompson documents. Let me explain.
The Richard Thompson Band did, indeed, perform at Nottingham’s Rock City venue in November 1986 – the show was captured on tape and released as a double CD pack back in 2020 – but that’s not the show represented here. I’ve undertaken a little investigative detective work, and I reckon that this new album is a recording of Richard’s show at the same venue on 11th November, 1985. The clues are all there…
For starters, the setlist for this latest offering is dominated by tunes from Richard’s 1985 album, Across A Crowded Room, the album that he and his band were promoting on the 1985 tour. There are a few tracks from Daring Adventures, Richard’s 1986 album, but they aren’t the ones you’d expect (no Al Bowlly, no How Will I Ever Be Simple Again, no Bone Through Her Nose…) and the tracks that are featured seem to be at an early stage of development; indeed Richard admits that it was the first time the band had ever performed Long Dead Love in front of an audience. Furthermore, John Kirkpatrick was with the band in 1986, and he’s nowhere to be seen here. That’s all pretty compelling evidence, I’d suggest.
But, date of recording and possibly misleading album title aside, Live in Nottingham 1986 is, in all other respects, a magnificent live album. I’ve often remarked that my main criteria for a great live album is whether it conveys the excitement of the original event and makes you feel as though you were there, and this album does that, without any doubt whatsoever. The sound is deep, crisp and even, the recording is entirely cohesive and the whole thing is thoroughly engaging. My only question is why – and how – it was kept under wraps in the vault for so long.
Richard Thompson’s star was definitely in the ascendancy in 1986 (or even in 1985 if you wish to be pedantic). He and wife Linda had split up in 1982, following a chaotic yet well-received American tour, promoting the duo’s final album, the seminal Shoot Out The Lights. Richard, though, surprised us all by accomplishing the quickest of comebacks when he released the incredible, sax-laden, Hand of Kindness album in 1983. By 1985, he’d signed to PolyGram Records, and Across A Crowded Room, his first album for the new label, was a triumphant, dense, intense affair. His 1986 product, Daring Adventures, was lighter, more accessible and no less triumphant and, with such a full cache of high-quality new material, he was starting to attract comparisons to the likes of Elvis Costello and even Bruce Springsteen. I recall being convinced at the time that worldwide mega-stardom was just a breath away from Richard Thompson’s grasp…
As I’ve remarked, it’s the dominance of the songs from Across a Crowded Room that convince me that this album was recorded on the band’s 1985 tour. The setlist for this concert includes six songs from that album, with four from the nascent Daring Adventures, three from Shoot Out The Lights, a couple of golden oldies and a few genuine and welcome surprises. Richard’s band – Clive Gregson on guitar and backing vocals, Christine Collister on acoustic guitar and backing vocals, Gerry Conway on drums and Rory McFarlane on fretless bass are on fire and Richard’s arrangements give every band member the opportunity to show off their very special talents.
But, above everything else, it’s Richard’s guitar that we really want to hear when we place a Richard Thompson album on the turntable and it’s here that Live in Nottingham 1986 really comes into its own. Blistering solo follows blistering solo – there’s hardly time for a listener to catch a breath before Richard heads off on yet another leap into Stratocaster-powered space. It’s exhilarating in the extreme.
And, as if anyone needs to be reminded, things were to get even better for Richard Thompson during the years after this album was recorded. Amnesia: – Pharoah, Waltzing’s For Dreamers, Turning of the Tide and Jerusalem on the Jukebox and all – appeared in 1988 before he played what many consider to be his ace card, Rumour and Sigh, complete with its 1932 Vincent Black Lightning, in 1991. Live in Nottingham captures Richard and his band at a crucial point.
It’s Fire in the Engine Room, the first of the tracks from …Crowded Room that gets the show underway and, right from the outset, the quality of the sound and the tightness of the band are striking. Clive and Christine’s backing vocals relieve some of the bite from Richard’s delivery, Rory’s bass rumbles and squelches, Gerry is rock solid and Richard delivers his first awesome solo. It’s the pattern guaranteed to keep any listener entranced for the next two and-then-some hours.
We stick with …Crowded Room for When The Spell is Broken and You Don’t Say, before Christine steps forward to take the lead vocal on her song Warm Love Gone Cold. Written by Peter Filleul, it’s a song that was a regular feature of RT’s mid-eighties sets and, hearing Christine once again deliver her sultry vocal, I’m reminded of just how flabbergasted my friends and I were when we first had the pleasure of hearing her.
Bearing in mind the show-stopping reputation it was to gain, it’s surprising and unusual to hear Wall Of Death performed at such an early stage in the show. Christine sings the harmony part that had, so comparatively recently, been vacated by Linda, Richard’s guitar jingles and jangles in exactly the same way that it does today, and the Nottingham crowd afforded it a rapturous reception.
Richard’s always liked to pay an occasional tribute to Hank Williams and, here, we’ve got a joyous version of Mind Your Own Business (introduced by Richard as “A bit of mindless, harmless, fun”) to enjoy, and the surprises keep on coming as Clive takes over the mic for Summer Rain, a song from his then current Strange Persuasions solo album. Richard gives the album a strong plug during his intro – even quoting the album’s serial number – and Clive sings with passion (even if his affected Americana voice does lapse into his native Mancunian on the odd occasion). Valerie, the first of the selections from the forthcoming Daring Adventures album, is slick and chugging, if not by this stage, the all-out rocker it would soon become. The song gets a great reception, even though it will have been new to the majority of the audience.
There’s no sign of any unfamiliarity, though, as Richard hits the opening chords to Shoot Out The Lights. The song’s doom-like, ponderous backing riff gives Richard all the space he needs to really stretch out, and he does just that on this unfailing centerpiece to any Richard Thompson performance. Richard takes great pride in his reputation as a doom and gloom merchant and, to emphasise that pride, he follows the doom of Shoot Out The Lights with the gloom of Did She Jump or Was She Pushed. “Just when you thought that the melancholy level was creeping to an all-time nadir – here’s one to take you to the very pits of existence,” he announced with relish, before launching into the latter.
She Twists the Knife Again takes us back to …Crowded Room before the band tackle Jennie (still, at this stage going by its working title of Jenny My Love) to complete Disc 1 of this set with another visit to Daring Adventures. I’ve always considered the song’s opening line: “Trouble becomes you, it cuts you down to my size” to be a slightly odd way for Richard to start one of his tenderest love songs, and there’s a tenderness to this version that I hadn’t noticed before, courtesy, perhaps, of Christine’s resonant harmonies and Rory’s loping bassline.
For Shame of Doing Wrong, Richard’s much-covered song from his and Linda’s Pour Down Like Silver album gets Disc 2 underway. It’s a song that I usually associate with a female vocalist (in addition to Richard and Linda’s version, Sandy Denny also covered the song on her Rendezvous album) but Richard takes the lead vocal here, and a fine job he makes of it. Lyrics aside, I’ve always detected a joy to this song, particularly whenever the band cut loose and this version lives up to that impression. The crowd evidently enjoyed it too, prompting Richard to congratulate them on their dancing prowess.
Richard takes his time introducing the band, giving each member a deserved turn in the spotlight. Gerry’s many triumphs with the likes of Cat Stevens, Joan ‘Armourplating’ [sic] et al are highlighted, Rory’s Walthamstow roots are revealed, as are Christine’s Isle of Man antecedents (the place where “most of you probably keep your money,” joked Richard) whilst a hint to Clive’s chosen mode of dress is provided when Richard refers to him as “The third Blues Brother.” You can almost grab hold of the mutual affection that’s clearly felt between the band members.
There’s still a way to go though, yet. Richard introduces Long Dead Love as an antidote to Sandie Shaw’s Long Live Love before he manages to fumble the lyrics to I Ain’t Gonna Drag My Feet No More, another of the lighter moments from the …Crowded Room album. “We’ll remember the lyrics next time we come to Nottingham,” he joked. And sticking with …Crowded Room, Richard and the band summon up the courage to tackle the epic Love in a Faithless Country, a song that I don’t recall Richard ever returning to since the days that immediately followed the album’s release. Never an easy listen, Christine’s ghostly backing vocals are almost scary, but the song is a great vehicle for Richard’s guitar explorations and, once again, he doesn’t disappoint.
Announced as “Our last number – the Lear jet’s waiting outside,” the version of Tear Stained Letter is a stormer. Obviously, it sounds very different when Pete Zorn’s sax isn’t sitting in pole position, but Richard plays the sax lines on guitar – with his normal fluency, any remaining gaps are filled with Clive and Christine’s heavenly backing vocals, and the whole thing sits atop an immovable rhythm foundation. Richard and Clive swop licks as the tune soars to higher and higher altitudes. Tear Stained Letter was already a show-stopper back in 1985 and it’s remained so ever since. The audience reception is tumultuous, and it goes on for a long time; there was never any way that Richard and the band would get away so easily.
They return, of course, and Richard’s announcement that the first encore would be an “inferior rendition” of Sandy’s John The Gun is a genuine understatement. It’s a song that’s perfectly suited to Richard’s sonorous vocal style and the song’s structure pleads for the kind of guitar solo that only Richard Thompson (or Jerry Donahue) can provide. It’s a memorable version of a terrific song – something to try again with the same people at a future Cropredy, perhaps?
A scorching run through Barbara Morgan’s Skull & Crossbones ended most of the shows on Richard’s 1985 UK tour, but the Nottingham crowd weren’t in any mood to go home just yet. Amongst the roars of approval I think I detected a call for “Bright Lights” but it was a mellower mood that Richard brought to the stage for a spellbinding run through Withered And Died, featuring just Richard with his electric guitar. Even in my living room, 39 years after the event, I could hear pin drop.
And, at last, we really do reach the end of the road. To close off this truly breathtaking live album, Clive takes the wheel for a run through Open Fire, a song retrieved from his days with Any Trouble, the band that first brought him to public attention. It’s a poppy, melodic affair, Christine’s vocal harmonies are, once again, wonderful, and: imagine being able to enlist Richard Thompson to play on one of your best-remembered songs!
It’s languished for a long time, but Live in Nottingham 1986 has been well worth the wait. The question that remains for Store For Music is: Got any more??
Watch the lineup of The Richard Thompson Band featured on Live in Nottingham 1986 perform You Don’t Say – a track from the album – here:
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