All posts by Hallgeir

Richard Thompson

April 03: Richard Thompson was born in 1949 – Happy Birthday!

Richard Thompson

“The finest rock songwriter after Dylan and the best electric guitarist since Hendrix.”
– Los Angeles Times

April 03: Richard Thompson was born in 1949 – Happy Birthday!

Richard John Thompson OBE was born 3 April 1949, he is a British songwriter, guitarist and recording and performing musician.

Thompson was awarded the Orville H. Gibson award for best acoustic guitar player in 1991. Artists who have recorded Thompson’s compositions include such diverse talents as Del McCoury, R.E.M., Bonnie Raitt, Christy Moore, David Gilmour, Mary Black, Elvis Costello, Marshall Crenshaw, The Corrs, Sandy Denny, June Tabor, Joel Fafard, Maria McKee, Shawn Colvin, Norma Waterson, Martin Carthy, Nanci Griffith, Graham Parker, The Pointer Sisters, Maura O’Connell, Los Lobos, John Doe, Greg Brown, Bob Mould, Barbara Manning, Loudon Wainwright III, The Futureheads, Jeff Lang, Dinosaur Jr., David Byrne, and The Blind Boys of Alabama.

Check out our post about one of the saddest songs ever written, Walking on a Wire.

Richard Thompson BBC 4 Session 2013 (full set):

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Music Calendar, The Band

April 03: The late Richard Manuel was born in 1943

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richard manuel

“I play patterns. I’ll make up a pattern and just play it.”
~Richard Manuel

 

 

“Well, let’s see: I started [in music] at nine and quit. Then got back to it when I was twelve. Then I became a party star. In fact, I became a party!”
~Richard Manuel

April 03: The late Richard Manuel was born in 1943

For me he was the true light of the Band. The other guys were fantastic talents, of course, but there was something of the holy madman about Richard. He was raw. When he sang in that high falsetto the hair on my neck would stand on end. Not many people can do that.
~Eric Clapton

A nice tribute video – I’m just a country boy:

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Country, Emmylou Harris, Singer Songwriter

April 2: Emmylou Harris was born in 1947

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All For The Hall New York Benefiting The Country Music Hall Of Fame - Inside

April 2: Emmylou Harris was born in 1947, Happy Birthday!

Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has released many chart-topping albums and singles over the course of her career, and has won 12 Grammys and numerous other awards.

Her work and recordings include work as a solo artist, bandleader, an interpreter of other composers’ works and as a singer-songwriter, and a backing vocalist and duet partner. She has worked with numerous leading artists including Gram Parsons, John Denver, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison, The Band, Mark Knopfler, Delbert McClinton, Guy Clark, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Bright Eyes, Rodney Crowell, John Prine, Neil Young, and Steve Earle.

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List, Neil Young, Video

Playlist: 11 hidden gems from Neil Young

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neil

Playlist: 11 hidden gems from Neil Young

What is a “buried treasure”, “a hidden gem” or “an underrated gem” ? Well, to me, it’s a great song that seldom (or never) is on the “best-of” lists of the artist, and it could have/should have been.

I am talking about great songs that are often overlooked. We are talking about personal favorites that you wouldn’t rate among the artists top 20 (maybe), but deserve some more praise and recognition than they get.

Neil Young has a lot of those, here are my 11 chosen ones (the Spotify playlist is at the end of the post):

Words – Between the lines of age, Glastonbury 2009 (Harvest):

Bandit:

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Country, Film, folk

Documentary: Get Folked – The Great Folk Revival (2013)

get folked

Documentary: Get Folked – The Great Folk Revival

Terrible title but entertaining documentary.

Exploring the recent resurgence of folk music. Throughout the evening, celebrity fans Stephen Mangan, Bob Geldof, Cerys Matthews and Seth Lakeman reveal exactly what it is about the folk sound that finds its way into their hearts. Richard Thompson, Frank Turner, Donovan, Billy Bragg and many more also discuss the enduring appeal of this age-old musical form.

“Folk – a musical tradition with roots in the pre-electric world – is now becoming the new 21st-century pop phenomenon… Is it the antidote to manufactured music, the new punk, or simply evidence of the enduring appeal of this age-old musical form?”
– NME

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