Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975

Excellent book very interesting. Highly recommended.

I bought this book for my Kindle. I was informed by Amazon that I don't have kindle. In fact, I have a Kindle that I purchased in 2015 and that still works; however, I wasn't able to download it to my Kindle. I don't want to read it on the Amazon site. So my experience has not been great.

As someone who has been completely in the tank for Richard Thompson since a c.1981 Kurt Loder comment in Rolling Stone on the "little-known" Richard Thompson sent me running to the library for a Richard and Linda recording (it just happened to be Shoot Out the Lights) that absolutely blew my mind...I've very mixed feeling about this book, for which I think 3.5 stars is generous.The good: When I started collecting RT's work, I bought all the Fairport Convention studio albums and played them through. I didn't know their importance or the significance of the band; I was listening for the RT parts and didn't linger over the Fairport years. I returned to those CDs, putting them in heavy rotation, decades later, reading RT's book. When I read a musician's biography, I generally have on in the background the music under discussion, and thus did I listen carefully to all the Fairport material, essentially dialing in on the stages by which RT grew into a virtuoso guitarist and songwriter (not singing all that much except as a harmony baritone, until the departure of Sandy Denny in 1970 after the recording of Liege & Lief). I read about RT's role in founding the folk-rock group, the band's indebtedness to The Byrds, The Band, a measure of country music, that helped open the door to an English/Scottish/Irish folk idiom powered by electric (or electrified) instruments. (And, FWIW, I was surprised at how little Fairport Convention earned during the 3 years RT was in the pioneering band.) After Denny's departure (actually, according to Richard, a firing) RT sang his own songs of the 5th Fairport album, "Full House," but he also left the group shortly after the 1970 American tour to follow his own musical impulses. He made a modest living in 1971 and 1972, as a first-call studio guitarist for other folk-rock artists, and as a sometime producer, and sideman in Sandy Denny's band, a producer, player, and harmony singer on Denny's first two solo albums. Finally, in 1972, Thompson began to record under his own name, his first LP being "Henry, The Human Fly," which had perhaps the oddest cover photography in pop-rock musical history and fell rather stillborn from the press--although I think it's redeemed by a half-dozen songs that continue to entertain and amuse, despite Richard's bland vocals, on which he worked hard to improve. RT has a finely honed sense of humor and tells a good story. One of my favorites was his encounter with Buck Owens and his Buckaroos, a band he admired, in a Detroit diner.The bad: The book cover said 1975 was the cutoff date of Richard's recounting of his formative period. His narrative actually moved beyond this, to 1976 and later, recording with Linda, for example, but in other strange, forward-jumping, ways as well. He discusses his marriage to Linda--and thus, very briefly, the Richard and Linda Thompson recordings--superfluously, and moves very cautiously and superficially to their breakup, which he had no apparent interested in discussing in these pages. He spends a chapter on his personal transformation (if that's the proper term) in accepting Sufi Islam, in which Linda joined him--"Linda followed me into Islam...and I hoped it was because her heart called her to it, and not out of fear of losing me...", but with which Thompson seems to have fallen out with his Sufi community over leadership and succession issues, and departed with Linda back to London. (That said, to this day he remains a practicing Muslim.) I puzzled over this, another, stage, unsure what to make of it, although his account of his first Haj was entertaining.And in the end, I enjoyed reading this book, thinking it captures his voice and phrasing and, with his music in my ears, his early growth as a musician and performer. I don't think, however, that Thompson has another, post-Richard-and-Linda, book in him. It would be about touring, recording, writing, the great Albert Hall show, parting with Nancy Covey in a second divorce, and now with a new partner, Zara Phillips, residing in my home state of New Jersey, and I'm sure would have several amusing anecdotes. I don't think I'd buy that book, though. I have a long shelf of his music. I'll enjoy that in lieu of a potential sequel.

MY RICHARD THOMPSON STORY:It was the 11th of February 2014 and I attended a Richard Thompson/Iain Matthews show held at The Center For The Arts in Grass Valley, Ca. After Iain's set and before Richard's I made my way to the merchandise table to look at Richard's and Iain's goods that were being sold there. I found a very beautiful lithograph that Richard had designed and drawn there. This piece of art was matted and framed and available at the bargain price of only $1,500.00. My dumb comment was: "Richard's a fine artist but I'd have to sell the family car to purchase this!" From behind me I heard a voice say: "Don't do that, he's not that good of an artist!" I looked behind me to see Richard ducking in the stage door on his way to start up his set." After I fainted, somebody threw water on me and I made my way back to my seat to enjoy and amazing show from this wonderful lithographer." It was an amazing night in Grass Valley.BEESWING:Early in 2020 the social media was announcing Richard Thompson would be releasing a book of the early years of his life in the spring of 2021. There is already a biography by Patrick Humphries entitled "Strange Affair" published in 1996 but I always wanted to hear the story as told as only Richard can as the star of this story. The good news to report is that the early days are covered in great detail up 1980 when Richard's marriage to Linda was in dire straits and doom and gloom was again knocking at Richard's door.At just under 300 pages this book still feels brief and (was it an editorial move?) The facts are here but the personal stories from Richard I was searching for that feature that amazing Thompson dry-humor and wit are not a part of this volume. In Dave Pegg's recently published autobiography we get so many of his great stories and as a reader of this book by RT we remain on the outside looking in. Richard is an artist I have seen and listened to onstage many times and he tells jokes and recites some entertaining stories. This is no longer the shy young teenager he was back in 1968 playing stunning lead guitar runs with his eyes shut. Today RT gives the fans a concert and it is a well-rounded event that will knock you flat!Fairport Convention was onstage in London when Joe Boyd listened to Richard pull off an fantastic solo on "East/West." The tune from The Butterfield Blues Band was a stunner for Boyd when he heard Richard play. In the words of the witness himself: "Fairport was good but I knew straight away that Richard was SPECIAL and I really wanted to make a record with this group." Most everybody else that has heard Richard play can agree that this man is indeed the goods.Again, I kinda think that if the editors had given Richard some more pages here to tell his stories of these crazy late sixties and early seventies adventures it would have made for more magic to be found on these pages. As it stands "Beeswing" is a fine book but I was wishing for a whole lot more I suppose. I hope there are (at least) two more books to document the next four plus decades of Richard Thompson's life. If you are a fan of RT you should really enjoy this book and another place to take-a-peek is the "Fairport by Fairport" book from the UK That has many of Richard's recollections along side the rest of the Fairport Convention members. There's a lot more of this story that can be explored if you search it out. It was a sign for me to read this book when I heard of the title. "Beeswing" is my all-time favorite Richard Thompson song.Four Stars!

This is a very good memoir by Folk-Rock legend Richard Thompson. As you might expect, it is thoughtful, and informative. Whether because of a natural English reserve or a compassionate overview informed by his spiritual beliefs, he holds back from settling scores (a good thing) but also from giving the reader more detail about the time and people (not so good.) What is there is clear, concise and evocative. It just feels like he is rushing through so much time and so many fascinating figures and scenes. This reserve is especially true about his ex-wife Linda Thompson, who was also a significant musical partner, and even some of his band mates in Fairport Convention. I understand respecting the privacy issues. He does go into some detail on particular songs of his, like the book title. More of that approach would have made up for the narrative gaps. Still, very enjoyable, informative and likely to inspire a listen to his extensive musical catalogue.