TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Faber & Faber have obtained the UK rights to RT's memoir Beeswing: Britain, Folk Rock and the End of the 60s. Not due until Autumn next year though.

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/faber-signs-60s-legend-richard-thompson-735351

Unexpected, but very welcome. Looking forward to reading this.

By the way, according to his Winter Tour programme notes, Peggy's writing his memoirs with Nigel Schofield at the moment, so there's an imminent Fairport biography double whammy.

I hope someone can persuade Simon too.

Does anyone know if the biography of Swarb Now Be Thankful: The Lives of Dave Swarbrick by Jason Wilson and Jill is still in the pipeline?

Should have asked while they were on tour - and forgot.

I hope so, though Professor Wilson will have to be scrupulously accurate without the benefit of Swarb's proofing and fact-checking, to avoid being struck by lightning.

 ;D ;D ;D

Martin Carty informed me last night that Professor Wilson is still talking to Swarb's friends & family collecting material. It serms its still at least a year away.

Martin also said that Ken Hunt is writing Martin's bio

Just like Crossrail, it's a bit behind schedule, but on the horizon. This has popped up on Amazon.  :)

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Beeswing-Losing-Finding-Voice-1967-75/dp/1616208953/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=richard+thompson&qid=1598773282&s=books&sr=1-1

Article about RT's memoirs in the Guardian today:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/mar/14/richard-thompson-beeswing-fairport-folk-rock-interview

Includes the statement that Sandy Denny was sacked by the band in 1969, as opposed to leaving of her own accord, which is news to me.

Not sure if they're signed everywhere but this popped up in my stream...

https://www.thefloodgallery.com/products/beeswing-fairport-folk-rock-and-finding-my-voice-1967-75-signed?mc_cid=9b000a87f1&mc_eid=846af3fb44&variant=39312959766698

Cheers

Nick

I did wonder if they'd got the two Jude/Sandy stories mixed up....?

Signed copies also available from Rough Trade https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/richard-thompson/beeswing-fairport-folk-rock-and-finding-my-voice-1967-75/hardback-plus

Isn't it wonderful to see one of your heroes on the front page of the Observer review. At this rate he'll be famous one day!

Thanks - copy ordered

The story has been around for a few years but that's the first time I've seen it substantiated by one of the band - previously only Linda T has broken cover about it and she's adamant Sandy was sacked. There's a long quote from her in Mick Houghton's book which also appeared in a Mojo article, although sadly it doesn't seem to be available online anymore.
 
Just a snippet of it - "They definitely sacked her. It wasn't told that way. I think they knew she was in a state about it."

The way it's told she became something of a liability due to her unwillingness to travel, due at least in part to the after effects of the the motorway crash. She refused to go on a US tour that Joe Boyd was arranging and then deliberately missed the flight to Copenhagen for a TV appearance, which is when the others discussed asking her to leave. Hopefully RT's book will make things a bit clearer how it all panned out after that.

It seems to me that they pretty much saw her departure on the horizon and just decided to put her out of her misery after the Copenhagen debacle. Even if they did "sack" her, there was clearly no animosity whatsoever given how she attended the first Full House gig. But I'm looking forward to reading about it in the book!

In her unpublished biography of Sandy, "No Thought Of Leaving", Pamela Murray Winters certainly alludes to Sandy being sacked after her no-show for the Denmark gig.

It was time, once again, to play “Where’s Sandy?” Ashley, Richard, Simon, Swarb, and Dave Mattacks were at Heathrow, and the tension was rising. Oh, Sandy had been late before. The lyric “I have no thought of time” must have crossed more than one rueful Fairport mind. But this wasn’t some van drive to Bath or Plymouth; it was a flight to Denmark to appear on television.

Anthea Joseph was sent to Sandy and Trevor’s flat. Trevor was off on a
tour of his own. Sandy wasn’t home either.

“What is she playing at?” her bandmates grumbled. “How can she let us
down like this?”

By the time the plane landed, Ashley was adamant. This could not go on.
She couldn’t be allowed to continue in the band with this behavior.

“Girl singers are far too much trouble,” his bandmates concluded. “Let’s just go on, just us chaps.” (c) 1999, 2000 Pamela Murray Winters

For those who prefer to use Amazon, they are now showing it as available to pre-order at £15.49 for the I-want-to-kill-lots-of-trees version or £5.03 for the I've-moved-into-the-digital-world Kindle version.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beeswing-Fairport-Finding-Voice-1967-75/dp/0571348165/

It's the same price on Hive

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Richard-Thompson/Beeswing--Fairport-Folk-Rock-and-Finding-My-Voice-1967-75/25586900

Mine arrived today but i wont be getting my greasy mitts on it until my birthday, sunday.😎

Mine has just arrived too. Happy Birthday for Sunday!

My copy arrived on Thursday.  I also got the audio version with RT reading it himself which is excellent.

Nice interview with RT in the Irish Times:

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/richard-thompson-on-the-fairport-convention-years-i-probably-never-went-on-stage-sober-1.4524992

Just finished this. Mixed feelings really, what's there is engaging and eminently readable but it's frustratingly short and too many significant events tend to get passed over a bit too quickly for me. He is, however, more candid on his reasons for leaving Fairport than I've seen previously and finally clears up any lingering doubt about Sandy's did-she-jump-or-was-she-pushed departure. Enjoyed it but was hoping for something a bit more in depth.

I too am in the (perhaps overstating it a bit) 'disappointed' camp.  A bit like Mike Heron's recent book, what was there was engaging, well written and interesting, but I was left wanting a lot more...(like a legible signature instead of a scribbled initial perhaps?).

Haven't started it yet (just finishing Richard Osman's book) - I certainly agree about the 'signature'. It's not even in the book either - it's on a bookplate. I am looking forward to reading it though.

I have decided not to buy it, so many people are posting sections of it on Facebook etc I feel I have read it already.

I bought the autographed book for my shelf and the pictures, but I actually listened to it on Audible. RT does a marvelous job narrating the story.

Is this from Rough Trade (where I got my copy from)?  That made me cross.  A book plate affixed to the title page is not "a signed book", it is a book with a signed bookplate attached.  As any bookdealer will tell you that is a very different thing indeed - trades descriptions and all that!

Yes , it was from Rough Trade

Crikey
Mine's from Rough Trade but  put away for my birthday - now from the comments on here  I can't even look forward to looking at the signature !

I'm fairly sure he'll have written "To Peter, Best wishes from your friend, Richard Thompson" on yours...but for me....  ;D

A couple of weeks before my dad died i queued up for a signed copy of one of Alex Ferguson's ( the first, i think) for his birthday.  It too had  post it note stuck on the inside and i was sorely tempted to complain bitterly.
  Its nothing more than a cheap marketing ploy.

Yep - mine looks just like David's does.

In their defense, Covid put a stop to RT going easily to the UK and signing the actual books. When the pre-order got up they probably hadn't foreseen that. It would've cost too much to send the books to and fro. A large bunch of the US version was signed by RT on the title page, with the same squiggle however.
Rough Trade didn't ask more money for the signed books either, as sometimes others do.

But yeah, I was disappointed too when the book arrived last week.
Bright side is that the UK version is a bit larger, has more pictures. Some of them in colour, the US book has only b/w pics

vriendelijke groeten

Arie Euwijk

And, lets be honest about this, the man can bloody well write (and write bloody well).  But then we knew that...  ;) :)  There are paragraphs one wants to just read again and again and again...  I'm kind of surprised it's got somebody else's name on it as well as his own.  I'd be intrigued to know who did what.

Just finished RT reading the biog to me via Audible. Very good, but as has been stated previously, I'd have liked something a bit more in depth.
He's also mistaken in assuming that the only part of his career of interest is the fledgling years until 1975 with a brief epilogue. The solo years, his "Americanisation" touched on in Patrick Humphries' "Strange Affair" biography, the years spent becoming a cult favourite - every album he releases showered in critical plaudits but "bloody hell I'd like to have had a hit record too". The demise of his 2nd marriage, becoming a "living legend", his take on appearing at Cropredy, Peggy half-joking that they "can only afford him every 3 years" or when there's a 5 year anniversary, his duo work with Danny Thompson, etc. I'd have liked a career-spanning account of all these things and more.
I'd love to see a Part 2 or Part 3, there's still time. I'm aware that he's already dismissed the prospect, however. Shame...

I have no idea or insight into any of this but doesn't this and the over-priced concert tickets (for one man and a guitar) and the alleged high hiring fees and the all meet and greet nonsense make him a look a tiny bit mercenary?

I stopped after 'idea'. Heaven forfend the man should make a living, after all.

There are a fair amount of people making money out of peripheral activities instead of music, right now. It's an understandable reaction to needing food on the table.

It's up to the customer if they want to pay to meet 'n' greet the "great", caveat emptor and all that.

Just my perseption but I won't be paying nearly £100 for two tickets to see him any time soon.

Apologies if this has been discussed before, but is RT under new management? He hasn't played a gig in Austin proper in 8 years, after two decades of regular visits. He played the Kerrville Folk Festival 2 years ago, but otherwise the closest he's come is San Antonio, when he was opening for Bonnie Raitt. It just seems as though he's completely changed his approach to touring the U.S., or at least the southwestern U.S.

I believe Nancy managed him, but when they split up, inevitably, that ceased. Although I think that was considerably less than 8 years ago.

Upon reflection, of course it looks expensive to shell out twenty pounds for a book, or twice that for an evening listening to him play, but you’re paying for fifty years of experience, craft and talent, not just one random human and a wooden box with strings on. Apologies for the intemperate rantette.  :)

Nice comments by Patterson Hood on Facebook

Having finished it last night, I’m pretty much in agreement with this comment. It’s a bit like one of those well-heralded TV shows that get cancelled after one series, just as you’re past the origin story and looking forward to what happens next.

A definite for forthcoming birthday.

Have a listen here from 42:45 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000vg03

A splendidly lengthy discourse with Mr. Thompson, courtesy of Messrs Ellen and Hepworth, formerly of Word Magazine on the subject. https://youtu.be/KrWXOLDG238

After due consideration, I've just booked 3 tickets for The Palladium on 2 November.

That's an interesting one. I don't doubt that economic practicality had a lot to do with it, but I have a published book (in a field quite remote from music) and I feel really uncomfortable about writing my name in the thing. Instead for the very few who have asked for it I've produced a custom bookplate and put a dedication on that, leaving it up to them whether they wish to leave it loose or stick it in place. Its purely an emotional thing, and I can apply no logic to it at all. Don't ask me to explain because I can't.

It's even more difficult when the name of the author is a pseudonym.

I have a theory (just a theory) that there's so much personal stuff in the era that he omitted from the book, involving so many people, that he just decided to end it where he did. The post script does not address personal issues or relationships, really at all, and summarizes the last 40+ years of his career with extreme brevity. (For the record, his explanation in one of his promotional interviews was that he didn't think the post-Fairport/R and L period was of particular interest to potential readers, and/or that he thought the book would become boring and repetitive if he brought his life current.)

Just finished this, and what struck me was how 'arms length' it is. Plenty of 'this happened, then that happened' but very little 'I felt' or 'I thought'. A shame, as the few moments where RT does open up a bit, or become more reflective, are amongst the most interesting in the book. Perhaps, given what we know of his personality, it was foolish too expect anything more.

Overall, I thought its was a diverting enough read although (this is heresy, I know) I found 'Fairport by Fairport' more interesting and engaging.

Finally opened my copy , initialled by the man himself (!), I'm enjoying it but agree with most of the comments on here , he just seems a bit detached from whatever he's describing , maybe it was just so long ago , maybe we need Simon to write a book next , or maybe an online "A Conversation With" with ex members chipping in - Peggy could stay in France , Iain in Holland , RT in USA and all still contribute!

Is Iain's book a good read ?

I found Iain's book very interesting, and very revealing of the man himself (more so than I am expecting of RT's book, which is still on my 'to read' pile, judging by comments here and elsewhere).  

I think it's important not to get too carried away with the critical comments about Richard's book (including my own).  It's still well worth reading, and there are some absolutely beautifully written passages in there (as one would expect - the man can write!), but there's just an arm's lengthness about it which stops it being quite as engaging as it could have been.....  I must get around to reading Iain's book.

Of course, it might be an accurate reflection of Richard's own personality.  That same polite reservedness that, say, Pink Floyd often displayed.  (Before Roger went all out for blood anyway.)

Jules

Iain's book is very good. An honest and very personal reflection of his life and career.

Changing the subject, I've just read from start to finish the terrific new biography of Nico: You Are Beautiful & You Are Alone. Joe Boyd one of the interviewees too.

Currently reading RT's book, and just got to the part where he's describing Swarb's various requests to stop the van resulting in the band expression "piss/tea/antiques" and had a good loud laugh at that.

Jules

Laughed at this bit too...you can just hear Swarb's, no doubt less than polite, response to this...!

I just read the book, and was happy to find that it was less 'vanilla' than I had feared from some comments, but did shed some new light on events, and provide some new insights into those years (such as the one above ;D).

Late to the party on this, but picked up a copy at Rough Trade here in NYC a few weeks ago and read it in the past few days of holiday break. Agreed with what everyone else has said about wishing it were a 'Part 1'. I enjoyed reading about Richard's personal opinions of so many people but I found it interesting that some profiles were more elaborate and stretched out, such as Sandy, while others like Simon and Ashley seem to be less so. Maybe he felt uncomfortable diving deeper on people still around, but I found myself wanting more in that regard. Above it all, the thing I liked the most was the deeper explanations of his playing and approach. No surprise that there is so much to a solo than the notes themselves. There is the song structure, tempo, subject matter to contend with as well, and I absolutely loved hearing how Richard's brain works around all those factors. I'm certainly glad I bought this one.

For anyone who hasn't yet got themselves a copy Rough Trade have signed hardbacks for a very reasonable £10 atm.

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/richard-thompson/beeswing-fairport-folk-rock-and-finding-my-voice-1967-75

Caveat Emptor.  I'm afraid this is what a "signature" in a signed copy will look like....

Looks like the offer has now ended. I managed to order a copy at half price yesterday. Thanks for the heads up.  :)