PRINTPop goes folk
Guitarist covers years of hits
Richard Thompson
British singer-songwriter Richard Thompson has a repertoire that includes interpretations of pop hits from the Beatles to Britney Spears to Prince.
February 7, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
What is more intriguing than listening to a 58-year-old British folk-rock singer playing Britney Spears’ “Oops!…I Did It Again”? Perhaps hearing him play pop music that spans a millennium. That’s a highlight of legendary guitarist Richard Thompson’s 1,000 Years of Pop Music concert.
Although Thompson has never become a household name in the U.S., he has maintained a distinguished reputation among his peers. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked him 19th of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
Disc Jockey Tony Barbis of KBXR/102.3 FM says another trademark is his “dry British humor.”
The ambitious concert idea came about in 1999 when Playboy magazine asked him for his take on the 10 greatest songs of the millennium. Taking the assignment to its literal extreme, Thompson returned a list that even included songs from as early as the 11th century. Playboy never used his list, perhaps due to the absence of such songs as “Thriller” and “Surfin’ Safari.” In response to being snubbed by Mr. Hefner, Thompson made the idea his own and created a live CD that he released in 2003. He took his show on the road with vocalists Judith Owens and Debra Dobkin (who also doubles as percussionist) and arranged the songs to suit his guitar.
Paul Kaza, a Burlington Free Press music critic, who attended Thompson’s Jan. 25 concert in Burlington, Vt., says the adaptations translate well onstage.
“It was very fresh sounding,” Kaza says. “The older music was delivered in a way that made it not feel very old. A lot of that goes to Thompson for his musical arrangement and wonderful sense of humor.”
Fans might not hear Thompson play many of his own songs, but his onstage version of Nelly Furtado’s “Maneater” could be worth the price of admission.
“Anybody who is into music would appreciate his music,” Barbis says. “He’s the type of musician that other musicians respect.”
