Richard Thompson

"The Poor Ditching Boy" from "Henry the Human Fly"


SHORT BIOGRAPHY:

Richard Thompson: Born 1949. Songwriter, guitar and vocals

Richard Thompson was a founding member of Fairport Convention and he was with that band on their first five albums, until he left in 1970. Richard's first solo album “Henry the Human Fly”, recorded in 1972, though today regarded as a classic, sold poorly.

He started performing and recording with his wife Linda and during the next eight years they released six strong albums.

After the break with Linda Thompson resumed his solo career and has since regularly between the released fine albums, influenced by his fine songwriting and very original and exciting guitar playing



Discography:



1. Fairport Convention - Polydor 1968

Tracks:
1. Time Will Show the Wiser / 2. I Don't Know Where I Stand / 3. If (Stomp) / 4. Decameron / 5. Jack O'Diamonds / 6. Portfolio / 7. Chelsea Morning / 8. Sun Shade / 9. Lobster / 10. It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft / 11. One Sure Thing / 12. M.1 Breakdown / 13. Suzanne [*] / 14. If I Had a Ribbon Bow [*] / 15. Morning Glory [*] / 16. Reno, Nevada [*]
Rating : 8


2. What We Did In Our Holidays - Island 1969

Tracks:
1. Fotheringay / 2. Mr. Lacey / 3. Book Song / 4. Lord Is in This Place...How Dreadful Is This Place / 5. No Man's Land / 6. I'll Keep It With Mine / 7. Eastern Rain / 8. Nottamun Town / 9. Tale in Hard Time / 10. She Moves Through the Fair / 11. Meet on the Ledge / 12. End of a Holiday / 13. Throwaway Street Puzzle [*] / 14. You're Gonna Need My Help [*] / 15. Some Sweet Day [*]
Rating : 8


3. Unhalfbricking - Island 1969

Tracks:
1. Genesis Hall / 2. Si Tu Dois Partir / 3. Autopsy / 4. Sailor's Life / 5. Cajun Woman / 6. Who Knows Where the Time Goes? / 7. Percy's Song / 8. Million Dollar Bash / 9. Dear Landlord [*] / 10. Ballad of Easy Rider [*]
Rating : 8


4. Liege and Lief - Island 1969

Tracks:
1. Come All Ye / 2. Reynardine / 3. Matty Groves / 4. Farewell, Farewell / 5. Deserter / 6. Medley: The Lark in the Morning/Rakish Paddy/Foxhunters' Jig/Toss the F / 7. Tam Lin / 8. Crazy Man Michael / 9. Sir Patrick Spens [#] / 10. Quiet Joys of Brotherhood [#]
Rating : 9


5. Full House - Island 1970

Tracks:
1. Walk Awhile / 2. Doctor of Physick / 3. Dirty Linen / 4. Sloth / 5. Sir Patrick Spens / 6. Flatback Caper / 7. Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman / 8. Flowers of the Forest / 9. Now Be Thankful [Mono Version] [*] / 10. Sir B. McKenzie's Daughter's Lament for the 77th Mounted Lancers Retrea [*] / 11. Bonny Bunch of Roses [*] / 12. Now Be Thankful [New Stereo Mix] [*]
Rating : 10


6. Henry the Human Fly - Island Records 1972

Tracks:
1. Roll Over Vaughn Williams / 2. Nobody’s Wedding / 3. The Poor Ditching Boy / 4. Shaky Nancy / 5. Angels Took My Racehorse Away / 6. Wheely Down / 7. The New St. George / 8. Painted Ladies / 9. Cold Feet / 10. Mary and Joseph / 11. The Old Changing Way / 12. Twisted
Rating : 9


7. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight - Island 1974

Tracks:
1. When I Get To The Border / 2. The Calvary Cross / 3. Withered And Died / 4. I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight / 5. Down Where The Drunkards Roll / 6. We Sing Hallelujah / 7. Has He Got A Friend For Me? / 8. The Little Beggar Girl / 9. The End Of The Rainbow / 10. The Great Valerio / 11. I Want To See The Bright Lights (Live) / 12. Together Again (Live) / 13. Calvary Cross (Live)
Rating : 9


8. Hokey Pokey - Island 1975

Tracks:
1. Hokey Pokey / 2. I'll Regret It All in the Morning / 3. Smiffy's Glass Eye / 4. Egypt Room / 5. Never Again / 6. Georgie on a Spree / 7. Old Man Inside a Young Man / 8. Sun Never Shines on the Poor / 9. Heart Needs a Home / 10. Mole in a Hole / 11. Wishing [*] / 12. I'm Turning Off a Memory [*] / 13. Heart Needs a Home [*] / 14. Hokey Pokey [Live][*] / 15. It'll Be Me [Live][*]
Rating : 6


9. Pour Down Like Silver - Island 1975

Tracks:
1. Streets of Paradise / 2. For Shame of Doing Wrong / 3. Poor Boy Is Taken Away / 4. Night Comes In / 5. Jet Plane in a Rocking Chair / 6. Beat the Retreat / 7. Hard Luck Stories / 8. Dimming of the Day/Dargai / 9. Streets of Paradise [Live] [*] / 10. Night Comes In [Live][*] / 11. Dark End of the Street [Live][*] / 12. Beat the Retreat [Live] [*]
Rating : 8


10. First Light - Hannibal 1978

Tracks:
1. Restless Highway / 2. Sweet Surrender / 3. Don't Let A Thief Steal Into Your Heart / 4. The Choice Wife / 5. Dief For Love / 6. Strange Affair / 7. Layla / 8. Pavanne / 9. House Of Cards / 10. First Light
Rating : 5


11. Sunnyvista - Hannibal 1979

Tracks:
1. Civilization / 2. Borrowed Time / 3. Saturday Rolling Around / 4. You're Going To Need Somebody / 5. Why Do You Turn Your Back / 6. Sunnyvista / 7. Lonely Heart / 8. Sisters / 9. Justice In The Streets / 10. Traces Of My Love
Rating : 5


12. Shoot Out the Lights - Hannibal 1982

Tracks:
1. Don't Renege On Our Love / 2. Walking On A Wire / 3. Man In Need / 4. Just The Motion / 5. Shoot Out The Lights / 6. Back Street Slide / 7. Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed / 8. Wall Of Death / 9. Living in Luxury [*]
Rating : 7


13. Hand of Kindness - Hannibal 1983

Tracks:
1. Tear-Stained Letter / 2. How I Wanted To / 3. Both Ends Burning / 4. A Poisoned Heart and a Twisted Memory" / 5. Where the Wind Don't Whine / 6. The Wrong Heartbeat / 7. Hand of Kindness / 8. Devonside / 9. Two Left Feet
Rating : 7


14. Across a Crowded Room - Polydor 1985

Tracks:
1. When the Spell Is Broken / 2. You Don't Say / 3. I Ain't Going to Drag My Feet No More / 4. Love in a Faithless Country / 5. Fire in the Engine Room / 6. Walking Through a Wasted Land / 7. Little Blue Number / 8. She Twists the Knife Again / 9. Ghosts in the Wind
Rating :


15. Daring Adventures - Polydor 1986

Tracks:
1. A Bone Through Her Nose / 2. Valerie / 3. Missie How You Let Me Down / 4. Dead Man's Handle / 5. Long Dead Love / 6. Lover's Lane / 7. Nearly In Love / 8. Jennie / 9. Baby Talk / 10. Cash Down, Never Never / 11. How Will I Ever Be Simple Again / 12. Al Bowlly's in Heaven
Rating : 7


16. Amnesia - Capitol 1988

Tracks:
1. Turning of the Tide / 2. Gypsy Love Songs / 3. Reckless Kind / 4. Jerusalem on the Jukebox / 5. I Still Dream / 6. Don't Tempt Me / 7. Yankee, Go Home / 8. Can't Win / 9. Waltzing's for Dreamers / 10. Pharaoh
Rating :


17. Sweet Talker ( soundtrack) - Capitol 1991

Tracks:
1. Put Your Trust In Me / 2. Persuasion / 3. Roll Up / 4. The Dune Ship / 5. Conviction / 6. Boomtown / 7. Harry's Theme / 8. Sweet Talker / 9. To Hang A Dream On / 10. Beachport / 11. False Or True
Rating :


18. Rumor and Sigh - Capitol 1991

Tracks:
1. Read About Love / 2. I Feel So Good / 3. I Misunderstood / 4. Grey Walls / 5. You Dream Too Much / 6. Why Must I Plead / 7. 1952 Vincent Black Lightning / 8. Backlash Love Affair / 9. Mystery Wind / 10. Don't Sit On My Jimmy Shands / 11. Keep Your Distance / 12. Mother Knows Best / 13. God Loves A Drunk / 14. Psycho Street
Rating : 7


19. Mirror Blue - Capitol 1994

Tracks:
1. For The Sake Of Mary / 2. I Can’t Wake Up To Save My Life / 3. MGB-GT / 4. The Way That It Shows / 5. Easy There, Steady Now / 6. King Of Bohemia / 7. Shane And Dixie/ 8. Mingus Eyes / 9. I Ride In Your Slipstream / 10. Beeswing / 11. Fast Food / 12. Mascara Tears / 13. Taking My Business Elsewhere
Rating : 6


20. You? Me? Us? - Capitol 1996

Tracks:
1. Razor Dance / 2. She Steers By Lightning / 3. Dark Hand Over My Heart / 4. Hide It Away / 5. Put It There Pal / 6. Business On You / 7. No's Not A Word / 8. Am I Wasting My Love On You? / 9. Bank Vault In Heaven / 10. The Ghost Of You Walks // 1. Baby Don't Know What To Do With Herself / 2. She Cut Off Her Long Silken Hair / 3. Hide It Away / 4. Burns Supper / 5. Train Don't Leave / 6. Cold Kisses / 7. Sam Jones / 8. Razor Dance / 9. Woods Of Darney
Rating : 7


21. Mock Tudor - Capitol 1999

Tracks:
1. Cooksferry Queen / 2. Sibella / 3. Bathsheba Smiles / 4. Two-Faced Love / 5. Hard On Me / 6. Crawl Back (Under My Stone) / 7. Uninhabited Man / 8. Dry My Tears And Move On / 9. Walking The Long Miles Home / 10. Sights And Sounds Of London Town / 11. That's All, Amen, Close The Door / 12. Hope You Like The New Me / 13. Fully Qualified To Be Your Man* / 14. Mr. Rebound*
Rating :


22. The Old Kit Bag - Beeswing 2003

Tracks:
1. Gethsemane / 2. Jealous Words / 3. I'll Tag Along / 4. A Love You Can't Survive / 5. One Door Opens / 6. First Breath / 7. She Said It Was Destiny / 8. I've Got No Right To Have It All / 9. Pearly Jim / 10. Word Unspoken, Sight Unseen / 11. Outside Of The Inside / 12. Happy Days And Auld Lang Syne
Rating : 7


23. Front Parlour Ballads - Cooking Vinyl 2005

Tracks:
1. Let It Blow / 2. For Whose Sake? / 3. Miss Patsy / 4. Old Thames Side / 5. How Does Your Garden Grow? / 6. My Soul, My Soul / 7. Cressida / 8. Row, Boys Row / 9. The Boys Of Mutton Street / 10. Precious One / 11. A Solitary Life / 12. Should I Betray? / 13. When We Were Boys At School
Rating :


24. Grizzly Man - Cooking Vinyl 2005

Tracks:
1. Tim & The Bears / 2. Main Title / 3. Foxes / 4. Ghosts In The Maze / 5. Glencoe / 6. Parents / 7. Bear Swim / 8. Twilight Cowboy / 9. The Kibosh / 10. Treadwell No More / 11. Teddy Bear / 12. Small Racket / 13. Streamwalk / 14. That's My Story / 15. Bear Fight / 16. Big Racket / 17. Corona For Mr. Chocolate / 18. Main Title Revisited / 19. Coyotes
Rating :


25. Sweet Warrior - Proper Records 2007

Tracks:
1. Needle and Thread / 2. I'll Never Give It Up / 3. Take Care the Road You Choose / 4. Mr. Stupid / 5. Dad's Gonna Kill Me /n 6. Poppy-Red / 7. Bad Monkey / 8. Francesca / 9. Too Late to Come Fishing / 10. Sneaky Boy / 11. She Sang Angels to Rest / 12. Johnny's Far Away / 13. Guns Are the Tongues / 14. Sunset Song / 15. Any Old Body* / 16. Dust and Wine*
Rating : 7


26. Dream Attic - Proper Records 2010

Tracks:
1. The Money Shuffle / 2. Among The Gorse, Among The Grey / 3. Haul Me Up / 4. Burning Man / 5. Here Comes Geordie / 6. Demons In Her Dancing Shoes / 7. Crimescene / 8. Big Sun Falling In The River / 9. Stumble On / 10. Sidney Wells / 11. A Brother Slips Away / 12. Bad Again / 13. If Love Whispers Your Name
Rating :


27. Cabaret of Souls - Beeswing 2012

Tracks:
1. Prelude / 2. Overture / 3. Song Of The Keepers / 4. Whipping On / 5. The Linnet / 6. I Really Do Love A Waltz / 7. I Must Lie Down / 8. Gluttony Considered / 9. Clive Smythe / 10. The Critic Critiqued / 11. I Get Younger / 12. The Parchment Grows Thin / 13. Auldie Riggs / 14. Auldie Riggs' Dance / 15. Mr. Riggs Appreciated / 16. Her Eyes not Mine / 17. From The Inside Out / 18. Breaking Down The Walls / 19. Will You Wash Away The Blood / 20. My Dave / 21. The Gangster's Moll / 22. Run Judas Run / 23. It Came With A Whisper / 24. I Want The World / 25. She Had It All / 26. Bosom Of The Lord / 27. Hot Place For Hypocrites / 28. One More Breath / 29. The Keeper Regrets And Reflects / 30. Whipping Off
Rating :


28. Electric - Proper Records 2013

Tracks:
1. Stony Ground / 2. Salford Sunday / 3. Sally B / 4. Stuck On The Treadmill / 5. My Enemy / 6. Good Things Happen To Bad People / 7. Where's Home / 8. Another Small Thing In Her Favour / 9. Straight And Narrow / 10. The Snow Goose / 11. Saving The Good Stuff For You // 1. Will You Dance, Charlie Boy*/ 2. I Found A Stray* / 3. The Rival*/ 4. The Tic-Tac Man* / 5. Auldie Riggs* / 6. Auldie Riggs Dance* / 7. So Ben Mi Ch'a Bon Tempo*
Rating :


29. Still - Fantasy Records 2015

Tracks:
1. She Never Could Resist A Winding Road / 2. Beatnik Walking / 3. Patty Don't You Put Me Down / 4. Broken Doll / 5. All Buttoned Up / 6. Josephine / 7. Long John Silver / 8. Pony In The Stable / 9. Where's Your Heart / 10. No Peace, No End / 11. Dungeons For Eyes / 12. Guitar Heroes // 1. Fork In The Road / 2. Wounding Myself / 3. The May Queen / 4. Don't Take It Laying Down / 5. Fergus Laing
Rating :


30. 13 Rivers - Proper Records 2018

Tracks:
1. The Storm Won't Come / 2. The Rattle Within / 3. Her Love Was Meant for Me / 4. Bones of Gilead / 5. The Dog in You / 6. Trying / 7. Do All These Tears Belong to You / 8. My Rock, My Rope / 9. You Can't Reach Me / 10. O Cinderella / 11. Pride / 12. Shaking the Gates
Rating :


Essential Albums!

Original albums as listed and rated on “Rate Your Music” - May 10- 2014

12 I Want to See The Bright Lights Tonight - 1974
16 Shoot Out the Lights - 1982
24 Liege & Lief - 1969
29 Unhalfbricking - 1969
39 Mock Tudor - 1999
50 Rumor and Sigh - 1991
52 What We Did on Our Holidays - 1969
57 Pour Down Like Silver - 1975
79 Hand of Kindness - 1983
133 Hokey Pokey - 1975
137 Electric - 2013
147Full House - 1970
153Dream Attic - 2010
160Henry the Human Fly - 1972
164Amnesia - 1988
178Across a Crowded Room - 1985
182Mirror Blue - 1994
215 Fairport Convention - 1968
241The Old Kit Bag - 2003
368 First Light - 1978
371 Daring Adventures - 1986
410 Sweet Warrior - 2007
410 Still - 2015
445 You? Me? Us? - 1996
594 Sunnyvista - 1979
809 Front Parlour Ballads - 2005
Check and Rate Here!

December 25 - "rateyourmusic.com"


My Suggestion For a 80 minutes (app.) Best Of Compilation:
( Fairport Convention songs and songs with Linda Thompson are listed on their respective pages)


1. The Old Changing Way ( R. Thompson ) Henry the Human Fly
2. The Poor Ditching Boy ( R. Thompson ) Henry the Human Fly
3. Painted Ladies ( R. Thompson ) Henry the Human Fly
4. Devon Side ( R. Thompson ) Hand of Kindness
5. How I Wanted to ( R. Thompson ) Hand of Kindness
6. The Angels Took My Racehorse Away ( R. Thompson ) Henry the Human Fly
7. Nobody's Wedding ( R. Thompson ) Henry the Human Fly
8. The New St. George ( R. Thompson ) Henry the Human Fly
9. Cold Feet ( R. Thompson ) Henry the Human Fly
10. Poisioned Heart and a Twisted Memory ( R. Thompson ) Hand of Kindness
11. Where The Wind Don't Whine ( R. Thompson ) Hand of Kindness
12. Hand of Kindness ( R. Thompson ) Hand of Kindness
13. Walking Through a Wasted Life ( R. Thompson ) Across a Crowded Room
14. Missie How You Let Me Down ( R. Thompson ) Daring Adventures
15. How Will I Ever Be Simple Again ( R. Thompson ) Daring Adventures
16. Dead Man's Handle ( R. Thompson ) Daring Adventures
17. Nearly In Love ( R. Thompson ) Daring Adventures
18. Jeannie ( R. Thompson ) Daring Adventures
19. Keep Your Distance ( R. Thompson ) Rumor and Sigh
20. 1952 Vincent Black Lightning ( R. Thompson ) Rumor and Sigh
21. I Feel so Good ( R. Thompson ) Rumor and Sigh
22. Grey Walls ( R. Thompson ) Rumor and Sigh
23. You Dream Too Much ( R. Thompson ) Rumor and Sigh
24. Why Must I Plead ( R. Thompson ) Rumor and Sigh
25. Gethsemane ( R. Thompson ) The Old Kit Bag
26. Word Unspoken, Sight Unseen ( R. Thompson ) The Old Kit Bag
27. I'll Tag Along( R. Thompson ) The Old Kit Bag
28. She Said it was Destiny ( R. Thompson ) The Old Kit Bag
29. Beeswing ( R. Thompson ) Mirror Blue
30. Mascara Tears ( R. Thompson ) Mirror Blue
31. For the Sake of Mary ( R. Thompson ) Mirror Blue
32. Razor Blade ( R. Thompson ) You, Me, Us
33. She Steers by Lightning ( R. Thompson ) You, Me, Us
34. Hide it Away ( R. Thompson ) You, Me, Us
35. Put it There Pal ( R. Thompson ) You, Me, Us
36. The Ghost of You Walks ( R. Thompson ) You, Me, Us
37. Baby Don't Know What to do ( R. Thompson ) You, Me, Us
38. Woods of Darney ( R. Thompson ) You, Me, Us
39. Poppy Red ( R. Thompson ) Sweet Warrior
40. Take Care of the Road you Choose ( R. Thompson ) Sweet Warrior
41. Francesca ( R. Thompson ) Sweet Warrior
42. Guns are the Tongues ( R. Thompson ) Sweet Warrior

LINKS:

Henry the Human Fly

Official Richard Thompson


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