Richard Thompson.

[Roland99]

mmm...what a voice.

I can sit and listen to this guy sing all night.

[6000eliot]

1. He's also a great guitarist.

[Ready4Change]

3. Astounding guitarist

I have one of his albums. Listening to it I thought "Wow, he's good, and so is the other guy playing guitar with him."

Then I saw him in concert and realized it was only him doing all that guitar work at the same time, while singing. Good GOD!

[Roland99]

4. My fav has to be "1952 Vincent Black Lightning"

[I Know How To Do it]

12. I think of him more of a guitarist than a singer.

[enigmatic]

2. I've got his version of "Shenandoah" on my overnight show

Absolutely breathtaking, just his voice and that amazing guitar..

[6000eliot]

5. "Shoot Out the Lights" is a fantastic album

"The Wall of Sleep" is my favorite.

[Bat Boy]

6. Best guitarist I've ever seen live.

Not a single cliche, surprised me at every turn.

The only other guitarist I can say that about was Zappa.

[tigereye]

7. hey you!

:hi:

He is amazing. I stood in the rain to see him two years ago at the Arts Festival here. He was solo mostly with one backing guy, he was funny, brilliant, intricate in his playing, politically playful. It was something!

And then I saw him again last year with a band. That was great, too. Hard to pick a favorite song.

[driver8]

8. Richard Thompson was Mark Knopfler's guitar hero...

The guy is amazing!

Can anyone recommend a few albums to me? I already have Shoot out the Lights.

[enigmatic]

9. A few

"I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight", and anything from his years in Fairport Convention, really; "Full House" is probabnly my favorite Thompson-dominated Fairport album, if only for "Sloth"...

[Tallison]

11. Wow. Big Mark Knopfler fan

Didn't know that.

[enigmatic]

13. I love Knopfler

I think alot of people forget what an incredible guitar player he is; the first Dire Straits album is full of brilliant leads. He always had a J.J. Cale vibe to his playing w/o lapsing into outright homage; both are amazing guitarists in their own right..

[Tallison]

14. Love the "Water of Love" intro off their

BBC live album. There's a holding back and hence tension to his playing that I think it's hard for most players capable of "chops" to get. The best know when not to play and when to hang back as well as when to let loose. That's among of the many problems I've always had with Eric Clapton. Was listening to JJ Cale do "Cocaine" the other day and was reminded how affected Clapton's "blues" style always sounds to me. He plays them as if lending roots music his own distinct style would be unforgivable (in which case we wouldn't have rock or all its offshoots today) and so tries playing Muddy playing blues, or playing Johnson playing blues, which, of course, we all know only works in high school variety shows. AGH!!!!!!!!

[driver8]

15. That first Dire Straits album is one of my favorites. Knopfler

definitely has some chops! Great guitar work all over that album.

[Doctor_J]

20. The best thing about Dire Straits, IMO

He's one of the maestros of the strat.

[Roland99]

18. And Mark's still cranking out great music

[Orsino]

19. Yep. When I first saw the "When the Spell Is Broken" video...

...I wondered aloud when Knopfler had grown a beard, and what had happened to his voice. Fingerpickin' a Strat is a recognizable sound.

[KG]

16. Mirror Blue

[tigereye]

24. ha

that is surprising... I'll have to listen a little harder to Knopfler, then. He does have a very bright, watery quality to his playing that I recently noticed, now that he isn't so crazily popular.

[Tom Kitten]

10. speaking of Fairport Convention...

if you ever see this lp grab it ! It was an import only and I don't know if it's ever been released on cd...They do a lot of somgs from the Sandy Denny days but Richard sings...plus this album rocks!

[MrScorpio]

17. Check this out

http://www.mcweekly.com/articles/8722

[Bridget Burke]

21. He's a wonderful songwriter as well...

Albums not yet mentioned are "Hokey Pokey" & "Pour Down Like Silver"--2 very different offerings from the years with Linda.

He performs excellently as a solo artist, but kicks butt with a band.

Here's his website: www.richardthompson-music.com/browse.asp

[Squeech]

22. I couldn't agree more

except that I don't think I'd give Pour Down Like Silver to anybody susceptible to depression. It's just about the bleakest collection of songs this side of Nick Drake (and in fact "The Poor Boy is Taken Away" is an allusion to Drake). Definitely do not operate any heavy machinery for 24 hours after listening to it.

I'm also a big fan of Sunnyvista. The title track is Brecht-level sarcasm, about how happy we'll all be when we live our lives under the benevolent supervision of technocrats. Plus there are a couple great pissoff songs that could have been punk rock, which is not something you'd associate with Thompson unless you've heard his occasional encore rendition of "Ca Plane Pour Moi." And then there's just some of his classic angst: "Two Lonely Hearts," "Sisters," etc.

[Withywindle]

25. I love that album so much...

...but yeah, it is depressing. Gorgeous, though. Just gorgeous.

[cheeseit]

23. The man is simply brilliant.

Great singer, fantastic guitarist, amazing lyricist. Pure genius.

[CBHagman]

26. He's great in concert.

He has a great sense of humor (joking about doing a "hand morris" during one of his songs) and rapport with the audience.

[NashVegas]

27. Also Known As "God"

Although he wouldn't appreciate it.

[Roland99]

28. And Richard Thompson has his new CD out

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:zu5h8q9xbtx4