From Fairport Convention to solo work, his songs blend traditional folk with sharp modern storytelling.
If you want to hear what he does, start with "1952 Vincent Black Lightning", it's all there in one song. Or try "Dad's Gonna Kill Me" for something darker and more recent.
Thompson's writing has a way of making old forms feel immediate, whether he's sketching a doomed romance in "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" or turning a phrase about jealousy. He came up in the late-60s British folk revival with Fairport Convention, playing on albums like "Liege & Lief," but his solo material carved out its own space, less revivalist, more personal. The songs hold up because the characters feel lived-in, not like museum pieces.
He joined Fairport Convention in 1967, right as they were reshaping British folk music. After leaving, he put out his first solo album in 1972, followed by records like "Henry the Human Fly" in 1974 and "Sky of Honey" a decade later. The work kept moving, never settling into one sound.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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