BIGGER STRINGS: DANNY THOMPSON

Well, strings don't  come much bigger than Victoria. Who she? Victoria is the stand-up bass guitar Danny Thompson bought for a fiver (£5) in around 1954, when he was fifteen. And who Danny Thompson? Shame on you for asking, but I guess not all tastes are as rarified as mine. Sir Danny of Thompson, as he has yet become officially recognised as, an MBE having to suffice, is the fella who has gone as far as most in making stand-up bass other than an old fogey associated item. If you are familiar with Pentangle, Nick Drake, John Martyn and Richard Thompson, the chances are that you are familiar with his work. If you have watched the Transatlantic Sessions, live or on TV, the chances are that you have seen him, an avuncular presence, holding all the virtuosi musicians also featured in check, more that likely with a beatific beam on his face, itself usually under a hat of some intrinsic coolness.

With Martin Simpson, 2014

I used to hate the double bass, it encompassing everything old and fuddy-duddy of the pre-rock era. All these bloody b&w jazzers, with the bass perpetually walking up and down in the background, whilst the usual focus of attention showed off in the foreground, besuited drummers tip-tapping away politely alongside. Sometimes they crossed over into my awareness, notably in the Seekers, my father's favourite band, courtesy the comely charms of Judith Durham. They could always be relied upon to turn up on BBC Saturday night variety shows, I finding the grinning buffoon on bass an offence to my pre-pubertal sensitivities. (Apologies thus due, now, to Athol Guy, the player in question, even if I have not the heart to go back and actually check out his playing.) This prejudice took forever, a bit like trumpet, to rid, but, boy, when I did....

With Richard Thompson, 2001

Thompson was the man from the start, even if I was slow to get up to speed. As an RT freak, it was when he first started appearing alongside Richard, his Thompson 'twin', that I got up to speed. You know how it is, when you sometimes 'get' something, the scales fall from your eyes like roof tiles in a hurricane. Suddenly I was hoovering up John Martyn and, even, if a bit later, Nick Drake. (His vocals still alienated for longer than I care admit.) Suddenly big ol' bass was cool, she even when one Gordon Sumner came on board, I was already, o yes, on message.

So, Daniel Henry Edward Thompson..... Like the recently deceased Charlie Watts, he too was an alumnus of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, taking over bass duties from Jack Bruce. Following that four year period, 1664-7, he became a member of Pentangle, that undersung folk-jazz hybrid, ploughing their idiosyncratic acoustic vibe at the same time as Fairport and Steeleye were inventing an electric folk tradition. He and Terry Cox, drums, both crossed the then gulf between traditions, joining nominal folkies Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, with the consummate purity of Jacqui McShee on vocals. 

With Pentangle, 1972

The John Martyn years, which followed, were as famous for their onstage "dynamic" as for the often mercurial music, both not averse to the occasional pre-, per- and post-stage snifter. Thompson was able to take a longer view, and withdrew. Martyn, sadly not, his death as much to do with the ravages of alcohol as anything else, if sober at the time of his death. 

With John Martyn, 1977

A solo career beckoned, or at least as bandleader, his band, 'Whatever' a sonic free for all, genre-wise, with some astonishing material. When this expanded to into an even wider ubiquity, as 'Songhai', featuring flamenco purists, Ketama, alongside Malian kora maestro, Toumani Diabaté, any sense of categorisation became redundant.

Songhai, 1988

Round about the same time he hooked up with kindred spirit, Richard Thompson: each had embraces Islam, possibly, in part, as an escape from the hedonism of the musical life. For several years he was the right hand man to his namesake, whether in a band format or as a duo. An interesting memento of that time comes with 1997's 'Industry', a joint production, encompassing both the songs of RT and the music of Whatever. It's a worthwhile listen.

Industry, 1997

A jovial presence, he was also getting work as an amiable onstage presence at Fairport Convention's Cropredy Festivals, as host and master of ceremonies. I remember my horror, I think in 1998, as it was announced from the stage that Thompson had sustained a stroke. The audience were invited to sing Danny Boy, so that, by phone, he could hear their well wishes. I thought that the end, but he made a decent recovery and was soon playing again, seemingly as well as ever. The couple of times I caught the Transatlantic Sessions tours, in the early 20 teens, he was terrific, the cheer for him, when introduced, as big as for any of the other performers. Grab a look at his website for a list of records he has appeared on, a ridiculously large roster, encompassing jazz, folk, blues, world, everything, including a number of surprises. Did you know he played on Cliff Richards' Eurovison winner, 'Congratulations'? Or with artists as diverse as T.Rex, Kate Bush and David Sylvian, let alone most of Donovan's recordings. Not bad for an old jazzer!

Transatlantic Sessions, 2016

Back with RT, 2019

Here's rather a good interview, from only a year or so ago.

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Blog Names: Time Has Told Me

Nick Drake: Time Has Told Me

[purchase]

Time has told me
Youre a rare rare find
A troubled cure
For a troubled mind.

Time Has Told Me is from the dark side of the blogging world; they post entire albums, a wonderful mix of semi-traditional Euro and British folk, more experimental folk from around the globe, and the occasional live recording from the early days of Ron Sexsmith and other folk rock artists from this side of the pond. Their namesake is a raggedly majestic 1969 Nick Drake folktune; the first verse, in italics above, is perhaps the quintessential collectors touchstone.

Though many of the songs on Time Has Told Me are wonderful collectors items, rare, out-of-print or unavailable, and many artists featured are true obscurities, every once in a while they get a takedown request. In their favor, Time Has Told Me admin Lizardson is honest, and practices full disclosure, even going so far as to publish such notices in the blog itself. But it's worth the reminder: here at Star Maker Machine, we include purchase links for all songs we post for a reason; we support and promote the artist's right to profit off their music, and do not condone wholesale peer to peer sharing of music when it undermines that right.

The Moon: Pink Moon

Nick Drake: Pink Moon

[purchase]

Never mind the Volkswagen ad, this is simply one of the most gorgeous songs in musical history. Be sure to buy this excellent book if you want to know more about this song and the album of the same name. 

2:42: Place To Be

Nick Drake: Place To Be

[purchase]

I remember reading Confederacy Of Dunces, the brilliant Pulitzer Prize winning book, years ago.  It was (and is) amazing to me that John Kennedy Toole, the author of the book, was completely undiscovered during his lifetime. Following Toole's suicide, his mother found the text to the book in his room and submitted it to a publisher.  The text has now, rightfully, been read by hundreds of millions of people.

Nick Drake, who died of an overdose when he was 26 years old, is similar to Toole in the sense that he never lived to see the amazing influence that his music would have on the singer-songwriter genre.  None of Drake's albums sold more than 5,000 copies when they were first released, but now they have sold millions of copies and have been influential to a wide variety of artists (including less likely admirers like Paul Weller and Robert Smith).

So, this track is my tribute to undiscovered brilliance!  The featured track is from Pink Moon and clocks exactly two minutes and forty-two seconds.