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The respected musician talks about how he developed his plectrum and fingerstyle method and the truth about those RT Acoustic Trio rumours.
Matt Kitchin, Gateshead
After many years of playing a famous make of Strats, why the switch to Ferringtons?
Richard Thompson: The Ferringtons I play are really Strat variations - same basic body weight,
3 pickups - but are more experimental - the blue one has Broadcaster, Alnico
Strat and Gibson P90 pickups, and straight-wired volume controls, allowing
infinite tone combinations between pickups. But they still sound 'Fenderish'.
I still use a '64 Strat and a Kelly 'Tele' with 3 P/Us, and a '56 Tele. My
old '59 Strat is very worn and unplayable just now.
Paul Woods, Bristol
Richard, are you any sort of hi-fi buff? Do you and Nancy have a state-of-the-art sound system in your home, with individually-chosen components? Or do you rely on a trusty Dansette Junior DeLuxe? ;-)=
RT: I know very few musicians with anything remotely resembling hi-fi. I have
crappy high street amps and unflattering small studio monitors, and
everything sounds better in the car. I once owned and had stolen the pair of
Quad amps, the Linn Sondek turntable, etc., after which I gave up.
wudzi, Bristol
The line in Gethsemane, "Sailboat on the Cadie", what is the Cadie? A real river, an abbreviation of the name of some other body of water? Or just a name you made up? I'm just trying to get a better visualisation of the setting of the song...
RT: Thank you for asking - the name is fictitious, as is the town, 'Gethsemane'.
I wanted a name like the Gadie river in Aberdeenshire, or is it Banff, you
know,
'Would I were where the Gadie runs
At the foot of Ben Achee'
But the Gadie is about 6 inches wide, hardly navigable by sailing boat. The
setting is wherever you want it, I suppose.
Flip Feij, The Netherlands
What page of Little Brown Bear made you laugh?
RT: I was laughing at the chapter
where the Little Brown Bear comes across a copy of the Kama Sutra lying on
the forest floor...
Kris Lethbridge, Cornwall
Richard, I'm 15 and last year saw you playing live at Cropredy last year, I really enjoyed it and was wondering if you are planning to play there again this year?
RT: I have no plans yet - after the excitement of the 35th anniversary, I was
planning to take a year off, but if it works out, I'd love to be there...
Geoff Newstead, Midlands
You were once quoted as saying "Every electro-acoustic guitar I've played sounded like a piece of tightly strung sh*t." Do you still hold this opinion or have things improved?
RT: Oh, they must have improved! Amplifying acoustic instruments more than a
little is really cheating, and everything becomes a compromise. It's just a
matter then of deciding how you want to cheat - piezo, mic, magnetic, etc. I
think it's very good to have two systems that you can blend. I use a magnetic
pickup, for volume, and an internal condenser mic, for air and transience,
but the individual player has to figure out his/her own preferences for
sound, in an area where nothing is perfect. It's an endless quest.
Ian Simpson, Cheshire
What are the main tunings you use and what's a good way to develop that plectrum and fingerstyle method?!
RT: I developed that style by being lazy - watching TV and playing, and not
bothering to put the pick down before fingerpicking - but it's a useful
style, and you can achieve some things impossible with any other technique -
so I have no formal suggestions for learning other than just do it! For
tunings I use a lot of drop D, DADGAD, and CGDGAE, and a couple of others.
Roy Stephenson
You always have a place on your concert dates for the odd, usually very, very odd, song but as far as I know only Psycho Street (the oddest of them all?), ever made it onto record. Were the others (the titles apart from My Daddy was a Mummy elude me), ever recorded?
RT: Well, I don't know, I'm sure, what you mean by odd - it all sounds bubbly and
bouncy and singalong to me. 'Psycho Street' a classic example of easy
listening, middle of the road and radio-friendly. Some songs off the
mainstream will occur on live CDs, and other projects. 'Daddy Is A Mummy' on
a forthcoming kid's record, f'rinstance. But because I don't really know what
you mean, that's the best answer I can give for now.
James W Bottomley, Oxford
Hi Richard, nice seeing your home and family on TV, thanks for letting us in to that a little! I've noticed some similarity in feel between your songs and some of Steely Dan - do you like their music?
RT:Well, it was my family, but I borrowed someone else's house for the shoot, so
I wasn't that forthcoming...I've always had mixed feelings about Steely Dan -
obviously great musicians, but that doesn't always add up to great music (see
Toto). And so carefully, cleanly, obsessively recorded that all the life has
been sucked out of it...nice lyrics, but the pose of hip LA fashionable
world-weariness palls for me after a while. You might say I'm less than
flattered by your comparison.
Rob Laurie, Sydney, Australia
The French-Frith-Kaiser-Thompson band, how did this partnership come about? Was it fun?
RT: Yes, it was great fun! Henry Kaiser was the man in the middle, who knew
everyone, and I suppose it was an attempt to see if the 2 guitars, bass,
drums thing could be re-reinterpreted into something new. I believe we made
some unique music, that has so far failed to trouble the chart-compilers. Of
course, in the can, but under litigation, is the FFKT Christmas album...
Arie Euwijk, Spike City
Last year there were some rumours about the RT acoustic trio. Was there any truth in it? Michael Jerome & Danny the other two? First Breath could be their prize number!
RT: It would be a cheap way to tour, that's for sure...perhaps the only way to
ever get the band to Australia. Myself, Danny and Michael did play one
festival together, acoustic, in Umbria, Italy - they delayed our set to erect
a giant screen and show the European Championship final, France-Italy. Italy,
having led for the whole match, lost in overtime, and the crowd basically
went home! We played to about 8 people (and a dog). Food was great.
Richard Thompson Homepage
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