A CURIOUS MIX OF BRITISH FOLK MUSIC AND AMERICAN POLITICS
Ivor Cutler’s unique vocalizing makes this cut from The World Is a Wonderful Place, a real treasure.
This song originally appeared on Richard Thompson’s first solo record Henry the Human Fly.
Ian Kearey, founder member of the Oysterband, plays the harmonium and dulcimer.
Richard Thompson’s memoir, ‘Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975.,’ is out in 2021.
Richard Thompson has been one of rock’s MVPs since the mid-Sixties. He was a founding member of Fairport Convention — the band that invented the merger of rock and British folk — and his subsequent, musically timeless albums with his ex-wife Linda have long been revered: Their 1982 Shoot Out the Lights made Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. He’s also earned the respect of many of his fellow musicians; his songs have been covered by Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Robert Plant, Bonnie Raitt, Dinosaur Jr., Bob Mould, and the Pointer Sisters, among many.
Thompson has lived quite the life, and fans can read all about it next spring with the publication of Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975. Tracing his life from his childhood, through his Fairport days, and into his music and life with the former Linda Peters, Beeswing is, in the words of publisher Algonquin, “an intimate look at a period of great cultural tumult, chronicling the early years of one of the world’s most significant and influential guitarists and songwriters.” The memoir will be published April 6th in the U.S. (by Algonquin) and April 15th in the U.K. (by Faber Books).
With Richard Thompson on electric guitar. Sublime.
Farewell, Farewell
Written by Richard Thompson
Farewell, farewell to you who’d hear
You lonely travelers all
The cold north wind will blow again
The winding road does call
And will you never return to see
Your bruised and beaten sons
Oh I would, I would if welcome I were
For they loathe me every one
And will you never cut the cloth
Or drink the light to be
And can you never swear a year
To anyone but we
No I will never cut the cloth
Or drink the light to be
But I’ll swear a year to one who lies
Asleep along side of me
Farewell, farewell to you who would hear
You lonely travelers all
The cold north wind will blow again
The winding road does call