I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
Hindsight confirms this as a British folk rock classic, but the studio debut for Fairport Convention alumnus Richard Thompson and then-bride Linda Peters Thompson was passed over for stateside issue upon its release in 1974. Granted its stubborn penchant for framing Thompson's arch broadsides, ballads, and rockers with silver horns, concertina, and pre-industrial imagery took these songs way out of contention with the rock fare of the day,Bright Lightssurvives as a stunning introduction to the Thompsons' remarkable music. The set also offers a primer on Richard's understated brilliance as both electric and acoustic guitarist (and no mean hand on mandolin). His spidery Stratocaster jigs and reels with a vinous sting, and, on the ear-tweaking "The Calvary Cross," offers a position paper on the rudiments of a style that would influence guitarists on both sides of the pond. Like the Band's Robbie Robertson, Thompson harnesses a tough rock attack to a rootsy folk intelligence that has since bubbled up in the playing of successors including Mark Knopfler, sounding timeless and contemporary with every string-bending flourish.--Sam Sutherland