The burden that Teddy Thompson will carry for his whole career will be everyone's inability to stop pointing out that he comes by his jaw-dropping talent honestly. As the son of one of British folk-rock's finest guitarists and songwriters (Richard Thompson) and one of its two or three greatest singers (Linda Thompson), his emergence as a top-notch singer and songwriter himself would seem like an almost foregone conclusion. But what wasn't inevitable was the particular distribution of his talents: after all, he could have been born with his dad's pedestrian voice and his mother's underwhelming writing prowess. But no -- the genetic crapshoot came up sevens, and he's got a sharp, powerful, but artfully restrained singing voice that combines his mother's grace with his father's grit, and a songwriting voice that is both personal and deeply rooted. He's made several very fine albums over the past five years, but A Piece of What You Need is something perilously close to a masterpiece. I first listened to it in my car, and by the end of the third song I almost had to pull over, call my wife, and tell her I loved her.
2 comments:
I didn't even know about this release. I'll have to check it out.
I particularly liked his previous album (country covers). Walking the Floor Over You is one song I always thought could use some slowing down (Ernest Tubb, and everyone ever since, sang it with too much pep!); I really like Thompson's version.
I haven't picked up the country album yet, and need to. Thanks for the prompt.
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