The complete Richard & Linda Thompson will be here in September

Richard & Linda Thompson

On September 11, UMC / Universal will release Richard & Linda Thompson Hard Luck Stories (1972 To 1982), an expansive 8 CD set featuring all 6 studio albums remastered from the original tapes, with 31 previously unreleased recordings including outtakes, demos and rarities along with live concerts from 1975 and 1977. This first ever comprehensive career retrospective was personally curated by Richard and Linda and compiled and mastered by Andrew Batt.

Alongside the three classic Island Records releases, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight, Hokey Pokey and Pour Down Like Silver, the box set also includes the long out of print albums, First Light and Sunnyvista (both new transfers from recently relocated masters) as well as their final LP, Shoot Out The Lights. Disc one, called Sometimes It Happens compiles their formative collaborations as solo performers with The Bunch and Brian Patten and disc five, The Madness of Love, contains five stunning live performances recorded at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in April 1975 and a further five songs recorded live at The Theatre Royal, London in May 1977.

This comprehensive box set covers the couple’s entire career and is a must-have for fans of Richard and Linda Thompson as well as a definitive introduction to a body of work which resonates, and is still revered today. The set also contains a 72-page hard cover book featuring brand new essays plus many rare and previously unpublished photographs by some of rocks greatest photographers including Keith Morris, Gered Mankowitz and Pennie Smith, as well as images from Richard and Linda’s own archives. Sleevenotes for the box set are written by Patrick Humphries and Mick Houghton.

During the ten years they officially performed together, Richard and Linda Thompson created a seminal body of work, ground-breaking in its time and, as this new box set demonstrates, still sounding fresh and relevant today. Their lasting impact on the musical landscape is unparalleled, evidenced by the numerous contemporary artists who cite them as major influences and the enviably high regard in which they continue to be held.

This is us, warts and all, at a crucial time in our musical history. Things changed fast in a decade, and here is the map.’ – Richard Thompson

‘Here it is at last.  The good the bad and the ugly!’ Linda Thompson

Label website: https://www.universalmusic.com/

‘Dimming Of The Day’ – live in 1981:


We all give our spare time to run folking.com. Our aim has always been to keep folking a free service for our visitors, artists, PR agencies and tour promoters. If you wish help out and donate something (running costs currently funded by Paul Miles), please click the PayPal link below to send us a small one off payment or a monthly contribution.