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Gavin B. · 02-15-2013, 11:08 AM

The cover of Richard Thompson's latest album, Electric

Richard Thompson Goes Electric (Again)

Back in his days with the groundbreaking British folk rock group, Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson was an electric guitar player whose technical skills were frequently compared to other UK guitar gods like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck & Jimmy Page.

Like Clapton, during his Fairport years, Thompson played a vintage 1959 Fender Stratocaster to get a big fat blues sound. Stratocaster guitars were the choice of aspiring guitar gods of the late Sixties.

In his post-Fairport albums of the 70s & 80s, Richard began playing a baby blue customized guitar designed & built by Ferrington Guitars. The so-called Ferrigtoncaster mimicked the menacing sound of a vintage Stratocaster, but also had 3 different customized pick-ups that allowed Thompson to get an infinite variety of tones from his guitar.

Thompson with his custom designed Ferrington guitar

In the early 90s Thompson began writing and playing more songs intended to be played on acoustic guitar and played most of his songs on a Lowden L32C acoustic guitar. Those fans of Thompson's electric guitar playing yearned for the glory days when Thompson was a guitar god. In reality, Thompson was considered the greatest traditional folk guitarist in the UK, but mastery of the acoustic guitar is not enough to maintain one's status as a guitar god in the world of rock music.

After nearly two decades of mostly playing traditional Celtic folk music, to the delight of his fans, Thompson has returned with an album of songs that are played on electric guitar with a rock music band. There are a couple of ballads played on acoustic guitar, but for the most part Thompson has returned to the rip-roaring electric guitar playing of his Fairport Convention days on his new album, Electric.

Since Electric is a brand new album released on Feb. 11, I was only able to find one song from the album posted on YouTube, but it's a good one. The dark and cynical song Stuck on the Treadmill is a tour de force of Thompson's fiery electric guitar playing skills. The tonal range of his customized Farrington electric guitar is breathtaking.

02-15-2013, 11:08 AM	#12 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	The cover of Richard Thompson's latest album, Electric Richard Thompson Goes Electric (Again) Back in his days with the groundbreaking British folk rock group, Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson was an electric guitar player whose technical skills were frequently compared to other UK guitar gods like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck & Jimmy Page. Like Clapton, during his Fairport years, Thompson played a vintage 1959 Fender Stratocaster to get a big fat blues sound. Stratocaster guitars were the choice of aspiring guitar gods of the late Sixties. In his post-Fairport albums of the 70s & 80s, Richard began playing a baby blue customized guitar designed & built by Ferrington Guitars. The so-called Ferrigtoncaster mimicked the menacing sound of a vintage Stratocaster, but also had 3 different customized pick-ups that allowed Thompson to get an infinite variety of tones from his guitar. Thompson with his custom designed Ferrington guitar In the early 90s Thompson began writing and playing more songs intended to be played on acoustic guitar and played most of his songs on a Lowden L32C acoustic guitar. Those fans of Thompson's electric guitar playing yearned for the glory days when Thompson was a guitar god. In reality, Thompson was considered the greatest traditional folk guitarist in the UK, but mastery of the acoustic guitar is not enough to maintain one's status as a guitar god in the world of rock music. After nearly two decades of mostly playing traditional Celtic folk music, to the delight of his fans, Thompson has returned with an album of songs that are played on electric guitar with a rock music band. There are a couple of ballads played on acoustic guitar, but for the most part Thompson has returned to the rip-roaring electric guitar playing of his Fairport Convention days on his new album, Electric. Since Electric is a brand new album released on Feb. 11, I was only able to find one song from the album posted on YouTube, but it's a good one. The dark and cynical song Stuck on the Treadmill is a tour de force of Thompson's fiery electric guitar playing skills. The tonal range of his customized Farrington electric guitar is breathtaking. Last edited by Gavin B.; 05-28-2013 at 06:33 PM.