Richard & Linda Thompson: Hard Luck Stories (1972-1982) [8CD Box Set; 11th September 2020]

I know right?

 

I really enjoyed the "Come All Ye: The First Ten Years" set. It is really nice to see Andy Batt on this forum; that makes me have even more confidence in the work he does. Thank you for treating this music like it deserves. I'm confident we're going to get the definitive versions of the core R&LT catalog, and have a bunch of other fun stuff come along with it.

Thanks @AndyB . I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a similar treatment of the whole Fairport album collection '68 to '78. I've been noticing that the Island remasters fatigue my ears pretty badly when I'm listening in my car.

 

Wasn't it first released on Watching The Dark?

 

That was the Rafferty version, found on disc 7 of this set.

 

The Second Story live tape from 5/29/82 is extraordinary. Before "For Shame Of Doing Wrong," Linda mutters "This is exactly how I feel right now." The audience titters nervously, and she practically hisses "I'm not kidding!" So, for the last 38 years my copy of that tape has been called Not Kidding.

 

maybe i missed it. when in September does this come out?

 

i guess they forgot to take a poll to find out what some folks already have

 

Next week or the week after

 

Its one of those comic, slightly country sounding husband and wife songs written by Richard

 

You can count me in. If the mastering is nice this will make all of my other Richard & Linda Thompson CDs redundant, except for In Concert November 1975. It would have been nice if they had found room to squeeze that in.

 

Its an original RT song

 

it's unreleased- whoever posted that tracklist maybe didn't have that info- it's quite different to the Rafferty version and a mystery why it wasn't actually on SOTL though I believe it did appear on some cassette promos Joe Boyd sent out to a select few

 

This isn't about what people already have - its about representing their complete collected works. All the albums, supplemented by the best available and previously unreleased bonus tracks.

 

I personally don't like that disc- it hurts my ears whenever I listen to it! I don't think the performances were necessarily the best from the tapes available, and I really hate the mixing and mastering on it- so stylistically wrong! R and L did not approve that disc either. I rejigged one track from it 'Things You Gave Me' and the other two are the preferable 'Guitar Vocal' versions

 

Thanks! I think 'definitive versions of the core R&LT catalogue, and a bunch of other fun stuff ' sums this box up ha ha. and yes, some sort of Fairport thing has been discussed

 

I don't really like the sound or the performance on that disc either, the only reason I would have liked to see it included here was for completeness sake, not because of the music.

 

I went with not including it as it wasn't officially sanctioned- but I did want some sort of live disc, hence the 72 and 77 shows both of which I think are really great. I actually really hope I get the opportunity to go back to those 1975 live tapes and have a go at them, as I do think there is a great live album in there somewhere.

 

That might be doable, but I fear the hardcover book will push it up higher.

 

Andrew thank you very much for coming on this thread! I have loads of R&L stuff official and unofficial. The albums starting with Henry through to Shootout are very special for me so absolutely no problem with duplication and this is all going to be newly mastered in the forthcoming box. Really looking forward to this. I have my old Zig Zag number 72 with Richard in his white outfit plus banjo and the following issue number 73 with John from the Pistols on the cover. Great times and great that Richard, Linda and John have all survived the 70s.

 

It should retail for about £70

 

Its fantastic, especially at the moment when folks financial security is/has been very much in the balance, that the record company are releasing this for such a fantastic affordable price for such a full quality set. Its actually nice to buy something of quality from one of your favourite artists (or even simply someone your becoming familiar with)and not feel you've been screwed over to get it (or for some folks, miss out). No idea who sets the price, but hats off to them for making this accessible to the average music fan, who has responsibilities beyond a music collection.

Paul McCartney, amongst others, should learn from this. Be interesting to see how the Stones set being announced today compares.

 

I had to convert that to US dollars, but that seems about right for 8 discs plus extras.

 

So it wasn't just me!

I had a 40 minute bus ride to work (or college) and Thursday mornings were the best. I always bought those three and even picked up Record Mirror occasionally (though I never really hit the dance-floor).

Great days.

 

This set is a MUCH better value than The Stones set.
Not even close.

 

Do we know what's in the Stones set?