Richard Thompson — 1000 Years of Popular Music: The story goes that Thompson was asked by Playboy magazine to write a piece about his favorite songs of the millenia, for, as you might guess, a turn-of-the-millenium story they were doing. He took it literally, unlike most others who partook in the project who just dug back to the '40s and '50s, and went back to the beginning of the millenium for inspiration. Thompson's work was all for nought, of course, because Playboy chose not to use his piece, but that didn't stop him from putting on a solo performance to feature the songs he chose, which was released on his website for purchase. A few years later, he decided to re-perform the songs with a trio in front of cameras for a DVD release, and this set is the result — a DVD and two CDs of the audio from the show.
I'm a new convert to Richard Thompson's camp, and I'm sure this is just going to overwhelm me, but the idea of someone covering music from, as the title suggests, the past 1000 years, and it's not done in a tongue-in-cheek manner, like "Oh, get a load of this old medieval crap!"? Not to mention a completely serious cover of Britney Spears' "Oops I Did It Again" (about which AllMusicGuide notes he has said, "Taken out of context, this is a pretty nice song." It takes a big man to say that.) Well, I just have to check that out. Come on, aren't you curious, too?
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
i've gotta get the Thompson 1000 Years thing....been lusting after it for years.
Meldau: he'll be putting out a recording with Metheny at some point in the near future.
2 - Tom Johnson
Metheny and Mehldau . . . that'll be an incredible set, I'm sure. I haven't seen anything about that. Any word on when yet?
3 - Mark Saleski
swiped from the Metheny Group site:
This past December Pat and pianist Brad Mehldau teamed up for a long discussed and highly anticipated joint project together. Meeting in a New York recording studio for a week, the two musicians each arrived with an armful of new tunes written just for this occasion along with a few older pieces by both. The six day session resulted in what Pat has called "one of the most truly inspiring and satisfying collaborative occasions I have ever experienced". Look for the CD the last week of August. The music features Metheny/Mehldau duets and performances of Pat with the Brad Mehldau Trio (featuring Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard).
4 - J. P. Spencer
I saw Richard Thompson's "1000 Years Of Popular Music" show when it passed through Madison a few years ago. It was an hilarious night, and the band members he had with him were just great.
5 - Stephen V Funk
Mehldau and Metheny are also appearing together live at Symphony Center in Chicago in April 2007... probably touring other venues too...
I'm not sure if this will be a good duo or not... I'll try to keep my mind and ears open about it... Will definitely check out the CD...