Richard Thompson - Solitary Life - Documentary pt.02/07

[jmccullough]

Interesting. Richard's solo at about 1:00 starts out sounding a lot like Jerry.

[ekaminar]

@jmccullough It certainly does. I hadn't heard anything like that from Richard before, interesting.

[posthumanhero]

the problem with their transition to english/celtic music set to a rock band is that it sounded noticeably stiff compared to what preceded it......to my ears anyway.

[triumphdeschillens]

of course, but it's bloody awesome. also anyone know where that version of Tam Lin is from

[Robbbo64]

It's weird sort of "Olde Englishe" pagan, wicker-man, morris-dancing kinda stuff.

[Putaspellonyou]

@Robbbo64 you should read the liner notes of lieg and lief then...

[Robbbo64]

@Putaspellonyou

Why's that?

[Putaspellonyou]

@Robbbo64 well for one, its a friggin' masterpiece, and two; there are depictions of some of these old, weird english folk dances and wotnot with descriptions. it was really neat for a sixteen year old american not only to discover the music, but also to get some perspective on just how deep they were reaching into english history and culture. up until that time, folk-rock meant the byrds or the band. here were englishmen making as important a statement about their own culture.

[triumphdeschillens]

what the hell is that footage starting around 9:20

[gaspode18]

@triumphdeschillens English culture.

[blatspanner]

uh,in the interests of reasoned debate,get fucked.

[blatspanner]

i do so love the english. we've done some terrible,awful things,but i think we're learning. this is an example of englishness you can love.

[OneBigRetard]

Like what?

[blatspanner]

like what what? awful things? are you fucking kidding me? how's genocide for ya?

[OneBigRetard]

No I am not kidding. Nor am I denying brutality in all nation's histories. I am however never sure why as an Englishman I am guilty of all sorts of crimes.

Genocide is quite a big one which Geno-type did we attempt to eradicate?

[muttilo]

I'm an American and you have no reason to apologize to me for anything ...

[OneBigRetard]

Lol, thanks. I wasn't offering any though!

[OneBigRetard]

Geno-type? Genus!!

[blatspanner]

we eradicated the entire indigenous population of tazmania. you're right though,it's hardly your fault just because you're english.

[OneBigRetard]

Thought you'd go with Tasmania.

Disease did by far the most damage there. Although shameful in many aspects I would not consider that genocide. I just think our history has a stupid masochistic element, and I don't agree with you that we are learning. I think us more moral then than now comparatively. We are just dealing with a different international moral zietgeist now

This kind of chat ignores the point that so many indigenous people had for the first time protection from abuses by their own.

[blatspanner]

disease may have done a lot of damage,but we ensured that the natives there were wiped out. disease didn't kill the last of them. we did. that's genocidal enough. also, why get bogged down in semantics. mass murder doesn't need to be genocide to be shameful. invasion and colonization aren't particularly nice either,and not something to be blase about. whatever our feelings about the world around us nowadays,we behave better,possibly because we're whipped.

[OneBigRetard]

We behave better than then? Of course, the Zeitgiest has shifted. Do we behave better than others at the time, the only real comparison?

I think no. I think if you search the history of colonialism you will be surprised by the level of 'morality' from this country, particularly in comparison to our then peers.

I guess that is my point. I don't look at Britain in the past and see us as perpetrators of terrible and awful things when taken in their entirety.

[blatspanner]

i agree that our approach was more softly-softly and insidious than other imperialist powers up to that time,but the colonisation of occupied land,the imposition of our culture,the attitude that non-european peoples were somewhat less than human, mass murder,well,those things are what they are. the chinese,i'm told, described the english as 'the iron fist in a velvet glove'. nice.

[OneBigRetard]

'More insidious'. Oh dear. You are one of those masochist types.

Ever read of the Chinese slavery debate. Banning widow pyres, the list is endless.

'The idea that non-europeans were less than human' that would be appropriate if we A: thought it more than other Europeans and B: Treated them worse than their own people. It wasn't whitey holding the nets in West Africa, but it was whitey that banned it.

Yes, BY TODAYS STANDARDS the lack of moral relativism in imposing culture is apparently wrong.

[Dionysos37]

Must be that one of the driving dynamos of RT's incredible production is his rocket fuel honesty shown through this clip....For all that, it's interesting how he is always speaking from behind the guitar....

[ROCKPROF]

Has any got the complete version of Reno Nevada appearing here at the start, I wanna see youg RT fly.

[Benvoyevsky]

john peel narrator

r.i.p

[lonewolf28]

I have read just about everything written on Thompson and Fairport, and I have never heard this rumor... I will admit, the chords are more standard folk, tha, some of his other rock stuff, but if you look at his first album, Henry the Human fly; he wrote many songs like 'Meet On The Ledge.'

[peskirabbit]

Um...I heard that the song "Meet on the Ledge" was actually written by someone who showed the song to the band and then they half-inched it and the author never got accredited for it...this may be a viscious rumour/urban legend.Has anyone any angles on this??

[gaspode18]

@peskirabbit And what happened to the 'real' author? They killed him and buried him under the stage at UFO?

Because nobody else has ever claimed authorship. Nope, complete nonsense.