Search - Linda Thompson :: Give Me a Sad Song

Collectorama

WrtnWrd | Northridge, CA USA | 07/21/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Former wife of guitar legend Richard Thompson, and ace singer in her own right, Linda Thompson's Give Me a Sad Song is a companion piece of sorts to Hannibal's 1996 collection Dreams Fly Away. Neither compilation captures Thompson's best. Both are baited with collectorama and `previously unreleased's'. Give Me a Sad Song is not the place to start for the Thompson novice, yet it does showcase a natural talent deepening her already impressive contralto on folk tales, cover songs, sung poems, etc. Her version of Lucinda Williams' "Abandoned" is top notch, and her phrasing on "Her Father Was a Sailor" shows the vocal chops of a simple interpreter before the producer drowns her in echo. Thompson's voice is a pure instrument. It hardly needs studio trickery. If you want to hear an interpretive artist in full bloom (and hear the most damning divorce record ever made), get Richard and Linda Thompson's Shoot Out the Lights. If you're already a fan, here's another CD for your shelves."

I love this one !

rogar131 | 12/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A great variety of songs is gathered here. The first five come from a demo session recorded with Martin Carthy in 1970, and include astonishing covers of Leonard Cohen, James Taylor and even the Beatles. I do enjoy her rendering of Lennon's Get Back. It is very powerful, and will for sure send shivers all through your spine. Maybe she wasn't, then, the great singer she'd be a few years afterwards - lacking some kind of emotional depth or something. But she was already very impressive, and her singing was deeply personal.
The other songs come from various mid-eighties sessions, and also include some solo efforts for which she deserves more recognition. Hell, highwater & heartache, When I mention love and the country type ballad Give me a sad song are all nice tracks, heartily and beautifully sung. Sure, they do not meet the high standards of Richard Thompson's best works. Still, they are very enjoyable.
One thing, too, that I find most interesting about the record is the sleeve notes. Written by her, they're casual, funny and, above all, witty (check Song of Isaac or the world is a wonderful place). The incredible thing is, she may be one of the finest voices in music ever, and she doesn't even seem to be aware of it. To be so unassuming - why, that's amazing. Congratulations."

Pretty good, but not a first purchase for this artist.

rogar131 | New York, NY United States | 03/30/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First off, anything by Linda Thompson qualifies as a must-get, IMHO. So why only three stars? In the sliding scale of LT albums, "Dreams Fly Away" and "Fashionably Late" are the fives, "One Clear Moment" is a four, and this is the three, and the the order of purchase should be roughly the same, though if you can't find "Moment" then by all means snatch this one up and don't wait for the queue.



It's all a matter of recording quality, really. The songs on "Give Me a Sad Song" are generally demos, and it does show, nowhere more than in the often muddy recordings. Sometimes the session musician backup is also less than stellar. Compare that with the other LT compilation, "Dreams" which holds up both as an album of songs, and an overview. Anyone purchasing this album should know this, and understand that they are getting an outake-quality disc. Again, only a rating for the average consumer. If you are a fan of Linda Thompson, go for it!"