Rumor and Sigh | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 1991 | |||
Recorded | 1991 | |||
Studio | Sunset Sound, Los Angeles and Konk Studios, London | |||
Genre | Folk rock, alternative rock | |||
Length | 61:19 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer | Mitchell Froom | |||
Richard Thompson chronology | ||||
|
Rumor and Sigh is a 1991 album by British singer/songwriter Richard Thompson, his thirteenth album since leaving the band Fairport Convention in 1971. Released on the Capitol label, it was a commercial success for Thompson, featuring his biggest American hit single "I Feel So Good", as well as the fan favourite "1952 Vincent Black Lightning”.
The album earned Thompson a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1992. It was also voted number 665 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). [1]
The American spelling of the word "Rumor" is due to Thompson taking the title from a posthumously published poem by Archibald MacLeish: "Rumor and sigh of unimagined seas/ Dim radiance of stars that never flamed." [2]
Patrick Humphries described the central character of the song "I Feel So Good" as a ne'er do well who has been freed from prison and expresses his "bullying exultation at his freedom. In an interview, Thompson explained, "If you make someone the subject of a song you're almost inevitably making him a hero. But he obviously isn't. Nor is he an anti-hero. He's no worse than the society that created him. It's a very twentieth century moral dilemma." [3]
"Grey Walls" was inspired by Colney Hatch Mental Hospital in Barnet, North London, which Thompson passed on the bus as a teenager. The song describes the disturbing effect of ECT on psychiatric patients. Thompson has also called the song a comment on the effects of Thatcherism—in the context of closing down mental institutions and selling the facilities for profit. [3]
Thompson has said he was inspired to write "Don't Sit On My Jimmy Shands" after hearing a story of Bob Dylan at a party, hogging the record player so he could play only Robert Johnson recordings. Thompson planned his song as a tongue in cheek tribute to Jimmy Shand, Scottish musician who achieved popularity in the 1930s and 40s by arranging traditional Scottish songs for his accordion band. Shand's music loomed large in Thompson's childhood. [4]
Thompson wrote "Mother Knows Best" to mark the resignation of Margaret Thatcher and express his feelings about the departed Conservative Prime Minister: "She says 'Bring me your first-born. And I'll suck their blood/ Bring me your poor/ I can trample in the mud'." [5]
Although a teetotaller, [4] Thompson wrote "God Loves A Drunk" to suggest that alcoholism can be a path to spiritual ecstasy. He has described the song as "a swipe at Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists, those people with the polyester suits, those people who are very clean and neat, which means they must be alright with God." [4]
The track "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," despite not being issued as a single, became a fan favourite and is one of Thompson's most highly acclaimed solo compositions. In 2011 Time magazine listed the song in its "All TIME 100 Songs", a list of "the most extraordinary English-language popular recordings since the beginning of TIME magazine in 1923." [6]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [7] |
Chicago Tribune | [8] |
Entertainment Weekly | A [9] |
Los Angeles Times | [10] |
NME | 8/10 [11] |
Q | [12] |
Rolling Stone | [13] |
Select | 4/5 [14] |
USA Today | [15] |
The Village Voice | B+ [16] |
The album peaked at number 32 on the UK Albums Chart and was Thompson's first Top 40 album in the UK. [17] The album did not chart in the US, although the lead single "I Feel So Good" peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, his second and highest-charting single on that chart. [18] Its follow-up single, "Read About Love" failed to chart.
Two videos, for "I Feel So Good" [19] (animation inspired by the cover artwork) and album track "I Misunderstood" [20] were produced to promote the album. Thompson also promoted the album's American release by performing "I Feel So Good" on Late Night with David Letterman . [21]
The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1992, but lost to R.E.M.'s Out of Time . [22]
All songs written by Richard Thompson.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Read About Love" | 3:34 |
2. | "I Feel So Good" | 3.21 |
3. | "I Misunderstood" | 4.05 |
4. | "Grey Walls" | 4:21 |
5. | "You Dream Too Much" | 4:06 |
6. | "Why Must I Plead" | 4:58 |
7. | "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" | 4:43 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
8. | "Backlash Love Affair" | 4:49 |
9. | "Mystery Wind" | 4:35 |
10. | "Don't Sit on My Jimmy Shands" | 4:26 |
11. | "Keep Your Distance" | 4:11 |
12. | "Mother Knows Best" | 4:59 |
13. | "God Loves a Drunk" | 4:43 |
14. | "Psycho Street" | 4:28 |
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk, and country. She was also a frequent session player and collaborator with other artists, including Warren Zevon, Little Feat, Jackson Browne, the Pointer Sisters, John Prine, and Leon Russell.
Richard Thompson is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
Sir James Shand was a Scottish musician who played traditional Scottish dance music on the accordion. His signature tune was "The Bluebell Polka".
"I Got You (I Feel Good)" is a song by American singer James Brown. First recorded for the album Out of Sight and then released in an alternate take as a single in 1965, it was his highest-charting song and is arguably his best-known recording. In 2013, the 1965 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Keith Lionel Urban is an Australian and American country singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves International Award, thirteen CMA Awards, and six ARIA Music Awards. Urban wrote and performed the song "For You" from the film Act of Valor, which earned him nominations at both the 70th Golden Globe Awards and at the 18th Critics' Choice Awards in the respective Best Original Song categories.
Mirror Blue is the eighth studio album by Richard Thompson, released in 1994.
Two Letter Words is a live album by Richard Thompson.
Action Packed is a compilation album by Richard Thompson released in 2001.
The Old Kit Bag is the eleventh studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Richard Thompson, released in 2003 on the Cooking Vinyl label.
The Way I Feel is the only studio album by Canadian R&B musician Remy Shand. The album was released in 2001 in Shand's native Canada, UK & Europe via Universal Records and on March 12, 2002 in the United States via Motown Records. Three singles were released from the album: "Take a Message", "The Way I Feel", and "Rocksteady". "Take a Message" was the only song from the album to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #89. Shand wrote and produced all of the album's tracks.
RT- The Life and Music of Richard Thompson is a 5-CD box set by Richard Thompson, released in February 2006. It gives an extensive overview of Thompson's long career without including content from any of his mainstream albums.
Simon John Breckenridge Nicol is an English guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founding member of British folk rock group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the band. He has also been involved with the Albion Band and a wide range of musical projects, both as a collaborator, producer and as a solo artist. He has received several awards for his work and career.
"Be-Bop-a-Lula" is a rockabilly song first recorded in 1956 by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps.
"I Can't Make You Love Me" is a song written by Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin and recorded by American singer Bonnie Raitt for her eleventh studio album, Luck of the Draw (1991). Released as the album's second single in 1991, "I Can't Make You Love Me" became one of Raitt's most successful singles, reaching the top-20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the top-10 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
"1952 Vincent Black Lightning" is a song by guitarist Richard Thompson from his 1991 album Rumor and Sigh. It tells the story of a thief named James and the girl Red Molly whom he charms with a ride on his 1952 Vincent Black Lightning motorcycle, which he bequeaths to her on his deathbed. In 2011 Time magazine listed the song in its "All TIME 100 Songs", a list of "the most extraordinary English-language popular recordings since the beginning of TIME magazine in 1923," praising it as "a glorious example of what one guy can accomplish with just a guitar, a voice, an imagination and a set of astonishingly nimble fingers."
The Vincent Black Lightning was a Vincent-HRD motorcycle first built in September 1948 at the Vincent works in Great North Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, UK, and produced from 1948 to 1952. The bike was a purpose-built factory modified Black Shadow that was then named and produced as the Black Lightning. At the time the Black Lightning was the fastest production motorcycle in the world.
Thompson Square is an American country music duo composed of husband and wife Keifer and Shawna Thompson, who alternate as vocalists. They signed to Stoney Creek Records, a sister label of Broken Bow Records, in 2010. The duo has released three albums, which have produced a combined ten chart singles on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. Of these singles, two — "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not" and "If I Didn't Have You" — reached No. 1.
You? Me? Us? is the ninth studio album by British singer-songwriter Richard Thompson released in April 1996 via Capitol Records. It was Thompson's fourth album for the label, his fifth with Mitchell Froom producing and his second to be nominated for a Grammy Award. Thompson's son from his first marriage Teddy sings backing vocals on disc 2.
Black Lightning is a fictional DC Comics superhero who first appeared in 1977.
Hiding Place is the second studio album by American singer Tori Kelly. It was released on September 14, 2018, through School Boy Records and Capitol Records. Musically, its music incorporates primarily R&B-gospel with jazz influences. Named after the Bible verse Psalm 32:7, the album centres around God being a place of safety.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)