Richard Thompson - BBC Sessions, Volume 1: 1984-1987

Just two weeks ago (as I write this in mid-May 2025), I posted what I thought was Volume 1 for a long series of BBC albums from British singer-songwriter Richard Thompson, a concert from 1985. I was wrong. As I was getting ready to post this album, I stumbled across a song I wanted to include from 1984. That predates the 1985 concert. So this is the new Volume 1. That other album is now Volume 2.

You can get the revised version here with new cover art and mp3 tags and so forth:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2025/04/richard-thompson-bbc-sessions-volume-1.html

This album is a collection of studio sessions, plus a live performance that was too short to make its own album. The first song is from the "Old Grey Whistle Test" BBC TV show in 1984. The next three are from a BBC session in 1985. Then the majority of the album, tracks 5 through 13, are a live performance recorded for the BBC radio show "Folk on Two." It took place at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London on May 20, 1987. Finally, the last song is a live performance from the Cambridge Folk Festival in 1987.

Tracks 2, 3, 4, and 14 have been officially released. The first three are from the album "Live at the BBC," and that last one is from the "Life and Music Of" box set. Everything else is unreleased.

I plan on posting many more Richard Thompson BBC albums. However, there are four BBC concerts that I know exist and I can't find. Here they are. If you have any of them, please let me know:

BBC In Concert, The Venue, New Cross, London, 11-10-1983
Celtic Connections Festival, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 1-17-1998
Cambridge Folk Festival, Cherry Hinton Park, Cambridge, 7-28-2001
Cambridge Folk Festival, Cherry Hinton Park, Cambridge, 7-28-2006

Note that if someone finds that first one, I'll have to make that Volume 1 and rename everything after. So hopefully that can happen sooner rather than later, before I post more albums.

Also note that this album contains two versions of "She Twists the Knife Again." That's kind of unfortunate, but at least one was done in the studio while the other one was in concert.

This album is 49 minutes long.

01 Tear-Stained Letter (Richard Thompson)
02 You Don't Say (Richard Thompson)
03 She Twists the Knife Again (Richard Thompson)
04 When the Spell Is Broken (Richard Thompson)
05 Genesis Hall (Richard Thompson)
06 Wall of Death (Richard Thompson)
07 Valerie (Richard Thompson)
08 talk (Richard Thompson)
09 Air for Morris Ogg - Mrs. MacLeod's Reel [Instrumental] (Richard Thompson)
10 She Twists the Knife Again (Richard Thompson)
11 talk (Richard Thompson)
12 Al Bowlly's in Heaven (Richard Thompson)
13 I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (Richard Thompson)
14 Drowned Dog Black Night (Richard Thompson)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/XiP7fHGZ

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/spi6lxgAF64k1An/file

The cover photo was taken at at Wolfgang's in San Francisco, California on October 7, 1983.