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Linda Thompson
Linda Pettifer appeared in local folk clubs circa 1966, under the spell of The Times They Are A-Changing, then left to pursue a degree at London University. She quit school after 4 months and hit the coffee-houses full time, careful to conceal her day job as a jingle singer from the purists.
She soon found her element, falling in with Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, John Martyn, John Renbourn, and producer Joe Boyd. With her marriage to Richard Thompson and the release of I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight, Linda's name became linked inextricably to her husband's.
In 1985 Linda Thompson released One Clear Moment, her first solo recording, with seven of her own compositions. In 1989 a formal diagnosis of hysterical dysphonia had been made. The vocal condition was unresponsive to treatment, musically, she seemed finished.
In 2003, she made an amazing return to form with a brand new album. The aptly titled Fashionably Late was, of course, several years in the making, the sustained vision of the artist and her producer, Edward Haber. Her middle child, Teddy Thompson, is a serenely gifted musician in his own right, and on Fashionably Late, served as her extraordinary music partner.
In common with the finest folk singers, Linda Thompson has an ancient voice, wilting, wounded and wise. She sings with the conviction of an eyewitness of thieves, beggars, drunks, street urchins and circus freaks, spurned lovers and murdering swine, centuries-gone.
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