Richard Thompson
ROCK’N’ROLL CONFIDENTIAL
The folk rocker nonpareil talks crime, booze and the bigger picture.
Shore thing: Richard Thompson – “I’m fairly optimistic but I know what darkness is.”
David Kaptein
EARPHONES HALOING a head which, from his first photos as a founder member of British folk-rock titans Fairport Convention, seemed bor rowed from a mediaeval saint, Richard Thompson speaks to MOJO from his basement. It’s close to the infamous New Jersey Turnpike as celebrated in song by Chuck and Br uce and on screen in The Sopranos, which tickles the singer-songwriter/ guitar wizard enormously.
“When they filmed it, they used locations all over New Jersey except for the town of Bloomfield, and that’s because that’s where the Mafia actually live,” he chuckles. “It’s just two miles down the road from me; you go to these great mom and pop Italian restaurants and sitting at the bar are these really beefy guys. Oookaaaaay, haha!”