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Beeswing by Richard Thompson

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Beeswing

Publisher
Faber & Faber
Publish Date
15 April 2021
Run Time
7 hours 20 minutes
Format
Audiobook

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What to expect

***READ BY THE AUTHOR***

THE TOP FIVE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A BOOK OF THE YEAR
ROUGH TRADE, THE TIMES, ROLLING STONE,
CLASH, MOJO, UNCUT
The memoir of international music icon Richard Thompson, co-founder of the legendary folk rock group Fairport Convention.
'I encourage everyone to read this wonderful book.'
ELVIS COSTELLO
'Thompson could be said to be an English Dylan - only in some ways he's even better than that.'
GUARDIAN
Richard Thompson came of age during an extraordinary moment in 1960s Britain - as music began to reflect a great cultural awakening, the guitarist and songwriter co-founded Fairport Convention, ushering in the era of folk rock. An intimate memoir of personal discovery and creative intensity, Beeswing vividly captures the life of an international music icon in a world on the cusp of change
'Gripping . . . A quiet joy of a memoir.'
GUARDIAN

'Thompson writes exceptionally well . . . If you love music in all its myriad forms, you'll love this book.'
NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS

'An intimate, revealing tome, Beeswing is the voice of a figure at the heart of the British counter-culture.'
CLASH
'Perceptive, lyrical, amiable and seemingly effortless . . . required reading.'
CAUGHT BY THE RIVER

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Details

Author
Richard Thompson
Narrator
Richard Thompson
Duration
7 hours 20 minutes
Release Date
15 April 2021
ISBN
9780571370122
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Faber & Faber
Genre
Traditional and folk music, Music: styles and genres

Synopsis

***READ BY THE AUTHOR***THE TOP FIVE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERThe memoir of international music icon Richard Thompson, co-founder of the legendary folk rock group Fairport Convention.'I encourage everyone to read this wonderful book.'ELVIS COSTELLO'Thompson could be said to be an English Dylan - only in some ways he's even better than that.'GUARDIAN 'Fresh and exploratory.' NEW YORK TIMES'Gripping . . . affecting and enlightening.' GUARDIAN 'Perceptive, lyrical, amiable and seemingly effortless.' CAUGHT BY THE RIVERGuitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson came of age during an extraordinary moment in British culture: it was 1967 and popular music was reflecting a great cultural awakening. In the midst of this, eighteen-year-old Thompson co-founded Fairport Convention and helped invent a new genre of music.Thompson packed more than a lifetime of experiences into his late teens and twenties. From the pivotal years of 1967 to 1975, he matured into a major musician, survived a devasting car crash and departed Fairport Convention for a duo act with his wife, Linda, at the height of the band's popularity. His discovery and ultimate embrace of Sufism profoundly reshaped his approach to everything in his life and, of course, the music he wrote thereafter.In Beeswing, Thompson goes back to his childhood, recreates the spirit of the sixties and takes us inside life on the road in the UK and the US, crossing paths - and occasionally sharing the stage - with the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, Jimi Hendrix and more.An intimate memoir of musical discovery, personal history and social revelation, Beeswing - like Patti Smith's Just Kids or Marianne Faithfull's Faithfull - vividly captures the life of one of Britain's most significant artists during a heady period of creative intensity, in a world on the cusp of change.'Honest in its self-appraisal, often very moving and sometimes extremely funny - this quiet joy of a memoir is just what you'd expect from one of the finest British musicians of the last 50 years.'RICHARD WILLIAMS'With Beeswing [Thompson] adds master memoirist to his long list of artistic accomplishments . . . fascinating.'BOB MOULD

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