Danny Thompson
No British bass player comes close to being as influential as Danny Thompson. From his early career as a teenage jazz bassist and after a brief period with British saxophonist Tubby Hayes' band. He accepted an invitation to join Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated in 1964. He eventually left, with drummer Terry Cox, to form the rhythm section of Pentangle in 1967 and the group transformed traditional British folk music into a popular art form. By the time Pentangle disbanded in 1972, Thompson who by then had a stellar reputation as a session musician, collaborated extensively with Nick Drake and John Martyn. He has in his own words “served the song” which has led him to playing with artists as diverse as Donovan, Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, The Blind Boys of Alabama, David Sylvain, and Talk Talk. He has also released several solo albums: Whatever (1987), Whatever Next (1989), Whatever's Best (1995) and Connected (2012).
Danny Thompson
Check out some early Danny performing with Alexis Korner on Rediffusion's 'The 5 O'Clock Club' in 1966. Danny is quoted in Harry Shapiro's biography of Korner:
"He didn't know a crotchet from a hatchet, and his bungling through Five O'Clock Club was sheer perfection. He played the blues. End of story. "Tea for Two", "Autumn in New York", forget it. Fine if it was a bluesy thing, but if you had a guest, say Cleo Laine, you had a problem. John Dankworth would come up and introduce himself, say hello and then "Right, here are the charts." So Alexis, instead of saying "I don't read music", he just bluffed away and got completely caught out. He'd put his whole hand over the frets and bang away. I don't know how he had the neck to do it. But he held down the job and I was getting £50 a show with a repeat. That was the first real money job you could say, "Hang on I can make a living playing music." Fantastic. Five O'Clock Club paid for my house in Wimbledon and Terry Cox's house in Hampstead. And later I sold that house to buy my manor house in Suffolk, which everybody assumed came from Pentangle. It all emanated from that work with Alexis, for which I will be eternally grateful. Terry Cox should go down on his knees as well." (Alexis Korner, Harry Shapiro, Bloomsbury 1996, p.140.)
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1 year ago | [YT] | 3
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Danny Thompson
As many of you will know, Danny played bass on Nick Drake's first album. A new album of Nick Drake covers is out today, fantastic to see his musical legacy being kept alive!
2 years ago | [YT] | 2
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Danny Thompson
A special remaster of Danny's first solo album 'Whatever' is available to stream! Named after his touring band at the time, it gave him the freedom to take the musical reigns.
"It was about saying: 'this is what I'm about'. It's not about jazz or folk, it's whatever. And that's why I called it whatever, because I didn't want it to have a tag. It's contemporary improvised music based on traditional forms."
Listen here:
2 years ago | [YT] | 0
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Danny Thompson
Check out Danny playing with Pentangle on this BBC recording of Hunting Song from 1971!
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Danny Thompson
Danny played bass on Everything But The Girl's remarkable first record 'Amplified Heart', illustrating the real breadth and depth of the collaborations across his career.
Here he is performing 'Before Today' and the standout hit 'Missing' with them on ITV's The White Room in 1996.
Watch now:
2 years ago | [YT] | 3
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Danny Thompson
The third Danny performance from The Late Show is now live!
In this final one, Danny plays a Raga with a phenomenal group of Indian musicians.
Watch now:
2 years ago | [YT] | 1
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Danny Thompson
In March 1990, Danny appeared on the BBC's The Late Show. He performed 3 times over the episode with different collaborators.
In this performance, Danny plays 'Musing Mingus' from his album 'Elemental' with Stan Tracey on piano and Alan Skidmore on saxophone.
Watch the full performance here:
2 years ago | [YT] | 2
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Danny Thompson
The second of three performances from Danny's appearance on the Late Show in March 1990 is now live on the channel!
Danny curated the performances on this episode to show the diversity and talent of his collaborators. In this latest one, he plays with the renowned Northumbrian pipes player Kathryn Tickell.
Watch now:
2 years ago | [YT] | 1
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Danny Thompson
Some fantastic Danny solos in this Pentangle performance. What's your favourite recording that Danny did with Pentangle?
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Danny Thompson
I have great memories of being with the Blind Boys and being made an honorary Blind Boy … got the jacket !… when the first album was recorded no USA labels were interested and so I gave it to Peter Gabriel at Real World… TWO GRAMMIES LATER !!!.
I was truly honoured to be a part of this iconic group of supreme people… a Londoner!!! …. What a privilege to record and be on the road with such a beautiful bunch of heroes…. Lucky boy ! - DT
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