On September 11, UMC / Universal will release Richard & Linda Thompson Hard Luck Stories (1972 to 1982), an expansive 8 CD set featuring all 6 studio albums remastered from the original tapes, with 30 previously unreleased recordings including outtakes, demos and rarities along with live concerts from 1975 and 1977. This first ever comprehensive career retrospective was personally curated by Richard and Linda and compiled and mastered by Andrew Batt.
Alongside the 3 classic Island Records releases, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight, Hokey Pokey and Pour Down Like Silver, the box set also includes the long out of print albums, First Light and Sunnyvista (both new transfers from recently relocated masters) as well as their final LP, Shoot Out The Lights. Disc one, called ‘Sometimes It Happens’ compiles their formative collaborations as solo performers with The Bunch and Brian Patten and disc five, ‘The Madness of Love’, contains 5 stunning live performances recorded at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in April 1975 and a further 5 songs recorded live at The Theatre Royal, London in May 1977.
This comprehensive box set covers the couple’s entire career and is a must-have for fans of Richard and Linda Thompson as well as a definitive introduction to a body of work which resonates, and is still revered today. Hard Luck Stories also contains a 72-page hard cover book featuring brand new essays plus many rare and previously unpublished photographs by some of rock’s greatest photographers including Keith Morris, Gered Mankowitz and Pennie Smith, as well as images from Richard and Linda’s own archives. Sleeve notes for the box set are written by Patrick Humphries and Mick Houghton.
During the 10 years they officially performed together, Richard and Linda Thompson created a seminal body of work, ground-breaking in its time and, as this new box set demonstrates, still sounding fresh and relevant today.
