Richard Thompson discography

The discography of Richard Thompson, an English singer/songwriter and guitarist, consists of 18 solo studio albums, three live albums and 16 singles, in addition to six studio albums and two live albums credited to Richard and Linda Thompson and five studio albums as a member of Fairport Convention, as well as a number of fan club and boutique label releases, soundtracks and collaborations. He has also appeared as a guest musician on the albums of a number of other artists.

Richard Thompson discography
Thompson performing at Prospect Park, New York City in 2007
Studio albums	22
Live albums	14
Singles	16

Albums

Studio albums

Year	Title	Credited to	Chart positions
			UK[1]	US[2]
1972	Henry the Human Fly	Richard Thompson	—	—
1974	I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight	Richard and Linda Thompson	—	—
1974	Hokey Pokey	Richard and Linda Thompson	—	—
1975	Pour Down Like Silver	Richard and Linda Thompson	—	—
1978	First Light	Richard and Linda Thompson	—	—
1979	Sunnyvista	Richard and Linda Thompson	—	—
1982	Shoot Out the Lights	Richard and Linda Thompson	—	—
1983	Hand of Kindness	Richard Thompson	—	186
1985	Across a Crowded Room	Richard Thompson	80	102
1986	Daring Adventures	Richard Thompson	92	142
1988	Amnesia	Richard Thompson	89	182
1991	Rumor and Sigh	Richard Thompson	32	—
1994	Mirror Blue	Richard Thompson	23	109
1996	You? Me? Us?	Richard Thompson	32	97
1999	Mock Tudor	Richard Thompson	28	—
2003	The Old Kit Bag	Richard Thompson	52	121
2005	Front Parlour Ballads	Richard Thompson	54	197
2007	Sweet Warrior	Richard Thompson	39	111
2010	Dream Attic	Richard Thompson	20	83
2013	Electric	Richard Thompson	16	75
2014	Acoustic Classics	Richard Thompson	16	103
2015	Still	Richard Thompson	10	82
2017	Acoustic Classics II	Richard Thompson	24
	Acoustic Rarities	Richard Thompson	84
2018	13 Rivers	Richard Thompson	18	—

Live albums

Released	Title	Credited to	Recorded	UK
1984	Small Town Romance	Richard Thompson	1981 & 1982	—
2005	Live from Austin, TX	Richard Thompson	2001	—
2007	In Concert, November 1975	Richard and Linda Thompson	1975	—
2011	Live at the BBC	Richard Thompson featuring Linda Thompson	1973 - 2009	137
2017	Live at Rockpalast	Richard Thompson Band	1983 & 1984	-
2019	Across A Crowded Room Live at Barrymore's 1985	Richard Thompson	1985	-
2020	Live at Rock City, Nottingham, November 86	Richard Thompson	1986	-

Fan club and boutique label releases

Released	Title	Credited to	Recorded
1981	Strict Tempo!	Richard Thompson	1981
1995	Live at Crawley	Richard Thompson with Danny Thompson	1993
1996	Two Letter Words: Live 1994	Richard Thompson Band	1994
1998	Celtschmerz: Live in the UK ‘98	Richard Thompson	1998
2002	Semi-Detached Mock Tudor	Richard Thompson Band	1999
2003	More Guitar	Richard Thompson Band	1988
2003	1000 Years of Popular Music	Richard Thompson	2002
2003	Ducknapped!	Richard Thompson Band	2003
2004	Faithless	Richard Thompson	1985
2004	The Chrono Show	Richard Thompson	2004
2009	Live Warrior	Richard Thompson	2007
2012	Cabaret of Souls	Richard Thompson	2009

Compilations

Year	Title	Credited to
1976	(guitar, vocal)	Richard Thompson
1976	Live! (More or Less)	Richard Thompson
1985	Doom & Gloom From The Tomb (Vol. 1)	Richard Thompson
1991	Doom & Gloom II (Over My Dead Body)	Richard Thompson
1993	Watching the Dark	Richard Thompson
2000	The Best of Richard & Linda Thompson: The Island Record Years	Richard and Linda Thompson
2001	Action Packed	Richard Thompson
2006	RT- The Life and Music of Richard Thompson	Richard Thompson
2009	Walking on a Wire	Richard Thompson
2020	Hard Luck Stories (1972 - 1982)	Richard and Linda Thompson

Singles

With Linda Thompson

Year	Song	Chart positions	Album
		UK
1974	"I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight"	—	I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
1975	"Hokey Pokey"	—	Hokey Pokey
1978	"Don't Let a Thief Steal Your Heart"	—	First Light
1979	"Georgie on a Spree" / "Civilisation" (double-A side)	—	Sunnyvista
1982	"Don't Renege On Our Love"	—	Shoot Out the Lights

Solo

Year	Song	Chart positions	Album
		US Alt. Rock[3]
1983	"The Wrong Heartbeat"	—	Hand of Kindness
1984	"Tear-Stained Letter"	—
1985	"When the Spell is Broken"	—	Across a Crowded Room
	"You Don't Say"	—
1986	"Valerie"	—	Daring Adventures
	"Nearly in Love"	—
1988	"Turning of the Tide"	30	Amnesia
1989	"Reckless Kind"	—
1991	"I Feel So Good"	15	Rumor and Sigh
	"Read About Love"	—
1994	"I Can't Wake Up to Save My Life"	—	Mirror Blue
	"Easy There, Steady Now"	—
1996	"Dark Hand Over My Heart"	—	You? Me? Us
1999	"Crawl Back (Under My Stone)"	—	Mock Tudor
2003	"She Said It Was Destiny"	—	The Old Kit Bag
2007	"Dad's Gonna Kill Me"	—	Sweet Warrior
2013	"Good Things Happen to Bad People"	—	Electric
	"Salford Sunday"	—
2018	"The Storm Won't Come"	—	13 Rivers
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Soundtracks

Soundtrack albums on which a Richard Thompson recording or composition are included are not shown here. Listed here are soundtracks in which Thompson was involved in the actual recording.

Year	Title
1987	The Marksman (Music from the BBC TV Series)
1989	Hard Cash (BBC North West documentary) first broadcast in 1990[4]
1991	Sweet Talker
2005	Grizzly Man
2019	The Cold Blue (Original Motion Picture Score)

In 2009 "Time to Ring Some Changes" from Hard Cash was included in Topic Records' 70-year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten as track 13 on the sixth CD.

With Fairport Convention

Only albums recorded whilst Richard Thompson was a member of Fairport Convention are listed here. After Thompson left the group, he continued to appear sporadically as a guest musician on subsequent albums, which are listed in the session work discography. For more details of Fairport Convention's album releases see Fairport Convention discography

Studio albums

Year	Title
1968	Fairport Convention
1969	What We Did on Our Holidays
1969	Unhalfbricking
1969	Liege and Lief
1970	Full House

Live albums

Released	Title	Recorded
1976	Live at the L.A. Troubadour	1970
1982	Moat on the Ledge	1981
1986	House Full: Live at the L.A. Troubadour	1970
1987	Heyday: The BBC Radio Sessions	1968 & 1969
1998	Who Knows Where the Time Goes?	1995
1999	The Cropredy Box	1997
2003	Festival - Cropredy 2002	2002
2018	What We Did On Our Saturday[5]	2017

Collaborations

Albums on which Thompson has guested or worked as a session musician are not shown here. Listed here are albums on which Thompson played a significant creative role in the group or on the recording.

Year	Title	Credited to
1972	Rock On	The Bunch
1972	Morris On	Morris On
1978	Rise Up Like the Sun	The Albion Band
1987	Live, Love, Larf & Loaf	French Frith Kaiser Thompson
1990	Invisible Means	French Frith Kaiser Thompson
1992	An Acoustic Evening	Richard Thompson and David Byrne
1997	Industry	Richard Thompson and Danny Thompson
1998	The Bones of All Men	Mr Philip Pickett with Mr Richard Thompson and the Fairport Rhythm Section
2014	Family	Thompson

As a guest or session musician

Year	Title	Artist
1968	The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter	The Incredible String Band
1969	Five Leaves Left	Nick Drake
1969	Love Chronicles	Al Stewart
1969	Marc Ellington	Marc Ellington
1969	Matthews' Southern Comfort	Matthews' Southern Comfort
1970	Bryter Layter	Nick Drake
1971	Bless the Weather	John Martyn
1971	If You Saw Thro' My Eyes	Iain Matthews
1971	No Roses	Shirley Collins
1971	The North Star Grassman and the Ravens	Sandy Denny
1971	Rains/Reins of Changes	Marc Ellington
1971	Smiling Men with Bad Reputations	Mike Heron
1971	Stargazer	Shelagh McDonald
1971	Strange Fruit	Gary Farr
1971	Street Singer	Mick Softley
1972	Bright Phoebus	Lal and Mike Waterson
1972	Jump at the Sun (under pseudonym Agnes Mirren)	John Kirkpatrick
1972	Sandy	Sandy Denny
1972	Those Pleasant Days	Stefan Grossman
1972	Tigers Will Survive	Iain Matthews
1973	Rosie	Fairport Convention
1973	Solid Air	John Martyn
1973	A Favourite Garland	Shirley Collins
1973	Urban Cowboy	Andy Roberts
1974	Like an Old Fashioned Waltz	Sandy Denny
1974	Fear	John Cale
1975	Fantasies From a Corner Seat	Harvey Andrews & Graham Cooper
1975	Having a Wonderful Time	Geoff Muldaur
1975	Marc Time	Marc Ellington
1975	Mike Heron's Reputation	Mike Heron
1976	Vanishing Trick: Poems And Songs	Brian Patten
1977	Rendezvous	Sandy Denny
1978	Julie Covington	Julie Covington
1979	Slide Away the Screen	Ralph McTell
1980	Night Owl	Gerry Rafferty
1981	Smiddyburn	Dave Swarbrick
1981	The Sound of the Sand and Other Songs of the Pedestrian	David Thomas & the Pedestrians
1981	Teddy Boys Don't Knit	Vivian Stanshall
1981	Thunderin' On The Horizon	Arizona Smoke Review
1981	Voices	Murray Head
1982	Water of Dreams	Ralph McTell
1982	Out of the Cut	Martin Carthy
1983	8	J. J. Cale
1983	Any Trouble	Any Trouble
1983	Fame and Wealth	Loudon Wainwright III
1983	Flittin'	Dave Swarbrick
1983	Proof Through the Night	T Bone Burnett
1983	Variations on a Theme	David Thomas & the Pedestrians with Richard Thompson
1984	Behind the Trap Door	T-Bone Burnett
1984	Wrong End of the Race	Any Trouble
1985	I'm Alright	Loudon Wainwright III
1985	Rackbag	Folk och Rackare
1985	Visions of Excess	The Golden Palominos
1985	Gladys' Leap	Fairport Convention
1986	An Hour with Cecil Sharp and Ashley Hutchings	Ashley Hutchings
1986	Bridge of Sighs	Ralph McTell
1986	Electric Bluebirds	Electric Bluebirds
1986	Expletive Delighted!	Fairport Convention
1986	More Love Songs	Loudon Wainwright III
1986	Raptures of the Deep	The Deep Sea Jivers
1986	Supply and Demand	Dagmar Krause
1987	As Real as Disneyland	Julian Dawson and the Flood
1987	Blue Balloon	John Kirkpatrick
1987	Studio Romantic	Saeko Suzuki
1988	Temple of Low Men	Crowded House
1989	Maria McKee	Maria McKee
1989	Therapy	Loudon Wainwright III
1989	Surprise	Syd Straw
1990	Michael Doucet & Cajun Brew	Michael Doucet
1991	Cajun Conja	BeauSoleil
1991	Drunk with Passion	The Golden Palominos
1991	Luck of the Draw	Bonnie Raitt
1991	Orphans and Outcasts Volume 1	Iain Matthews
1991	Places I Have Never Been	Willie Nile
1992	99.9F°	Suzanne Vega
1992	Be Headed	Chris Harford and the First Rays of the New Rising Sun
1992	Fat City	Shawn Colvin
1992	His Master's Choice – The Songs Of Richard Thompson	Dave Burland
1992	The Hunter	Jennifer Warnes
1993	The Assassin's Apprentice	Stephen Fearing
1993	Before & After	Tim Finn
1993	Fate of Nations	Robert Plant
1994	Amplified Heart	Everything but the Girl
1994	Cut and Run	Danny Carnahan and Robin Petrie
1994	Longing in Their Hearts	Bonnie Raitt
1994	Twangin' n' a-Traddin'	The Ashley Hutchings Big Beat Combo
1995	Camouflage	Iain Matthews
1996	Baptist Hospital	Boo Hewerdine
1996	Blue Aconite	Christine Collister
1997	Move Over Darling	Julian Dawson
1996	Norma Waterson	Norma Waterson
1997	Who Knows Where the Time Goes?	Fairport Convention
1997	L'Amour Ou La Folie	BeauSoleil
1998	Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful)	Nanci Griffith
1998	The Dark Gift of Time	Christine Collister
1999	Memory of the Future	Eric Andersen
1999	Orphans and Oucasts Volume 3	Iain Matthews
1999	Songbird	Christine Collister
1999	The Very Thought of You	Norma Waterson
2000	Long Expectant Comes At Last	Cathal McConnell
2000	Teddy Thompson	Teddy Thompson
2001	Mazurka Berzerker	John Kirkpatrick
2002	Evangeline Made: A Tribute to Cajun Music	Various artists, produced by Ann Savoy
2002	Fashionably Late	Linda Thompson
2002	Spremenite Protokol	Andrej Sifrer
2003	12 Arrows	Judith Owen
2003	Go Tell It on the Mountain	The Blind Boys of Alabama
2003	So Damn Happy	Loudon Wainwright III
2004	The Ride	Los Lobos
2005	Lost and Found	Judith Owen
2005	Separate Ways	Teddy Thompson
2007	Crazy Hair Day	Barney Saltzberg
2007	Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John	Peter Case
2007	Release the Stars	Rufus Wainwright
2007	South of Delia	Richard Shindell
2007	Strange Weirdos	Loudon Wainright III
2007	Happy This Way	Judith Owen
2007	Upfront & Down Low	Teddy Thompson
2008	A Piece of What You Need	Teddy Thompson
2011	Bella	Teddy Thompson
2012	20	Kate Rusby
2013	Won't Be Long Now	Linda Thompson
2014	Tell 'Em I'm Gone	Yusuf
2014	Salt	Boris Grebenshchikov
2016	Cayamo: Sessions at Sea	Buddy Miller
2016	Rainbow Ends	Emitt Rhodes
2018	Smalls Change	Derek Smalls
2018	Letters Never Read	Dori Freeman

DVDs and videos

Released	Title	Credited to	Recorded	Format
1985	Across a Crowded Room	Richard Thompson	1985	VHS, Laserdisc
2004	Live in Providence	The Richard Thompson Band	2003	DVD
2005	Live From Austin, TX	Richard Thompson	2001	DVD
2006	1,000 Years of Popular Music	Richard Thompson	2005	DVD, with 2 audio CDs
2011	Live at the BBC	Richard Thompson featuring Linda Thompson	1975 to 1985	DVD (box set, also with 3 CDs)
2012	Live at Celtic Connections	The Richard Thompson Band	2011	DVD, Blu-ray Disc

Instructional tapes and discs

Released	Title	Credited to	Format
1983	The Electric Mandolin 1 and 2: Mandolin Theory, Technique, & Improvisation	Niles Hokkanen and Richard Thompson	Cassette
1991	Rock Guitar: A Guide from the Greats	Ronnie Wood, Michael Schenker, Richard Thompson and John Wilson	VHS
1998	Richard Thompson Teaches Traditional Guitar Instrumentals	Richard Thompson	CD & book
2001	The Guitar of Richard Thompson	Richard Thompson	CD & book

References

1. "Richard Thompson UK charts search". Retrieved 22 September 2018.
2. "USA Billboard 200 chart details for Richard Thompson". Retrieved 5 March 2015.
3. "USA Billboard Alternative Rock Chart details for Richard Thompson". Retrieved 5 March 2015.
4. "Mainly Norfolk information on Hard Cash album". Retrieved 5 March 2015.