Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Song of the day

"The Price of Love", by Richard and Linda Thompson.

Tucked away, unannounced and unheralded, at the end of the second disc of the Rhino Handmade version of Richard and Linda Thompson's "Shoot Out the Lights" is a cover version of "The Price of Love", a song written by a couple of Everlys and taken to the top of the charts by Mr Bryan Ferry.

I have trawled through a lot of Richard Thompson recordings in my time, including several armfuls of covers, but I have never known him to do this song. Truth be told, it is not especially notable (more significant, in terms of the "canon", is the appearance of "I'll Keep It With Mine", delivered with feeling, and goodness knows what kind of subtext(s), by Richard and Linda), and the sound quality, unlike that of all of the other live tracks on disc two, is shocking, but it does contain a typically blistering, if brief, Thompson guitar solo. The appearance of Linda on this track is speculative.

I mention it at all, I guess, because Richard Thompson fans tend towards the obsessive, and because of the possibility that you may otherwise have missed it.

For a limited time, as long as nobody minds, you can listen to it here.