Dreams Fly Away: A History Of Linda Thompson

Dreams Fly Away: A History Of Linda Thompson

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Linda Thompson, of course, is Richard Thompson's ex-wife and performing partner, and her retrospective is most appealing when she's soberly intoning his bleak and brusque admissions. "For Shame of Doing Wrong" and "Walking on a Wire" are perfect forums for Linda Thompson's stately, weary vocals. She never found quite so sympathetic or prolific a source of songs after her marriage to Richard broke up. Attempts to modernize her surroundings met with mixed results, but Dreams Fly Away sifts through the chaff to come up with 20 worthy and frequently rare Linda Thompson tracks. --Steven Stolder

Tracks:

Lonely Hearts
Walking On A Wire
I Live Not Where I Love
Sometimes It Happens
For Shame Of Doing Wrong
Talking Like A Man
Sisters
Shay Fan Yan Ley
One Clear Moment
First Light
Pavanne
Many Dreams Must Fly Away
I Want To See The Bright Light Tonight
The Great Valerio
Insult To Injury
The Poor Boy Is Taken Away
Blackwaterside
Telling Me Lies
I'm A Dreamer
Dimming Of The Day

Amazon.com

Linda Thompson, of course, is Richard Thompson's ex-wife and performing partner, and her retrospective is most appealing when she's soberly intoning his bleak and brusque admissions. "For Shame of Doing Wrong" and "Walking on a Wire" are perfect forums for Linda Thompson's stately, weary vocals. She never found quite so sympathetic or prolific a source of songs after her marriage to Richard broke up. Attempts to modernize her surroundings met with mixed results, but Dreams Fly Away sifts through the chaff to come up with 20 worthy and frequently rare Linda Thompson tracks. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

She's fantastic, but..........2005-11-20

How can you leave out "Can't Stop the Girl"? Have to agree with the previous reviewer. Wondering a bit about the song choice here.

I love "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight", "One Clear Moment", and everything else I've heard from this disc. One more song, I would have bought it...

Beautiful blend of rock and folk.......2004-10-28

This compilation showcases Linda Thompson's monumental contribution to rock and folk music from 1973 to 1988. It contains 10 previously unreleased songs, including four duets with Richard Thompson: live versions of Pavanne, The Great Valerio, Walking On A Wire produced by Gerry Rafferty plus a demo of First Light. My favourites include her interpretations of Sandy Denny's I'm A Dreamer and the old standard Blackwaterside plus her solo version of Dimming Of The Day. And the beautiful track Sisters and the yearning I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight. With Richard, Linda was an originator of a seamless blend of rock and folk. Dreams Fly Away proves her prowess as an emotive vocalist and her great achievement as a musician. These timeless songs with their poignant words and gripping melodies will never fail to move the serious music lover. The classy CD packaging contains witty and informative historical notes by Linda. I also recommend the classic albums Pour Down Like Silver and Shoot Out The Lights, for more of Linda and Richard's exquisite and memorable music.

No dimming of her talent.......2003-04-11

Richard is the better known and much more prolific of the former duo, but Linda's voice and presence make any recording she works on worthwhile. Dreams Fly Away consists of a mixture of previously released tracks (from her work with her former husband), live recordings, remixes (the remixes of the One Clear Moment tracks are an actual improvement. The annoying echo producer Hugh Murphy put on her vocals is much less noticable if not altogether gone) and demos.

The notes and interviews are interesting and provide a unique perspective on Linda and her step out of the limelight. Her medical condition has obviously been overcome to some extent (her latest marvelous album is ironically titled Fashionably Late)but, for a while, this was the last word on Linda's music. While Linda may have been Richard's muse for a brief period and his voice for a number of their classics, she deserves recognition as an artist in her own right. This collection puts things right.

Great one.......2002-12-15

I usually don't buy compilations - to me, most are merely commercial and do not break any new ground. Well, here's a noticeable exception. Dreams fly away has a great selection of tracks, and it's very well designed. Sisters and Lonely hearts (from Richard & Linda Thompson's Sunnyvista) are remarkable in every way. Lonely hearts, in particular, has the greatest opening words I've ever heard. I could do without the (slightly) irritating backing vocals - she has a great presence and doesn't need anybody else - but why, nobody's perfect. I'm not going to quibble.
Another favourite of mine is the cover of Sandy Denny's I'm a dreamer - it's really, really great, and so is the Dimming of the day.
As to the live versions of Pavane or the Great Valerio, I think they are weaker than the original studio releases, but still very emotional. She sounds so tense on stage it almost makes us uncomfortable.
I'm glad that, on the whole, I wasn't disappointed by this release. Before I got it, I had hardly ever heard of Linda Thompson. The fact is, I went for Dreams fly away after hearing her cover a traditionnal song on a Simon Nicol solo album. I was stunned by what I heard and decided at once to go for more - that's how I picked this one.
I think she's really a great singer. I mean, when she sings, it's as if she's walking on a wire - she's likely to fall any minute, and her voice may break into a hundred of pieces. I find that truly amazing.
Another enjoyable thing about the record is the inner sleeve. She wrote funny and wistful notes for the songs, and Richard Williams did a nice job too, summing up the ups and downs of her intermittent musical career (I think she would resent the word "career" !).
To make it short, Dreams fly away is a wonderful document to her contribution .. and a welcome addition to my Cds collection.

Pretty Good.......2002-10-30

A pretty good assembly of bits and pieces from Linda's somewhat intermittent career. Deserves its place in a Richard and Linda fan's collection, and is definitely an essential purchase for the more hard core dedicated Linda fans amongst us. My only criticism is it tends to be a bit monotonal.

Music Review:

Music Review

music review

Recommended Music:

Thorn Eleven [Enhanced] [Import]

Colours of Silence [Hybrid SACD] [SACD]

Complete Early Recordings 1927-1939

Urban Dreams

Dreams [Original recording remastered] [Import]

Christmas

Christmastime

From the House of the Dead [Cast Recording]

Cowboy's Conscience [Soundtrack]

Cuando Duerme La Habana [Import]

Correatown

Canzoni Segrete [Import]

Deja-Vu: Animation der Wahrhe [Import]

Music for Living (Life 2)

Elixir