Richard Thompson on Rejecting Eagles, the Band — Twice — SkimNews
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- Richard Thompson recalls a 1970s solo tour stop in Arctic Circle Sweden where an audience member held a knife to his throat and told him to "play something normal" — Thompson said he wasn't afraid, just puzzled about what counts as normal
- Thompson declined approaches to join Linda Ronstadt's 1971 backing band (four of whose members then formed the Eagles), the Band twice (he feared they'd "drink themselves to death"), and a later Animals lineup that wanted to drop Hilton Valentine
- Thompson played alongside Bob Dylan at the 1991 Guitar Legends festival in Seville after a backstage rehearsal, but spent much of their first song trying to retune an out-of-tune acoustic guitar on stage
- Thompson briefly ran an antiques shop in Marylebone after a friend took one over, but says he was "too nice to the old ladies"; he sold two Ming dynasty porcelain lions for £60 believing them to be fakes — they were later valued in the thousands
- Thompson says his song "Vincent Black Lightning" was inspired by a neighbour's similar Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle, not personal experience of riding one; he notes only about 15 Vincent Black Lightnings survive
- Thompson staples his trademark Balmoral beret to his head before flying rather than risk losing it — riffing on a report that Bono spent £20,000 flying a favourite hat first class to a gig in Italy
- Thompson describes his late-1960s school bandmate Hugh Cornwell (later of the Stranglers), lost touch for 40 years, then reunited at a Spanish festival in the 2000s and now plays charity gigs together, including a version of "Tobacco Road"
Why it matters: The interview confirms for the first time in print the specifics of Thompson's brushes with three iconic rock institutions, showing that his career as a cult solo artist and Fairport linchpin was a deliberate choice — he valued his Anglo-Celtic voice and feared the Band's lifestyle, while anecdotes like the Ming lions blunder and the Swedish knife threat show how easily the path of a folk-rock survivor can diverge from stadiums.
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