Chris Thompson
Christopher Malcolm Thompson is a singer/songwriter who has recorded with such luminaries as John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Dave McArtney (Hello Sailor). He also played guitar for well known Californian folk singer Julie Felix, and toured with Stevie Ray Vaughan. While in England in the early 1970s Chris jammed with British Folk-Blues legends Wizz Jones and Davey Graham. In 1974 Chris toured with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee; he has maintained a lifelong friendship with Brownie, for whom he wrote a song ("Letter to Brownie"), which was videoed by TVNZ. Chris has had three albums reach the finals of the N.Z. Music Industry awards and had his songs recorded by N.Z. artists Mike Harding, Jimmy Young, James Wilkinson and Chris Priestley, and internationally by Meg Baird of the Philadelphia neo-folk group The Espers. Most recently, Chris' song "Where is my Wild Rose?" has been recorded by Robin Pecknold of The Fleet Foxes.
Chris is an old boy of Southwell School and has spent most of his life in and around Hamilton, where he recorded Hometown Voodoo in 1981; this album contains the song "Hamilton", about the city. This song has become widely known due to a version played by Big Muffin Serious Band. He moved to Auckland in 1985, and married a Canadian-born musician and songwriter Lynne, with whom he has released two albums. They relocated to Raglan in 1988. Chris left Raglan in 2003 and was on the road for a few years until he settled in Hamilton near his daughter Lora. Lora has played bass in the heavy metal band "Wretch" and the Pantera tribute band "101 Proof". Most recently, Lora has been playing guitar and singing in the alt.rock/grunge group Cheshire Grimm.
In 2000 Chris released the track Vox Populi on the Hamilton compilation Acoustic Magic. Other projects have included recording some tracks with Tim Armstrong in 2007, taking part in "The Monday Club" project, and completing his Arts degree at Waikato University in 2009. In 2010 a double CD, titled Chris Thompson, was released by Sunbeam Records (U.K.), an anthology of Chris' work featuring twenty-six selections from Chris' 40 years of recording. Chris and well-known local musician Stan Jagger worked together, playing mainly Chris' songs and instrumentals. They gave their debut performance in a concert at Biddy Mulligan's Irish Bar in September 2011. They also have released a CD, recorded live in the studio by Chris' daughter Lora and have played clubs and festivals in Hamilton and Raglan. In May 2012, Chris was interviewed for The New Zealand Musician Magazine [1]. After completing his studies at Waikato University, Chris taught guitar at Matangi School and played with The Dirt Band. At the beginning of 2013, Chris moved back to Raglan after an absence of ten years, and is playing with Redgie Valente and Rene Andre ('The Wild Accusations') at Valente's Restaurant. In December 2013 he released a digital album called Where is my Wild Rose?, which is a new collection recorded in Raglan at 'The Blabbering Tree Collective Studio'. As of 2014, Chris has a regular solo gig at The Bow St Depot in Raglan.
Releases
- Chris Thompson (album) album, 1973
- Echoes from the Pit album, 1975
- Minstrelsy album, 1977
- Hometown Voodoo album, 1981
- The Natural Blues album, 1983
- The Road to Raglan album, 1990
- Far Out and Solid album, 1992
- Coffee Break album, 1993
- Song for Laura album, 1995
- Time Flies album, 2000
- For my Double album, 2004
- The White Sapphire album, 2005
- Chris Thompson (Anthology), 2010
- Chris Thompson and Stan Jagger album, 2011
- Where is my Wild Rose? album, 2013
as Chris and Lynne Thompson:
- Together album, 1985
- Live in Concert album, 1988
Compilations:
- I Wanna Be Me appears on the 1979 compilation Festival Music
- Ain't No Telling, The Coffin On The Baggage Train Ahead and Diamond Blues appear on the 1982 compilation Paths - New Songs of New Zealand
- Poor Little Thing and She should have been a Lady (by Chris and Lynn Thompson) appear on the 1985 compilation Auckland Acoustics
- Vox Populi appears on the 2000 compilation Acoustic Magic
- Back In The City appears on the compilation Sitar Cerebrations Vol 2
External Links
Videos on Youtube:
- Chris Thompson - Crossroads Blues
- Television New Zealand Interview/performance of Only One Way Out Of Town, 1993
- Chris Thompson and Big Muffin Serious Band - Hamilton
- Chris Thompson and Stan Jagger - Grocer's Blues
- Chris Thompson Television New Zealand - The Road to Raglan
- Chris Thompson - If You Lose Your Money
- Chris Thompson - Take Two
- Chris Thompson and The Wild Allegations - When i am Dead
This Chris Thompson should not be confused with Chris Thompson, the vocalist from Manfred Mann, who also spent time in Hamilton, including attending Hamilton Boys High School.
