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 and James Wilkinson, Chris Priestley, and (internationally) 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 since in 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 is now living in Hamilton again, near his daughter Lora (who plays bass in the Heavy Metal band "Wretch"). Lora has recently graduated from WINTEC(with honours)and is currently playing in the Pantera tribute band "101 Proof".
In 2000 Chris released the track Vox Populi on the Hamilton compilation Acoustic Magic. Other projects have included recorded some tracks with Tim Armstrong in 2007, taking part in "The Monday Club" project, playing with Emit Snake-Beings in "The Dirt Band" - with whom he has made several Youtube videos (see below) - and completed his Arts degree at Waikato University in 2009. Chris' most recent studio album "The White Sapphire" (a.k.a. "Eighteen months in the Bates Motel") is available for download from amplifier.co.nz. On current international release is a double CD from, simply titled Chris Thompson, which is an anthology of Chris' work featuring twenty-six selections from Chris' 40 years of recording. Chris and well-known local musician Stan Jagger are now working together, playing mainly Chris' songs and instrumentals. They gave their debut performance in a successful 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, on sale in Hamilton at Auteur House.
Releases
- Chris Thompson album, 1973
- Echoes from the Pit album, 1975
- Minstrelsy album, 1977
- Hometown Voodoo album, 1981
- The Natural Blues, 1983
- The Road to Raglan album, 1990
- Far Out & Solid album, 1992
- Coffee Break album, 1993
- Song for Laura album, 1995
- Time Flies album, 2000
- For my Double, 2004
- The White Sapphire album, 2005 (Available from Amplifier)
- Chris Thompson (Anthology), 2010
- Chris Thompson and Stan Jagger album, 2011
as Chris and Lynne Thompson:
- Together album, 1985
- Live in Concert album, 1988
- with "The Monday Club":-
- Evolution album, 2008
Compilations:-
- I Wanna Be Me appears on the 1979 compilation Festival Music
- Vox Populi appears on the 2000 compilation Acoustic Magic
External Links
Videos on Youtube:
- Chris Thompson - Take Two
- Chris Thompson - Crossroads Blues
- Chris Thompson When I am Dead
- Television New Zealand Interview/performance ("Only one way out of town"), 1993
with The Dirt Band:
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.
