Chris Thompson
Chris Thompson started out in the Kon-Tiki Folk Club in Hamilton in 1965, then turned professional in 1968. In the early seventies he moved to England, where he played guitar in the band of Californian folk singer Julie Felix. While in England, Chris played with British Folk-Blues legends Wizz Jones and Davey Graham and in 1973 made his first album, which is recognised internationally as an underground classic and is currently in its fifth edition. In New Zealand in 1974 Chris toured with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee; Chris maintained a lifelong friendship with Brownie, for whom he wrote a song "Letter to Brownie"; the song had a video directed by Adam Hyde, then a student at Waikato Polytech, which was filmed by Wayne Green and screened on TVNZ.
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, but has since moved back to Hamilton and Raglan.
In 1984, Chris toured New Zealand with Stevie Ray Vaughan, opening the show in a major nationwide concert tour. Thompson has had three albums reach the finals of the New Zealand Music Industry awards, and has had his songs recorded by New Zealand artists Mike Harding, Big Muffin Serious Band, Jimmy Young and James Wilkinson, Chris Priestley, and in America, by Meg Baird of the Philadelphia neo-folk group The Espers. In England, The Straw Bear Band has recorded Chris' setting of W.B. Yeats' The Song of Wandering Aengus. Chris' best known song, Where is my Wild Rose?, has been performed by many and was recorded by Robin Pecknold of The Fleet Foxes in the U.S.A. in 2010. In mid-2015, Little Ballerina, a song Chris wrote for his daughter Lora (who plays in the Hamilton band Cheshire Grimm) was covered by Willard Ribeiro, a singer from Brazil. As of summer 2016, Chris has retired from touring and now lives in Taupo where he occasionally does local gigs and is writing songs. He released the digital album On High Street (by 'Chris Thompson the Folksinger from Hell') on Bandcamp in December 2016.
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
- Evolution album (with The Monday Club), 2007
- Chris Thompson (Anthology),2010
- Chris Thompson and Stan Jagger album, 2011
- Where is my Wild Rose? album, 2013
- On High Street album, 2016
as Chris and Lynne Thompson:
- Together album, 1985
- Live in Concert album, 1988
Compilations:
- Alabama Song, London Blues and Don't be Afraid appeared on the 1974 compilation First Thrust
- 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
- Love and Hugo Spellman appears on the 1983 compilation Masters of Folk Guitar
- 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
Internet
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's Earth Band, who also spent time in Hamilton, including attending Hamilton Boys High School.
