Musical palate cleanser, “Working with a husband or wife is tricky” edition

Richard Thompson has a personal memoir coming out, Beeswing.  I’m looking forward to reading it, one reason being Thompson’s sensible enough to limit it to the period of his life when his career started with Fairport Convention until just before his infamous last tour with his then-wife, Linda.  (There’s probably an entire book that could be written just about that tour.)  There’s a fantastic review/interview about the book here, if you’re interested.

One paragraph from that piece:

The songs he “wrote for Linda,” he says, “are precious to me”. They include some of the most touching songs ever committed to record, such as Dimming of the Day/Dargai, a clarion call to tumultuous love (also covered by Alison Krauss, Tom Jones and the Corrs), and Withered and Died, a song that feels steeped in centuries of heartache (memorably covered by Elvis Costello).

Here’s an example, from March, 1975, “A Heart Needs A Home”.

One other great bit (from Linda) from the article:

She’s keen to read Beeswing for a different reason. “I’m dying to know if he’s as good a book writer as he is a songwriter.”

Pretty high bar, that.