Richard Thompson 
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Song Histories

Who is Jimmy Shand?
Who was Al Bowlly?
Who is Anne Briggs?
What is the origin of the title Mirror Blue?
What is the origin of the title Rumor And Sigh?
What is the "King of Bohemia"?
What is the "Wall of Death"?
What is a 1952 Vincent Black Lightning?


Who is Jimmy Shand?

Some facts gleaned from David Thomas' Hokey Pokey article on Jimmy Shand:

Jimmy Shand was born in East Wemys, Fife, Scotland, on January 28, 1908. After working as a coal miner, delivery van driver, salesman, and accordion demonstrator, he began a recording career that would span decades. Shand and his band performed numerous tv and radio sessions and toured worldwide.

His first commercial records were produced in 1933. RT collects Jimmy Shand's recordings that were released on the Beltona label. During the 1950's, a new Jimmy Shand recording was released each month!

You can hear some of RT's versions of Jimmy Shand tunes on Henry the Human Fly and Strict Tempo. The song "Don't Sit On My Jimmy Shands" appears on Rumor And Sigh. RT has jokingly called this song "cultural revenge." By that, he means revenge for all the obscure American surf and car lyrics that went out to the world and confused many non-Americans who listened to them. To "get back" at the Americans, RT sings a song about a Scottish accordion player and country dance band leader! The "Lawrence Welk of the Glens," as he calls Jimmy Shand!

David Thomas' article on Jimmy Shand appears in the summer 1992 issue of HP. David also assisted with the production of Jimmy Shand: the King of the Melodeon Men. This is the 21 track compilation of Jimmy Shand's Parlophone and Regal Zonophone recordings (EMI 7243 8 29898 20). (UK CDEMS 1530, cassette TCEMS 1530). Highly recommended!

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Who was Al Bowlly?

Al Bowlly was born on January 7, 1898, in a town that is now known as Maputo, Mozambique. He died on April 17, 1941, in a London cafe bombing.

Bowlly toured as a guitar and banjo player before making his first record in 1927. He recorded hundreds of songs during the 1930's, mainly with Roy Fox and Ray Noble. He moved to New York City with Ray Noble in the mid 1930's and went on to have an NBC radio show there. Moving back to England in 1937, Bowlly headed his own tours and continued recording.

Two of his best-known recordings are the Ray Noble compositions, "Love Is The Sweetest Thing," and "The Very Thought Of You." Bowlly's much-loved voice can still be heard on EMI and BBC recordings, as well as other compilations.

RT's song "Al Bowlly's In Heaven" appears on Daring Adventures.

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Who is Anne Briggs?

Anne Briggs is a British folk singer and songwriter who influenced such musicians as Sandy Denny, June Tabor, Bert Jansch, and Fairport Convention.

Musically, she has been associated with A.L. Lloyd, Frankie Armstrong, and Johnny Moynihan, among others. She recorded a few albums before her early retirement from the music business.

RT has been asked about her, in relation to the woman in the song "Beeswing," from Mirror Blue. He has stated that it is a completely fictional song, but there are quite a few bits in there that refer to someone very much like Anne Briggs.

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What is the origin of the title Mirror Blue?

The title comes from Tennyson's poem "The Lady Of Shalott."

	"And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
	 The knights come riding two and two:
         She hath no loyal knight and true,
         The Lady of Shalott."

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What is the origin of the title Rumor And Sigh?

RT's album title comes from this Archibald MacLeish poem, posthumously published in Collected Poems, 1917-1982 (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1985):

	"Rumor and sigh of unimagined seas,
	 Dim radiance of stars that never flamed,
	 Fragrance of petals never strewn from trees,--
	 Meaning of words unsaid and never named;

	 So from a silence I have made you songs,
	 So from a starless night a rose of stars.
	 Can you not hear how all the stillness jars
	 With music, and the darkness throngs?"

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What is the "King of Bohemia"?

This song title refers to a pub in England. It is also the imaginative location for the song.

The song was originally titled "Jack Straw's Castle," which was at the time a gay pub in the same general location as the King of Bohemia. RT changed the title before the song's release on Mirror Blue. He did this because people were asking him if it was a homosexual song, which it is not.

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What is the "Wall of Death"?

When asked this question, RT often provides two different descriptions. One is that the "Wall of Death" is a motorcycle daredevil stunt where the rider drives around a bowl-shaped area horizontally. The other description is that it is a kind of fairground ride where the floor drops away from a spinning room. Centrifugal force sticks the people to the wall as the floor drops down. RT has said that he often saw this sort of ride at the Hampstead fair in London.

RT's song "Wall of Death" appears on Shoot Out The Lights.

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What is a 1952 Vincent Black Lightning?

The Vincent Black Lightning is a rare and very fast British motorcycle. Fewer than 30 were made in 1952.

The Vincent company went out of business in the mid-fifties, but not before manufacturing some of the most famous "classic" British motorcycles.

Vincent motorcycles are best remembered for their high quality, lightness, design innovations (such as the coil spring beneath the seat), and speed. Post-war Vincents were considered the fastest standard motorcycles in the world. The 1000cc Rapide was rated at 110 - 115 mph, while the Black Lightning, the machine owned by our James Adie and passed on to Red Molly in RT's song "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" (Rumor And Sigh), was claimed to run at 150 mph! Indeed, American Rollie Free broke the American speed record of 136.183 mph when he went 150.313 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, in 1948 on a Black Lightning and then 156.58 mph in 1950. The previous record dated back to 1937!

The Vincent company produced Black Lightning motorcycles in very small numbers between 1948 and 1954.

In terms of romantic, rare, fast, and dangerous British symbols, RT could not have chosen a better icon than the Vincent Black Lightning!

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