Editing Richard Thompson (musician) (section)

==Side projects and collaborations==
In between leaving [[Fairport Convention]] in early 1971 and releasing his debut solo album in 1972, he undertook a large amount of [[session musician|session]] work, most notably on albums by [[John Martyn]], [[Al Stewart]], [[Matthews Southern Comfort]], [[Sandy Denny]], [[Mike Heron]] and [[Nick Drake]].

During the same period, he also worked on two collaborative projects. ''[[Morris On]]'' was recorded with [[Ashley Hutchings]], [[John Kirkpatrick (folk musician)|John Kirkpatrick]], [[Dave Mattacks]] and Barry Dransfield, and was a collection of English traditional tunes arranged for electric instruments.  ''The Bunch'' were almost the reverse conceptually – a grouping of English [[folk rock]] musicians (including [[Sandy Denny]], [[Linda Thompson (singer)|Linda Peters]] and members of [[Fairport Convention]]) recording a selection of classic [[rock and roll]] tunes.

Thompson has continued to guest on albums by an array of artists, from [[Crowded House]], [[Bonnie Raitt]] and [[Vivian Stanshall]], to [[Norma Waterson]] and [[BeauSoleil]] and folk artists like [[Loudon Wainwright III]], [[Cathal McConnell]] (of [[The Boys of the Lough]]) and [[Bob Davenport (singer)|Bob Davenport]]. He has also performed and recorded with [[Teddy Thompson]], his son from his marriage to [[Linda Thompson (singer)|Linda Thompson]].

[[File:Richard Thompson and Dave Pegg.jpg|thumb|left|Thompson with Fairport Convention's [[Dave Pegg]] at Cropredy, 2005]]
Since the early 1980s,<ref>{{cite web |title=Fairport's Cropredy Convention – Full line-up announced |last=Gallacher |first=Alex |date=8 March 2019 |publisher=[[Folk Radio UK]] |url=https://www.folkradio.co.uk/2019/03/fairports-cropredy-convention-full-line-up-announced/ |access-date=10 December 2019}}</ref> Thompson has appeared at [[Fairport Convention]]'s annual [[Fairport's Cropredy Convention|Cropredy Festival]], both in his own right and as a participant in sets with current and former Fairport members. These sets are seldom confined to performances of songs out of the Thompson or Fairport Convention canons, and in recent years some surprise offerings have included the soul classic "[[I Heard It Through the Grapevine]]" (with Thompson backed by the [[Roy Wood]] Big Band), [[The Beatles]]' "[[I'm Down]]"  and even "[[The Lady Is a Tramp]]".

Thompson has displayed a penchant for the [[avant garde]] as well, working with former [[Pere Ubu]] singer [[David Thomas (musician)|David Thomas]]'s grouping The Pedestrians on two albums in 1981 and 1982, respectively.  In the 1980s, he was associated with a loose-fitting group called [[The Golden Palominos]], who were led by drummer [[Anton Fier]] and included at times on stage and on record [[Jack Bruce]], [[Michael Stipe]], [[Carla Bley]], [[John Lydon]], [[Bill Laswell]] and others. He has worked with experimental guitarist [[Henry Kaiser (musician)|Henry Kaiser]], most notably as part of the ad hoc grouping [[French Frith Kaiser Thompson]] with whom he recorded two albums.  In 1997 he worked with long-time friend and band member [[Danny Thompson]] to record a [[concept album]] ''Industry'' that dealt with the decline of British industry. A year later he worked with [[early music]] expert [[Philip Pickett]] on the acclaimed ''Bones of All Men'' which fused [[renaissance]] tunes with contemporary music.

For several years Thompson devised and toured his show ''[[1000 Years of Popular Music]]''. The inspiration for this came when ''[[Playboy]]'' asked Thompson (and many other music industry figures) in 1999 for their suggestions for the "top ten songs of the millennium".  Guessing that ''Playboy'' expected most people's lists to start at around 1950, Thompson took the magazine at its word and presented a list of songs from the 11th century to the present day. Perhaps not surprisingly, ''Playboy'' did not use his list, but the exercise gave him the idea for a show which takes a chronological trip through popular music across the ages.  Thompson acknowledges that this is an ambitious undertaking, partly because he reckons that he is technically unqualified to sing 98% of the material,<ref>[http://www.richardthompson-music.com/album.asp?id=74 ''Liner notes to 1000 Years Of Popular Music CD''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221015041/http://www.richardthompson-music.com/album.asp?id=74 |date=21 December 2007 }}. Retrieved 20 March 2008</ref> and partly because of the sparse musical setting he restricts himself to: besides his acoustic guitar, he's backed by singer/pianist [[Judith Owen]] and percussionist/singer [[Debra Dobkin]]. A typical performance would start with a medieval round, progress via a [[Henry Purcell|Purcell]] aria, Victorian [[music hall]] and [[Hoagy Carmichael]] and end with Thompson's take on the [[Britney Spears]] hit "[[Oops!... I Did It Again (song)|Oops!... I Did It Again]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.richardthompson-music.com/catch_of_the_day.asp?id=205 |title=BeesWeb – Catch of the Day |publisher=Richardthompson-music.com |access-date=22 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209074913/http://www.richardthompson-music.com/catch_of_the_day.asp?id=205 |archive-date=9 February 2012 }}</ref>

In 2004 Thompson was asked to create the soundtrack music for the [[Werner Herzog]] documentary ''[[Grizzly Man]]''. The score, which was recorded over a two-day period in December 2004, brought Thompson together with a group of improvisational musicians, mostly from the [[San Francisco Bay area]]; video footage from the sessions was edited into a mini-documentary, ''In the Edges,'' which was included with the DVD release of ''Grizzly Man''.

In 2009 Thompson was commissioned to write a piece for the International Society of Bassists in honour of Danny Thompson. The resulting ''Cabaret of Souls'', a musical play set in the underworld, has been performed in [[State College, Pennsylvania]], London, and Los Angeles with a cast that includes [[Harry Shearer]], [[Judith Owen]], [[Debra Dobkin]], [[Pete Zorn]], either [[Danny Thompson]] or [[David Piltch]], and a 12-piece string section conducted by [[Peter Askim]]. This suite was eventually commercially released in late 2012.

In 2006 and 2013, Thompson recorded [[Hugh S. Roberton]]'s "[[Mingulay Boat Song]]" and the traditional "General Taylor" for the [[sea shanty]]-compilations ''[[Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys]]'' and ''[[Son of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/rogues-gallery-pirate-ballads-sea-songs-chanteys-mw0000403221|title=Various Artists – Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, & Chanteys|last=Jurek |first=Thom |work=AllMusic|access-date=10 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/son-of-rogues-gallery-pirate-ballads-sea-songs-chanteys-mw0002476575|title=Various Artists – Son of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys|last=Leggett |first=Steve |work=AllMusic|access-date=10 December 2019}}</ref>

In July 2019, [[New West Records]] released a soundtrack album for the documentary ''The Cold Blue'', featuring the film's original score composed by Thompson. The film, directed by [[Erik Nelson (filmmaker)|Erik Nelson]], focuses on the [[Eighth Air Force]]. It uses footage taken by director [[William Wyler]] for his 1944 documentary ''[[Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/the-cold-blue|title=The Cold Blue|website=HBO}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media | publisher = [[YouTube]] | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZNljXmQzGY | title=Richard Thompson – 'The Cold Blue' (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Score) | date=22 May 2019|via=YouTube}}</ref>