Richard Thompson (A-Side)

Richard Thompson talks about his critically acclaimed 1991 album 'Rumor and Sigh'. Series in which leading performers and songwriters talk about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios, each edition includes two episodes - the A-side and B-side. In this one (The A-side), Richard talks to John Wilson. Named by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the Top 20 Guitarists of all time, Richard looks back at the making of what is not just his most commercially successful album, but also one of the high points of his career. It was an album that earned him a Grammy Nomination for the Best Alternative Music Album (he lost out to REM) and it captures Thompson's obsession with romantic despair and the more miserable quirks of fate. And yet, like all good tragedy, it does not sound depressing - it is instead life affirming. Richard has said that the albums he considered "successful" were those where his initial concept most closely matched the finished product. By this yardstick, 'Rumor And Sigh' was one of his most successful albums, containing such tracks as "1952 Vincent Black Lightning", "God Loves A Drunk" and "Why Must I Plead". The B-side of the programme is where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions. Producer: Paul Kobrak First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2013.