The RT cottage industry relivers a third reworking ofthe man's extensive back catalogue, this time hitting the obscurities rather than the classics.
Hughesy's assessment: Here's further proof (as if any is needed) that Richard Thompson sits somewhere towards the very top of the singer-songwriter pecking order. It's hard to figure what defines a Rarity in RT's view—presumably something that didn't fit in somewhere else or ended up on the back-burner, setlist-wise.
In some cases (What If?), it's fairly obvious why, but skim through the rest. These, remember, are, more or less, the castoffs. Your average singer-songwriter would use something like They Tore the Hippodrome Down as the centrepiece of a album. Here, it's the start of a steady build through the classic Never Again, a long-time favourite (The Poor Ditching Bo)) the bleak masterpiece that is End of the Rainbow and a couple of Fairport Convention classics in Sloth and Poor Will. The rest of the material ain't too shabby either.
And remember, folks, these are, in effect, the also-rans. Outstanding.
Track listing: What If?; They Tore the Hippodrome Down; Seven Brothers; Rainbow over the Hill; Never Again; I Must Have a March; I'll Take All My Sorrows to the Sea; The Poor Ditching Boy; Alexander Graham Bell; Sloth; Push and Shove; End of the Rainbow; Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman; She Played Right into My Hands
Highlights: Never Again; The Poor Ditching Boy; Alexander Graham Bell; Sloth; End of the Rainbow; Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman;
Worthwhile: They Tore the Hippodrome Down; Seven Brothers; Rainbow over the Hill; I Must Have a March; I'll Take All My Sorrows to the Sea; Push and Shove; She Played Right into My Hands
Solid: What If?;