Richard & Linda Thompson with Simon Nicol - Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester, 7 February 1981

Richard & Linda Thompson with Simon Nicol - Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester, U.K., 7 February 1981 (soundboard recording)
Note: A version of this recording has circulated previously (as well as appearing on the bootleg CD "Lonely Hearts"); this is a fresh (possibly better) digitised version direct from the copy in my possession, which was either made from the master (i.e. 2nd generation) or from a fairly clean cassette copy of the same (3rd generation).
Track Listing:
1. Time to Ring Some Changes
2. Walking on a Wire
3. The Choice Wife (instrumental)
4. Jet Plane in a Rocking Chair
5. Beat the Retreat
6. Lonely Hearts
7. Blues in the Bottle (from Prince Albert Hunt's Texas Ramblers, poss. via Lovin' Spoonful/Jim Kweskin Jug Band)
8. Sloth
9. Lucky in Life, Unlucky in Love
10. It's Just the Motion
11. Planxty Morgan Magan/Long Odds (instrumental)
12. Modern Woman
13. Trying to Get to You (Rose Marie McCoy and Charles Singleton)
14. Pavanne
Uploaded (with the permission of the original taper) by Tony Rees, New South Wales, Australia
From Clinton Heylin, "Gypsy Love Songs and Sad Refrains", 1988 edition: "[in 1981] The duo [Richard + Linda] played a few shows with Simon Nicol, including a magnificent show at the Lesser Free Trade Hall of which a soundboard tape is in circulation." This is (a copy of) that soundboard tape, let loose to the public (not via a restricted sharing group) for the first time. Enjoy!
Tony Rees, New South Wales, Australia
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[@cmockett22]

I was at this gig in Manchester. It's good to be able to re-live it.

[@vanu49]

Beautiful. Thanks for the upload!!!

[@tonyrees948]

Love the interplay between Simon & Richard's acoustic guitars - not something one hears very often. Plus Linda shines on some numbers (It's Just the Motion is great)...

[@troygaspard6732]

I turned 14 two days before this show. I knew little about British Folk Rock, that changed when going to UC Berkeley in 85 and buying the Sandy Denny box set that Joe Boyd had put out on his Hannibal label.I soon discover Pour Down Like Silver and there was no stopping from that point.

[@tonyrees948]

"Blues in the Bottle" is an old jug band number originally recorded (as "Blues in a Bottle") on a 1928 78 by Prince Albert Hunt's Texas Ramblers... later revived in the early 60s by The Holy Modal Rounders, Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band, and the Lovin' Spoonful, from one or several of which versions the performance here appears to originate. (Maybe Simon or Richard can elucidate further!)

[@troygaspard6732]

Fuck, you can hear the tension, but it works. Linda tears into "Walking On A Wire". Thank You Tony!

[@paddymeboy]

Although the music is decent, this is weird and awkward - grimly fascinating. No rhythm section. Must have been one of their last gigs together. Had there really been a fight backstage? There's certainly a lot of tension between them. You have to feel sorry for Linda, who sounds so vulnerable and sad, while the guys - was Simon Nicol there just to be a buffer between them? - are a bit dickish. It was bad enough writing a song like Walking On A Wire for her, but forcing her to sing it live and then making fun on her over it - it's close to emotional abuse.
RT does a surprisingly good turn as Elvis on that encore, though.
I wasn't at this gig, but I think I was at the evening of Irish entertainment RT mentions...

[@poolfrank11]

Sorry, but what you have written is an absolute travesty of the between song banter here.

[@BlackMonk66]

This is over a year before their final shows.