I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

After the marked lack of success achieved by his first album, Henry the Human Fly, British singer/songwriter/guitarist Richard Thompson started a personal and professional relationship with Linda Peters, a session singer. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight was the first album by the duo of Richard and Linda Thompson.

Sessions for the album took place in spring 1973 at the Sound Techniques studio, in Chelsea, London with house engineer John Wood co-producing with Thompson. The album, provisionally titled Hokey Pokey, was recorded on a shoestring budget in a matter of days, but because of vinyl shortages, the album was not released until 1974.[2]

Where his first album was treated harshly by the critics, the second was eventually hailed as a masterpiece. It is now regarded as a classic of English folk rock and one of the Thompsons' finest achievements.

In the sleeve notes for the 2004 CD re-release, David Suff writes: "Throughout the album Richard's sombre, dark songs are driven by his masterful understated guitar and Linda's haunting spiritual vocals. The songs detail a beautiful yet desolate world of life before the fall, the lives of the homeless, the thief and the inebriate. The songs are thoroughly English in their mood and responsibility, wry observations of the hopelessness of the human condition."[2] Considering the song "End of the Rainbow", Suff writes:

Richard denies that the song is totally pessimistic, "there's always hope in the third verse of my songs" yet the overall effect is a magnificent evocation of disillusionment. Thompson's songs are despairing but not self-pitying, leaving the listener with an abiding sense of peace and, paradoxically hope.[2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Robert Christgau	A− [4]
Q	[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	(10/10) [8]

Initially ignored by reviewers, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight later came to be highly regarded. Robert Christgau rated it highly when it was re-released as one-half of Live! (More or Less) noting that "[they] don't sentimentalize about time gone—they simply encompass it in an endless present."[4] When it was re-released in 1984, along with other albums in the Thompsons' catalogue, Kurt Loder writing in Rolling Stone described it as a "timeless masterpiece" with "not a single track that's less than luminous".[6]

More recent reviews are equally complimentary. AllMusic notes that the album is "nothing short of a masterpiece" and calls it "music of striking and unmistakable beauty".[3] Q (May 2007, p. 135): "After his 1971 departure from Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson found his ideal foil in recent bride Linda. A hugely inventive guitarist, he gives full vent to his talent on this dark, brooding album. Indeed, he never quite recaptured the murky demons inside the likes of 'Withered and Died' ever again." In the 2004 CD re-release, Chris Jones at the BBC noted that "Bright Lights...performs the most perfect balancing act between hard-bitten cynicism and honest humanism."[9]

It was voted number 814 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[10] In 2003 the album was placed at number 479 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and was placed at number 485 in the 2020 edition.[11][12] The album also appeared in the Mojo "100 Greatest Albums Ever Made".[2]

The title track has been covered by, among others, Mark Ronson featuring Raissa, Arlo Guthrie, Bellowhead, Dori Freeman, Julie Covington, Lucy Kaplansky, Matt Pond PA, Ocean Colour Scene, Sleater-Kinney and Weddings Parties Anything.

Caitlin Cary, Kate Rusby and Elvis Costello have all covered "Withered and Died". Kelly Willis has sung an acapella version in concert.

Costello has also covered "The End of the Rainbow", as has Barbara Manning.

Maria McKee covered "Has He Got a Friend for Me" on her first solo album Maria McKee (1989).

The Fatima Mansions covered "The Great Valerio" on their 1991 mini-album Bertie's Brochures.

Arlo Guthrie has also covered "When I Get To The Border" on his 1981 album "Power Of Love" [13][14]

Maura O'Connell covered "Down Where the Drunkards Roll" on her 1997 album, Wandering Home.[15]

All tracks are written by Richard Thompson (except for "Together Again", by Buck Owens).

Bonus tracks were recorded at the Roundhouse, London, on 7 September 1975.

• Humphries, Patrick (1997). Richard Thompson – The Biography. Schirmer Books. ISBN 978-0028647524.
• Smith, Dave. The Great Valerio – A Study of the Songs of Richard Thompson.
• Dimery, Robert; Lydon, Michael (2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2nd ed.). Universe Publishing (NY). ISBN 978-0789320742.