Chris Thompson

by James AllenThe tiny British label Village Thing put out some of the finest U.K. folk releases of the early ‘70s, with a roster including Wizz Jones, Steve Tilston, and Ian A. Anderson (not to be confused with the Jethro Tull frontman). But even for Village Thing, whose initial runs were only a couple of thousand copies per album, Chris Thompson's debut album was a little-seen obscurity. It's been estimated that only about 1,000 copies of the 1973 recording were made, and that all but 100 were destroyed as part of some kind of tax scam. This was unfortunate both for Thompson, a New Zealander whose guitar talents had made him a favorite on the London folk scene, and for fans of the music. Fortunately, the album was subsequently reissued on CD on the U.S. label Scenescof, but the later repackaging on Sunbeam … » Read more