Richard Thompson - Calvary Cross (Live 1983, from 'Watching The Dark')

-uploaded in HD at www.TunesToTube.com

[@GeorgeWindle-pl1uy]

The Man! No-one comes within a mile!!

[@charlieward3809]

Richard Thompson is absolutely astonishingly amazing I love this version of Calvary Cross Amazin!

[@lyndamiller9413]

ok...THIS is the definitive version of this incredible song! Gotta find my copy of 'Watching the Dark'!!

[@tonywethereld7429]

+Lynda Miller Nope, see my comment above.

[@lyndamiller9413]

+Tony Wethereld uhmm...what comment?

[@Youman71463]

I realize this is quite an old post and that tastes vary often depending which version was etched into the mind first, but for me I love the nine minute fifty six second version on the 2004 expanded edition of I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight - check it out when you get a chance if you don't already have it :) ~ I will say regarding this version right here, his ability to duet with himself (!) is far more apparent here, there are absolutely stunning passages

[@donreed3163]

Richard carries the light...!

[@bobbobson439]

This is my favorite version of this song, and I've heard many versions

[@3girls3wheels]

The lead guitar tears me up!

[@GeorgeWindle-pl1uy]

Genius nuf said!

[@nedgentz5740]

Remarkable guitar work. What a unique talent.

[@GretaGargoyle]

Greetings from Paris, a city under a state of mental siege. Sadly i couldn't see Richard when he played here a few weeks ago. This is the only version of what I feel is one of his greatest songs that I lie. the others seem to have an excess of accordion. The blistering guitar solo at the end is one of his finest, i feel.

[@mundaneallaround]

Sadly the whole world is now under mental siege.

[@jonathanwellman4203]

Confirmation that the well where music comes from,is in Thompson's parcel of this planet.

[@Frege100]

It hard to believe RT had much soul left after this performance. The well must be so deep it is scary.

[@studiosatori9596]

Most incredible version of this song.

[@ColeWheeler4Lyfe]

The Best Version. /discussion

[@Youman71463]

for me I love the nine minute fifty six second version on the 2004 expanded edition of I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight - check it out when you get a chance if you haven't already

[@bernieoneillkawara9094]

Love this song blessings from Bernie in the garden in Ireland September 8th 2021

[@cosmicdrifter287]

richard thompson gives me light in dark times.

[@pauldavidking9083]

Insanely good.

[@jamisondavid100]

Best version because of the way Richard segues into a Scottish piper's dirge. Really chilling. Richard is the best rock guitarist ever in my opinion.

[@eyeball226]

Is it actually a pipe tune? I assumed it was just a (semi-)improvised solo with very audible bagpipe influences. What is the tune called?

[@debcevans]

@@eyeball226 Look up the pipe tunes that are labeled piobaireachd. It is the formal music of great highland bagpipes, and it consists of a base tune, plus several variations on the tune. The titles tend to reflect sad situations; for example, a very famous (and extremely long) one, is called,"The Lament for the Children."

[@eyeball226]

@@debcevans Can you give me a timestamp in the video for when the actual known pipe tune starts? I can't tell which bits are just improvised solo and which bits are the pipe tune.

[@debcevans]

@@eyeball226 RT isn't playing a specific tune; he is using the base melody and applying piobaireachd forms to it. These forms include not doubling and tripling, plus a complicated form called the Crunluath, which is a very complicated variation of grace notes around each melody note. It starts at about 3:15. He plays the ground or basic melody, and then shifts into the various forms. The usual pattern is the ground, doubling, tripling, crunluath, then repeat the ground. If you listen carefully, that is what you will hear. (My knowledge is based on the fact that my son was an award-winning piobaireachd player, and , as mom, I had to listen to him practice these forms many times a day.)

[@eyeball226]

@@debcevans Gotcha. So I wasn't far off in my original guess, he is improvising but according to a specific set of rules.

[@Frege100]

Thanks for posting this. This is the best version I've heard of an astounding song.

[@chevy2599]

Epic.

[@GretaGargoyle]

Can you name another guitarist who sends remotely like Thompson? Such iconoclastic chord structures. Just like you could tell instantly that any scene he shot was Stanley Kubrick, you can tell in five seconds a Richard Thompson song is a Richard Thompson song.

[@regularnimnule9715]

Yup. Instantly recognisable.

[@giacomoschmitt]

La versione definitiva di un brano straordinario.

[@tonywethereld7429]

This is good, but not the 'best' version that I've heard - try the "In Concert - 1975" version at Richard & Linda Thompson - Calvary Cross and you might hear what I mean. The 'purists' might disagree with me, but for sheer 'oomph' the 1975 version just creams all the other 'electric' versions. For me, RT is and always will be a legend.

[@davidcrofts848]

I was there at Oxford Poly in November 1975 when the "In Concert" version was recorded. For me, that was the best, but this too is remarkable - the "guitar as bagpipe" in a strathspey rhythm.

[@user-bm7kn]

Muq🔥 🇹🇷

[@edgardner6798]

At times it sounds like he’s playing a sitar.

[@eyeball226]

Anyone know who else was in the band at this gig? I hear another guitar.

[@Frege100]

Simon Nichol (Guitar), Pat Donaldson (Bass) and Gerry Conway (Drums).

[@charabotte1]

what's the song meaning ?

[@GretaGargoyle]

I read several years ago that Richard said it was, most fundamentally, about what music and being a musician has meant to his life. The profound power that compels him to create and live his life with his music and spiritual beliefs at the core of his being. And how it's not always been an easy compulsion and passion to have had direct him.

[@heartsongz9]

Black cat cut your path ? Why don't you follow?

[@mohammedhanif6780]

oh the Darkness...

[@mohammedhanif6780]

this is your first day of sorrow

[@queslisenna280]

Alguém amando ouvir essa música em 2023?

[@richardmarnhout6509]

I wish that at him and Pete Townshend had made a record together.

[@XOY321]

Scoffed

[@terrydev1269]

Peerless.