Dreams Fly Away (Linda Thompson: rec. 1972 - 1987, rel. 1996)
A fine 20-track, single-CD compilation spanning Linda's career. Only five recordings are lifted from Richard & Linda albums, and only half the tunes are Richard Thompson compositions, with the rest split between covers, traditional folk songs, and her mid-80s collaboration with songwriter Betsy Cook. The Cook material is interesting but uneven, slightly mushy (the hummable, New Age-y "Insult To Injury") when it's not plain poppy (a remix of the New Wave-ish title track of One Clear Moment), and slathered with the same echoey, piercingly metallic synth effects that Pete Townshend was using at the same time ("Talking Like A Man"; "Telling Me Lies"). But Richard-heads will revel in the obscurities: the 1980 Gerry Rafferty-produced version of "Walking On A Wire" and cover of Sandy Denny's "I'm A Dreamer"; the demo of "First Light"; stark live takes on "Pavanne" and "The Great Valerio"; their 1972 version of poet Brian Patten's wistful "Sometimes It Happens"; and Linda's remake of "Dimming Of The Day," the only track from her unreleased, Herb Pedersen-produced, 1987 solo country-pop album with Bruce Hornsby, David Lindley, and David Grisman. It's also refreshing to hear her strong, stately soprano on track after track, especially when it's unadorned ("Many Dreams Must Fly Away," an a capella duo with Cook; the British folk tunes "Shay Fan Yan Ley" and "Blackwaterside"; "I Live Not Where I Love," from a 1987 Simon Nicol solo project). And the liner notes are excellent. (JA)