Mock Tudor (album) explained

Mock Tudor
Type:studio
Artist:Richard Thompson
Cover:RT_MockTudor.jpg
Released:September 1999
Recorded:November 1998
Studio:The Sound Factory, Los Angeles; RAK Studios, London
Genre:British folk rock
Length:54:56
Label:Capitol
Producer:Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf
Prev Title:Celtschmerz
Prev Year:1998
Next Title:Action Packed
Next Year:2001

Mock Tudor is the tenth studio album by Richard Thompson. Released in 1999, it was his final album released by Capitol Records and his last to date for a major record label. Subsequent Thompson studio albums would be self-financed and distributed by smaller independent labels.

For this, his fifth album for Capitol, Thompson teamed up with producers Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf, and Mock Tudor had a more straightforward production than his preceding albums on Capitol which had been produced by Mitchell Froom. In this album Thompson draws predominantly on the musical styles of 1960s England—the time and place of his youth. The lyrics have a nostalgic tinge and are rich with allusion to fairy tales and children's books as well as to Shakespeare and T. S. Eliot.

Thematically, Mock Tudor is split into three sections: Metroland—comprising the first five songs, "Cooksferry Queen" to "Hard on Me", Heroes In The Suburbs—covering "Crawl Back (Under My Stone)" through "Walking the Long Miles Home", and concluding with Street Cries And Stage Whispers—encompassing the last three songs (on the original release). "Walking the Long Miles Home" recalls the days of Thompson' youth when he would watch such bands as The Yardbirds at London's Marquee Club but then miss the last tube back to his home in the suburbs.[1] [2]

Although widely regarded by critics and Thompson fans as one of his best works, Mock Tudor did not enjoy much popularity among the public.

Track listing

All songs written by Richard Thompson.

  1. "Cooksferry Queen" – 4:14
  2. "Sibella" – 4:15
  3. "Bathsheba Smiles" – 3:54
  4. "Two-Faced Love" – 4:03
  5. "Hard on Me" – 5:55
  6. "Crawl Back (Under My Stone)" – 3:59
  7. "Uninhabited Man" – 4:52
  8. "Dry My Tears and Move On" – 3:48
  9. "Walking the Long Miles Home" – 4:10
  10. "Sights and Sounds of London Town" – 4:54
  11. "That's All, Amen, Close the Door" – 5:56
  12. "Hope You Like the New Me" – 5:00

Mock Tudor was released on Bong Load Records as a double vinyl LP and with two extra songs.

Personnel

Technical

See also

Other sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: This gobsmacking guitarist will never be out of fashion. 30 June 2023. The Argus.
  2. Web site: Richard Thompson in Edmonds, WA. trouserpress.com.