Folk-rock legend Richard Thompson has spoken about returning to play at the Isle of Wight for the first time in more than half a century after he helped launch the very fist Isle of Wight Festival in 1968.
Thompson, who played that inaugural Island event as the lead guitarist in Fairport Convention, is proud that he helped lay the foundations for the then embryonic rock festival movement. The iconic first 3 IW Festivals – from 1968 to 1970 – paved the way for Glastonbury and countless others that followed in their wake.
Now Thompson, famously described by the Los Angeles Times as ‘The finest rock songwriter after Dylan and the best electric guitarist since Hendrix’, is to perform at the Million Dollar Bash – a 1-day event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1969 ‘Bob Dylan’ IW Festival – at the County Showground, Northwood on Saturday 31st August.
Thompson said of the 1968 event near Godshill:
“Hard to believe it’s more than 50 years since the first IoW festival. It was cold, ran hours behind schedule, and was nowhere near as glamorous as the following year (1969), but the music was stellar, and we were proud to be a part of it!”
It is that 1969 festival at Wootton that Thompson and an all-star bill including rockers Wishbone Ash; fellow Fairport founder-member Ashley Hutchings; 1969 IW Festival veterans Julie Felix, Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle and The Pretty Things’ Phil May and Dick Taylor will honour at the Bash. Thompson returned in 1969 – but as a fan.
Although the bill included great acts such as The Who, The Moody Blues, Joe Cocker and Free, Thompson only had eyes for Dylan, who has been a major influence on his career.
Thompson recalls:
“Quite a few of us went down to see Dylan and The Band, who were pretty great. It seemed a better organised festival that year. That’s all I remember seeing.
“He’s a very important figure culturally. He brought intelligent lyrics from folk into popular music and made the whole genre more grown up. Fairport were always a lyric band, and before we wrote ourselves, we were covering Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs – and Dylan.
“Without Bob the Beatles would have never tackled serious subjects, you’d have no Radiohead, no Kate Bush, no PJ Harvey and so on. Dylan opened the door for me and a host of others. I’ve never consciously copied Bob, and I don’t think I do anything remotely close to his style, but his influence is indisputable.”
Thompson turned 70 in April and reckons age does not have to dry the creative juices. He said:
“You should not slow down creatively but you can lose energy and focus. Experience is a wonderful thing and can compensate for that first flush of youth.
“If you love music, you want to play as long as you can, so you try to stay fit and mobile, and keep the important bits – fingers, voice – in working order.”
Asked if the Million Dollar Bash would be his first Isle of Wight live performance since the1968 festival, Thompson confirmed “it will be”, before glancing back at his career, which has included celebrated collaborations with his then-wife, Linda Thompson, and a host of rock and folk artists, including Bonnie Raitt, Loudon Wainwright III and Danny Thompson.
“It’s been mostly pleasure all the way. The Sixties were so intense, and we were young, and managed to cram a huge amount into just a few years, that the period from 1967-71 seems like a special time to me.”
Tickets for Million Dollar Bash are £44 (including booking fee) and are available from allwightnow.com now! Discounted hard-copy tickets (£40) can be bought on the Island from That 60’s Place, Cowes’ High Street, or from Dimbola Galleries and Museum, Freshwater Bay. Under-18s are half price and under-10s are free.
