Danny Thompson

Daniel Henry Edward 'Danny' Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist and businessman. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson (no relation) and John Martyn, but including many others: at various times he has for example played with Nick Drake, Roy Orbison, Julie Felix, Freddie and the Dreamers, Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Tom Paxton, Donovan, Vivian Stanshall, David Sylvian, Kate Bush, Linda Lewis, Mary Hopkin, Loreena McKennitt, Tim Buckley, and Davey Graham. For four years (1964-1967), he was a member of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, and he was a founding member of the British folk rock band Pentangle. Since 1987, he has also recorded four solo albums. He converted to Islam in 1990.

Biography and career
Thompson was born in Teignmouth, Devon. His father, a miner, joined the Royal Navy at the start of World War II and was lost in action whilst crewing submarines. When Thompson was aged 6, the family moved to London and he was brought up in the working-class area of Battersea. At school he excelled at football and played as a junior for Chelsea, the team he has supported ever since. Whilst at school he learnt guitar, mandolin, trumpet and trombone before settling on the upright bass as his instrument of choice.

While he has his own album releases Thompson is predominantly a session musician contributing to other artists, his highest profile recordings are currently with Richard Thompson e.g. Mirror Blue, The Old Kit Bag, and the concert DVD release Richard Thompson Live in Austin Texas, from the Austin City Limits televised concerts.

Like many musicians, Danny Thompson's life has featured brushes with substance abuse. During his partnership with John Martyn, their drinking and the excessive behaviour it spawned became the stuff of legend. In one incident related by Martyn, he woke up after passing out on a hotel room floor, to find himself under a rug which Thompson had nailed down, leaving only Martyn's head exposed. Thompson went about his business, eating breakfast etc., ignoring Martyn's pleas to let him loose.

Danny Thompson spent some time living in Clopton, Suffolk during the late 1970s early 80s with his wife Daphne and son Dan (Danny Junior who went on to be the drummer with Hawkwind(1985-88)) The lifestyle was that of a rock star with a country manor and a Bentley and eventually a recording studio in the grounds of Manor House. Thompson loved the fame and fortune but made time for everyone he encountered and spent time socializing with the parishioners of The Clopton Crown and The Otley, Suffolk White Hart. Early in the 1980s he moved away from Suffolk and back to London as a base to work from. Thompson regularly watches Watford F.C. and was featured in the Matchday programme in the 2011-12 season.

Thompson received a Lifetime achievement award in the 2007 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. An acclaimed biography of Thompson was written by John Hillarby.

"Victoria"
Danny Thompson's initial experience of bass playing was with a skiffle group, with whom he played a tea chest bass (a bass he built himself out of a tea chest, which folded up so he could carry it). In the early 1960s he bought a second-hand double bass from an old man in Battersea who let him have the instrument for £5 (despite the fact that it was worth much more than that), on the basis of his keenness to play it. He christened the instrument "Victoria" and it has remained his instrument of choice ever since. The bass was built by Gand, a French luthier, in 1865.

Victoria has been Thompson's sole instrument for the majority of his career, aside from three tours playing bass guitar for Roy Orbison in 1963. In response to increasingly stringent airline luggage regulations, Danny acquired a Czech-Ease travel bass in early 2007. Victoria is now used for all his work in the UK, with the new bass, named "Alfie", used for all international engagements.

In the early part of the 1980s he worked closely with documentary film-maker, Roy Deverell and composed music for two of his award-winning films, Echo of the Wild and A Passion to Protect. The films are about John Aspinall's pioneering work with endangered mammals.

Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated

 * Red Hot From Alex (1964)
 * Sky High (1966)
 * Blues Incorporated (1967 - re-issue of Sky High)

Alexis Korner

 * I Wonder Who (1967)
 * A New Generation of Blues (1968)

Pentangle

 * The Pentangle 	(1968)
 * Sweet Child 	(1968)
 * Basket of Light (1969)
 * Cruel Sister (1970)
 * Reflection (1971)
 * Solomon's Seal (1972)
 * Open the Door (1985)

Danny Thompson

 * Whatever (1987)
 * Whatever Next (1989)
 * Elemental (1990)
 * Whatever’s Best (1995)
 * Danny Thompson & Peter Knight (1995)

Richard Thompson and Danny Thompson

 * Live At Crawley (1995)
 * Industry (1997)

Others
Danny Thompson has played on dozens of albums and singles during his career. The following is only a small selection.


 * Vic Abram: The Folk Singer (1980)
 * ABC: Alphabet City (1987)
 * Mike Lindup: Changes (1990)
 * Richard Barbieri: Stranger Inside (2008)
 * The Blind Boys of Alabama: Spirit of the Century (2001)
 * Tim Buckley: Dream Letter: Live in London 1968 (1968)
 * Kate Bush: The Dreaming (1982); Hounds of Love (1985); 50 Words for Snow (2011)
 * Christine Collister: The Dark Gift Of Time (1998); An Equal Love (2001)
 * Graham Coxon: The Spinning Top (2009)
 * Barbara Dickson: Don’t Think Twice (1992); Dark End of The Street (1995)
 * Donovan: "There Is a Mountain" (single) (1967)
 * Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left (1969)
 * Marvin Etzioni: Marvin The Mandolin Man (1992)
 * Everything But The Girl: Amplified Heart (1994)
 * Marianne Faithfull: North Country Maid (1966); The World of Marianne Faithfull (1970)
 * Peter Gabriel: Up (2002)
 * Davey Graham: Folk Blues & Beyond (1965); Large As Life & Twice As Natural (1968); Hat (1969); Fire In The Soul (1999)
 * Boo Hewerdine: Baptist Hospital (1995)
 * Mary Hopkin: Earth Song / Ocean Song (1971); Live at The Royal Festival Hall 1972 (2005)
 * Hunter Muskett: Every Time You Move (1970)
 * The Incredible String Band: The 5000 Spirits (1967); Hard Rope & Silken Twine (1973)
 * Bert Jansch: Birthday Blues (1969); Moonshine (1972); L.A. Turnaround (1974); Avocet (1979); Sketches (1990)
 * John Martyn: Bless the Weather (1972); Solid Air (1973); Inside Out (1973); Sunday's Child (1975); Live At Leeds (1975); One World (1977); On the Cobbles (2004)
 * Magna Carta: Lord of the Ages (1973)
 * John & Beverley Martyn: The Road To Ruin (1970)
 * Loreena McKennitt: The Book of Secrets (1997)
 * Linda Lewis: ''Fathoms Deep (1973)
 * Ralph McTell: Easy (1974)
 * Alison Moyet: Hoodoo (1991)
 * Deva Premal: Dakshina (2005)
 * Cliff Richard: "Congratulations" (1968)
 * Darrell Scott: Theater of the Unheard (2003)
 * Ayuo: Songs from a Eurasian Journey (1997)
 * Songhai. Collaboration with Flamenco group Ketama and Kora player Toumani Diabate: Songhai (1988); Songhai 2 (1994)
 * S. E. Rogie: Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana (1997)
 * Rod Stewart: Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)
 * David Sylvian: Brilliant Trees (1984)
 * Talk Talk: The Colour of Spring (1986); Spirit of Eden (1988)
 * Richard Thompson: Amnesia (1988); Mirror Blue (1994); Live At Crawley (1995); You? me? us? (1996); Two Letter Words (1996); Celtschmerz (1998); Mock Tudor (1999); Semi-Detached Mock Tudor (2002); The Old Kit Bag (2003); Ducknapped! (2003); Live From Austin, TX (2005); Sweet Warrior (2007)
 * Thunderbirds (TV series): (theme tune) (1964)
 * Kathryn Tickell: Common Ground (1988)
 * T Rex: Light of Love (1974); Zinc Alloy & The Hidden Riders (1974)
 * Loudon Wainwright III: I'm Alright (1985); More Love Songs (1986); Therapy (1989)
 * Dawud Wharnsby: Vacuous Waxing (2004)