Song Of The Day 2/5/2013: Richard Thompson - "Good Things Happen To Bad People"

Richard Thompson's my favorite guitarist of all time, and one of my favorite songwriters as well. I've seen him do things to an acoustic guitar that most people have to spend 25 years learning in remote regions of Nepal, studying under a grizzled yogi who doesn't speak for half the year and spends the other half in an inaccessible state of ascension. You need a real good travel agent for that.

If you're not familiar with Thompson's particular brand of shredding, both musical and sentimental, you have a large backlog of great albums under various configurations with which you may get acquainted with his work. This list includes early Fairport Convention records, the fabled sides he cut with his ex-wife Linda, and one of the most consistently good solo careers in rock history. The man just doesn't screw anything up. He's got a new album out today called Electric (although this YouTube video indicates it's coming out on Feb. 11). This is from that album.

Thompson is also one of only four artists* who've had more than one Song Of The Day so far. Name the other three and you win a theoretical session with the levitating half-mute yogi of Makalu.

(*Not including Jeff Buckley, who appeared on two Songs Of The Day, but one of them was as a guest artist on another band's recording. Yes, I keep records. It's the freaking highlight of my day.)