LOVE AND MARRIAGE: No Happiness, Please, We're British

What is it with chicks and guitarists? Yesterday's post (and tomorrow's, if you're dying to know, but why would you?) concern couples featuring a guitar pickin' man and his woman. Sadly, most of this week's spotlighted unions have ended in divorce. My, how quickly "Love and Marriage" week has turned sour. But that's how love often goes. We should just be thankful that their marital pain has given us such musical pleasure, and nobody did pain and pleasure better than Richard and Linda Thompson.

The Thompsons were England's answer to Carly Simon and James Taylor, except much artier, and they never did that godawful "Mockingbird" song. Instead, they did a lot of good ones. Smart move. Richard had been a founding member of English folk rockers the Fairport Convention, and had made a name for himself as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After he left the group, he married another folksinger named Linda Peters, and they started singing as a duo.

Though their marriage would only last a decade, Richard and Linda recorded a string of acclaimed albums blending elements of rock, American folk, and traditional Celtic music. Linda has the kind of voice you wish could sing you a lullaby every night before bed. Richard is the troubadour you hope one day might sing your life story. Together, they were a folkie's wet dream, singing heart-wrenching ballads with an authentic ache. It became even more authentic when Richard left Linda-- and their three children-- for another woman in 1983.

But you can see why they were initially attracted to each other. As Linda's most recent solo album, Versatile Heart, proves, she's no Yoko. Her writing and singing chime with wit and soul. Richard is a songwriter of great heart but also great intellect, and his impressive guitar work never fails to amaze. Like Paul Simon, his playing is more intricate than flashy, and it often takes multiple listens to hear just what he's up to.

The couple split right after the release of 1982's Shoot Out the Lights, their most successful work. Though they've both moved on to solo careers, their joint accomplishments haven't been forgotten, particularly in the form of their son, singer Teddy Thompson. Teddy was born on the Muslim commune Richard and Linda retreated to in the mid-1970s. Folksinging, Islamic communes; how can two people with this much in common not make it work?

TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION: "Wall of Death" by Richard and Linda Thompson
AVAILABLE ON: Shoot Out the Lights; iTunes