LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

One Clear Moment, released in 1985, was Linda Thompson's only solo album until Fashionably Late hit stores in 2002. It also marked her emergence from the shadow of her ex-husband, acclaimed songwriter Richard Thompson. Their previous collaboration yielded such widely regarded folk-rock classics as I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight, Pour Down Like Silver, and Shoot Out The Lights. One Clear Moment was produced by Hugh Murphy (Gerry Rafferty, The Proclaimers) and mostly co-written with Murphy's then-wife, Betsy Cook. "I… disliked her intensely," Thompson says in the liner notes to this release, "'cause she's very loud and very American, and at the time I was very Muslim and very holier than-than-thou and a right royal pain in the arse. Then I got to love her more than I loved anybody." And Cook had a strong influence on the musical direction Thompson would take. "I can write the folkiest lyric in the world, and if Betsy sets them to a kind of rock tune, that's what they sound like," she explains. A polished record in the vein of Bonnie Raitt's best work, One Clear Moment didn't draw as heavily from Thompson's English and Scottish folk roots. It was rather an adventurous take on modern adult pop, and established her as a brave songwriter with an eclectic ear. The songs also inspired well-known covers, such as the Trio's (Dolly Parton, Linda Rondstadt, Emmylou Harris) version of "Telling Me Lies," which earned Thompson and Cook a Grammy® nomination. Following One Clear Moment, a vocal affliction known as spasmodic dysphonia forced something of an early retirement, but not before Thompson recorded a never-released album for Columbia in 1987. Some 15 years later, she returned to the pioneering style of her work with Richard, releasing the highly regarded Fashionably Late in July 2002 on Rounder Records. Rhino Handmade's release of One Clear Moment includes the original 11-song album, as well as five bonus tracks: the original single mix of the B-side "Talking Like A Man," plus four tracks recorded in the Lake District by Granada TV for Music On The Move July 20, 1983. All recordings have been remastered from original source materials. One Clear Moment is available as an individually numbered limited edition of 5,000 copies.
TRACK LISTING CAN'T STOP THE GIRL (3:49) ONE CLEAR MOMENT (3:55) TELLING ME LIES (4:22) IN LOVE WITH THE FLAME (3:51) LES TROIS BEAUX OISEAUX DE PARADIS (2:21) TAKE ME ON THE SUBWAY (3:34) BEST OF FRIENDS (3:47) HELL, HIGH WATER AND HEARTACHE (4:15) JUST ENOUGH TO KEEP ME HANGING ON (3:23) LOVER WON'T YOU THROW ME A LINE (3:21) ONLY A BOY (Recorded Live) (2:40) TALKING LIKE A MAN (original single mix) (3:18) SHADY LIES () FAITHFUL () HE MAY CALL YOU UP TONIGHT () I'M BLOWIN' AWAY ()