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Danny Thompson

{{Short description|English double bassist (born 1939)}}

{{Other people}}

{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{BLP sources|date=September 2019}}

{{More footnotes|date=November 2016}}}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Danny Thompson

| image = Danny Thompson.JPG

| caption = Thompson backing Martin Simpson at the 2008 Folk by the Oak Festival, Hatfield House

| image_size =

| birth_name = Daniel Henry Edward Thompson

| alias =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|4|4|df=y}}

| birth_place = Teignmouth, Devon, England

| death_date =

| instrument = Upright bass, guitar, mandolin, trumpet, trombone, tea chest bass

| genre = Folk, rock, jazz, blues, skiffle

| occupation = Musician, songwriter, record producer

| years_active =

| label = Island Records

| website = [http://www.dannythompson.co.uk Danny Thompson.co.uk]

}}

Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939){{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/danny-thompson-mn0001233067/biography|title=Danny Thompson Biography, Songs, & Albums|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=15 October 2021}} is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Martyn.

For four years, between 1964 and 1967, he was a member of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated,{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=1176}} led a trio that included guitarist John McLaughlin, and was a founding member of the British folk-jazz band Pentangle. Since 1987, he has also recorded four solo albums. He converted to Islam in 1990.[http://www.therealdannythompson.co.uk/page/page/4328870.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070430021204/http://www.therealdannythompson.co.uk/page/page/4328870.htm|date=30 April 2007}} "In 1999 Danny was interviewed for the BBC TV series Faces of Islam in which he discussed becoming a Muslim and his realisation of the fact that whilst he had only converted to Islam in 1990, the Muslim faith had always been within him."

Biography and career

Thompson was born in Teignmouth, Devon, England. 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 played competitive football and was 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.{{cite news|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |author=Chilton, Martin |date=28 March 2014 |title=Danny Thompson: bass player for the greats |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/worldfolkandjazz/10676329/Danny-Thompson-bass-player-for-the-greats.html |access-date=2018-11-10 }}

Thompson was a member of the folk-jazz group Pentangle, throughout its first incarnation (1967–1973) and in some of its subsequent versions and reunions. In 1987, Thompson released his debut solo album Whatever to critical acclaim.

While he has had his own album releases, Thompson has been predominantly a session musician contributing to other artists' recordings and tours, such as with John Martyn and with Richard Thompson (no relation; 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).

Danny Thompson lived in Clopton, Suffolk during the late 1970s and early 1980s with his wife Daphne and son Dan (Danny Junior, who went on to be the drummer with Hawkwind (1985–88)) Early in the 1980s he moved back to London. He received a Lifetime achievement award in the 2007 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

In the early 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.

He accepted Islam in 1990, taking the Muslim name Hamza.{{Cite book|last=Sugich|first=Michael|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1096187819|title=Hearts turn: sinners, seekers, saints & the road to redemption|publisher=Telltale Texts|year=2019|isbn=978-0-9893640-0-3|location=[Place of publication not identified]|pages=110–111|oclc=1096187819}}

Between 1995 and 2013, he was a member of the 'house band' in five of the six series of the BBC/RTE Transatlantic Sessions.

Partial discography

{{div col}}

=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=

=Danny Thompson=

  • Whatever (1987)
  • Whatever Next (1989)
  • Elemental (1990)
  • Whatever’s Best (1995)
  • Danny Thompson & Peter Knight (1995) Resurgence – RES108CD{{Cite web |url=https://mainlynorfolk.info/steeleye.span/records/peterknightanddannythompson.html |title=Peter Knight & Danny Thompson |website=Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music |language=en |access-date=2017-09-17}}
  • Connected (2012){{Cite web |url=https://www.therealdannythompson.co.uk/products/connected |title=Danny Thompson: Connected |publisher=Danny Thompson |language=en |access-date=2018-11-10}}

=Danny Thompson, [[Allan Holdsworth]] and [[John Stevens (drummer)|John Stevens]]=

  • Propensity (2009, recorded 1978)

=Dizrhythmia=

  • Dizrhythmia (1988)
  • Too (2016)

=Richard Thompson=

=Richard Thompson and Danny Thompson=

=Jon Thorne & Danny Thompson=

  • Watching the Well (2010)

{{div col end}}

=Others=

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

{{div col}}

{{div col end}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{external links|date=April 2017}}

  • [http://www.therealdannythompson.co.uk The Official Danny Thompson Website]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20110702002847/http://www.dannythompson.co.uk/ The Danny Thompson Website] (archived 2011)
  • [https://www.myspace.com/therealdannythompson Danny Thompson My Space]
  • [http://www.uga.edu/islam/rockmusic.html Thompson and Islam]
  • [http://www.johnmartyn.com Worked extensively with John Martyn in the 1970s]
  • [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/intothemusic/stories/2007/2070336.htm Some of the Notes Hurt Your Eyes – A musical conversation with Bassist Danny Thompson]
  • [http://allmusic.com/artist/danny-thompson-p163229 Entry for Danny Thompson at AllMusic]
  • [http://allmusic.com/artist/danny-thompson-p632402 1 of several entries for Danny Thompson at AllMusic with mixed-up data]
  • [http://allmusic.com/artist/danny-thompson-p7678 Another of several entries for Danny Thompson at AllMusic with mixed-up data]
  • {{Discogs artist|Danny Thompson}}
  • {{imdb name|1171288}}

{{Pentangle}}

{{The Who}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Danny}}

Category:1939 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Teignmouth

Category:English double-bassists

Category:British male double-bassists

Category:Converts to Islam

Category:English Muslims

Category:People from Battersea

Category:English folk rock musicians

Category:Epic Records artists

Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians

Category:Musicians from Devon

Category:Pentangle (band) members

Category:Blues Incorporated members

Category:21st-century British double-bassists

Category:21st-century British male musicians

Category:Johnny Burch Octet members