Intriguing story of musical restoration, on East FM, Saturday from 3pm

Phil from Farm Cove

It’s a story of great adventure, courage, spirit and undoubted musical talent and creativity, that of Chris Thompson, and an amazing recording preservation project he and Donald McLeod embarked on a few years ago, so it’s with great pleasure we have them as our NZ Music feature artists on today’s She’ll Be Right on Saturdays Show with PJ Taylor, 7-11pm (NZ time, June 10) on East FM.
Back in the day, there were two young musician songwriters growing up in Hamilton (NZ) named Chris Thompson, and one went on to be a member of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.
The Chris Thompson we feature tomorrow is not that one, but equally interesting.
He started out in the Waikato; got a break to be backing guitarist for Julie Felix. Then in London circa 1971 began a solo career involving performances, songwriting and recording. A stint as musician in residence at Trinity College, in Dublin, followed, along with a highly industrious period of playing, recording and no doubt enjoying his OE. By Kiwi standards, it would have been an incredible one in pioneering OE times.
By the mid-1970s, Chris was back home, and he’s continued to play and release albums. He even toured with John Hanlon, Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
The story we’ll mostly focus on tomorrow is about his long-lost recordings that were on a 1974 Apple Corps acetate and left in London at EMI Studios before Chris returned to NZ.
They ended up getting moved around to different musical locations in London, before being tracked down by Donald McLeod, of Hamilton, and a team of people across the globe, after 43 years.
Sleeve notes of Drunken Nights in Dublin (2018, Pinenut Records/Chris Thompson) read: ‘Chris Thompson is an internationally recognised folk and blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. This long lost album is what was meant to have been his second album, available for the very first time in 2018.’
We’ll be talking live at 4pm to Chris Thompson and Donald McLeod about this amazing project to get these 1971-74 recordings that were in London and finally released on vinyl LP, 12”, and CD, in NZ in 2018.
East FM is East Auckland’s fair-dinkum community-powered public service radio station, on 88.1FM and 107.1FM on local frequencies, nationally and globally at www.eastfm.nz... and on app iHeart Radio.
She’ll Be Right - it’s all about the vibe; it’s all about the groove. And this Saturday, we find out about a very special Kiwi musician, Chris Thompson, and a unique resurrection. – PJ