Description

Chris Thompson – Echoes From The Pit

Released: 1976 | Direction Records | DRS 1026 | Original New Zealand Pressing | LP

Echoes From The Pit is the second album from New Zealand singer-songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist Chris Thompson, and an important release in the early history of New Zealand folk and psych-folk. Issued by the independent Direction Records label, the album brings together recordings from Thompson’s time in the UK and Ireland with newer material recorded back in New Zealand.

The album showcases Thompson’s distinctive combination of intricate acoustic guitar, folk, blues and character-driven storytelling. Songs such as Young Lust, Hugo Spellman and Chelsea Style originated from his earlier recordings, while A Victim Speaks, The Station Mistress and the Express Driver and The Story of My Arrest and Trial demonstrate the more theatrical and often humorous songwriting that became a feature of his work.

The record is particularly interesting in the context of New Zealand music history. Thompson’s early albums have subsequently become sought-after cult records among collectors of New Zealand folk, acoustic guitar and psych-folk, and Echoes From The Pit preserves material from an important period in his musical development.

Track Listing

Side 1

1. Young Lust
2. Hugo Spellman
3. Chelsea Style
4. Wild About My Lovin’
5. Joshua Gone Barbados
6. Fox’s Minstrel Show

Side 2

1. A Victim Speaks
2. The Station Mistress and the Express Driver
3. Barcelona
4. Upstairs? Downstairs?
5. London Blues
6. The Story of My Arrest and Trial

A fascinating and increasingly collectable piece of 1970s New Zealand folk history, particularly appealing to collectors of rare NZ singer-songwriter, acoustic and psych-folk recordings.