Live At Crawley 1993

"Live at Crawley" Released in 1995 is a live album by Richard Thompson, it was recorded in 1993. Thompson is a widely bootlegged artist. He is vociferous in his opposition to bootlegs on the grounds that not only does the artist not gain by them, but that they also deprive the artist of control over the quality of his output. Recognising that the people who buy bootlegs are mostly fans and completists looking for additional material, Thompson decided to start marketing additional live and archival recordings that would provide a better quality alternative to the bootlegs, which would be approved by him and which would provide an additional revenue stream. He negotiated with his then record label Capitol to be allowed to distribute 'not for retail' discs at shows and via mail order. Live at Crawley is the first of these "authorised bootlegs". Live at Crawley was the first official live Thompson release since 1984s Small Town Romance. The contrast between the two recordings is marked. On the earlier album Thompson sounds introverted and ill at ease, but on the later album he is a more confident front man and engages the audience.