Richard & Linda Thompson: Hokey Pokey (Island ILPS 9305); I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (Island ILPS 9266)

SINCE DEPARTING Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson has risked increasing obscurity to pursue a personal style in direct variance with his most obvious commercial skills. Sinewy, high-powered electric guitar work may have been his Fairport trademark, yet three albums of Thompson songs, the last two recorded with his wife, Linda, have subordinated kilowatt flashes to a more somber, predominately acoustic approach.