Danny Thompson, a genre-warping bassist who transcended sideman status to become a centerpiece of the eclectic British folk group Pentangle, as well as a sought-after accompanist to a long list of musical innovators, including Nick Drake, Kate Bush, Tim Buckley and Eric Clapton, died on Sept. 23 at his home in Rickmansworth, England. He was 86.
His death was announced on his official Instagram account. No cause was given.
With his intricate, free-form style on standup bass, Mr. Thompson crafted lines that were as inventive as those of any lead guitar solo. “You never just worked with Danny,” Ms. Bush wrote in an appreciation after his death. “You also worked with his double bass he called Victoria. The two of them were joined at the hip, and together they were the most fascinating storytellers — earthy and of the wild.”
Mr. Thompson brought drama and depth to Ms. Bush’s songs “Pull Out the Pin,” from her 1982 album, “The Dreaming,” and “Watching You Without Me,” from her 1985 release, “Hounds of Love.”
He began his rise in the mid-1960s as a member of Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, a talent factory that produced the star drummers Ginger Baker (Cream, Blind Faith) and Charlie Watts (the Rolling Stones), among others, and also as the leader of a trio that included the guitarist John McLaughlin, who would become known as a jazz fusion pioneer.
Pentangle, originally known as the Pentangle, formed in London in 1967 as something of a folk supergroup, with its rising-star bassist joining the guitar virtuosos John Renbourn and Bert Jansch; the Alexis Korner veteran Terry Cox on drums; and the vocalist Jacqui McShee.
Like Fairport Convention, founded the same year, which included the brilliant guitarist and singer Richard Thompson (no relation to Danny Thompson, with whom he would later record many albums), the band vaulted beyond the pastoral traditions of British folk with a highly eclectic — and, at times, electric — approach.
Critics tried in vain to pigeonhole the group’s sound, which blended elements of jazz, blues, country, classical and rock oldies, sometimes in the same song. The band members themselves didn’t bother.
“None of us are into one thing,” Mr. Thompson said in a 1971 interview with New Musical Express. “If someone asked me, ‘What’s your kind of music?,’” he added, “I’d say, ‘I have no idea.’”
Despite the band’s idiosyncrasies, it sold out the Royal Festival Hall in London in May 1967 and notched two Top 50 singles on the British charts: “Once I Had a Sweetheart” (No. 46 in 1969) and “Light Flight” (No. 43 the next year). Its 1968 debut album, called simply “The Pentangle,” made it to No. 21, followed by “Basket of Light” (No. 5) in 1969.
The original members split in 1973, although they regrouped to perform and record in various incarnations over the years. Faced with constant pressure to record and perform, the group “didn’t tell the business, ‘Hold on, you’re destroying the thing that brings in the money,’” Mr. Thompson said in a 1991 interview with the British music magazine Q. “It all became very tired, and I still had a raging enthusiasm to play.”
Daniel Henry Edward Thompson was born on April 4, 1939, in Teignmouth, on the southwestern coast of England. His father was killed in submarine action during World War II, and his mother moved the family to London when he was 6.
Growing up in Battersea, a working-class area on the east side of the River Thames, he was skilled at soccer and eventually played as a junior for Chelsea Football Club. He was also an avid musician; at 13, he made his first bass out of wood from a tea chest.
“I always wanted to be the best at whatever I did,” he said in an interview last year with the music site Louder. “When I was a kid, I wanted to be the best footballer. When I first got my bass when I was 16, I was living on my own, and I put up a sign above my door which said ‘PRACTICE.’”
The hard work paid off. He was soon gigging in Soho clubs, and after two years of national service he toured with Roy Orbison, making a rare excursion into electric bass.
In addition to his work with Pentangle, Mr. Thompson played on Donovan’s album “In Concert” (1968) and Tim Buckley’s “Dream Letter: Live in London 1968.”
Mr. Thompson began a longstanding collaboration with the folk-jazz singer and guitarist John Martyn when he played on Mr. Martyn’s 1971 album, “Bless the Weather.” He also made notable contributions to Nick Drake’s haunting 1969 debut album, “Five Leaves Left,” including a suitably flowing bass line on the indelible “River Man.”
Among his countless session gigs with top acts, he contributed to Rod Stewart’s chart-topping album “Every Picture Tells a Story” (1971) and Eric Clapton’s “461 Ocean Boulevard” (1974). In the 1990s, Mr. Thompson made forays into pop, recording with Everything but the Girl and Johnny Hates Jazz.
He is survived by his wife, Sylvia, and his son, Dan Jr.
In 1978, Mr. Thompson overcame a long history of substance abuse, an activity he had approached with characteristic competitiveness.
“When I drank, I was going to be the best drinker in the bar, or take the most drugs or whatever,” he told Louder last year. “When I did give up the drink I was going to be the best at that.”
Alex Williams is a Times reporter on the Obituaries desk.
The post Danny Thompson, Bassist Who Defied Folk Conventions, Dies at 86 appeared first on New York Times.
