"Marjorie Thompson opens her new CD, "Right By Me," with a song called, "Don't Look Back," which is essentially a noirish tale of a spiked-heeled lady on a date who decides she doesn't want to see the guy again, and makes sure no one else will, either. It is Thompson's wicked humor blended with a country-folk sensibility that makes the track stand out. But it is her extraordinary fingerstyle acoustic picking and ingenious songwriting ability that makes the entire CD a triumph. She is supported on "Right By Me" by some terrific musicians, including mandolin genius Barry Mitterhoff and pedal steel player Buddy Cage. Some of the other notable cuts include a poignant tale of human interaction called "Ernie And Grace," a juicy ode to edibles entitled "Eat Right By Me," and a sparkling version of Jorma Kaukonen's "Watch The North Wind Rise." So make a date with Marjorie Thompson. Just make sure you have a food-taster nearby."

- Michael Ventre, MSNBC.com

 

"Marjorie has released 'Right By Me,' an acoustic flavored offering with that expected finger picking expertise Thompson has been priming o'er these many years. However, it is her strong sense of lyric that shines throughout. Through each unfolding track, she creates a weave of storytelling that can be both whimsical and weighty."

- Don DiMuccio, RIMotif

 

"Each new album from Marjorie Thompson presents melodic, memorable facets of the life, times and psyche of this modern singer-songwriter who derives her music from the folk and fingerpicking tradition. Sometimes sensual, sometimes political, always relevant and universal in her polished, acoustic presentation, in her fourth CD she again surrounds herself with notable musicians. Featured sidepersons include Buddy Cage on pedal steel - yes, that Buddy Cage who played in New Riders of the Purple Sage, with Dylan on Blood on the Tracks, with Ian & Sylvia on Great Speckled Bird. She provisions us the best mandolinist in the Northeastern Quadrant: Barry Mitterhoff, formerly of Skyline with Tony Trischka, Silk City and, most recently, the touring partner of Jorma Kaukonen.

I began to think, listening to this album, that we have finally found the next Phil Ochs -- Marjorie's song "America the New" recalls Ochs' sardonic, trenchant contemporary criticism with the stops-you-cold line: "When Social was the word, instead of Homeland, that described Security." And then in "Ernie and Grace" she uses the phrase "There but for Fortune." Shivers up the spine, anybody? Her first song, familiarly titled "Don't Look Back" is an auspicious opening piece about three novel ways to kill your lover. Now that's original! "Come to the River" utilizes a six-string guitar-banjo, with its powerful walking bass, in the Delta blues idiom. "Light of Day," punctuated by Mike Levine's tasteful, lyrical Dobro lines, examines a theme that returns so often in Marjorie's songs - that of self-actualization as, perhaps, defined by theorist Kurt Goldstein who postulated that the drive to realize all of one's potentialities is in fact the "Master Motive" - the only real motive a person has. Marjorie takes the poetic view when she writes: "Sitting in the barroom, perched up on a chair, I must be invisible, and the barman he can't hear."

Whether writing of a chance encounter in a darkened parking lot or happily interpreting Paul McCartney's timeless fantasy about sexagenarian life (with the grandkids, Vera, Chuck and Dave), Marjorie Thompson generously gives us thoughtful themes and mellifluous music. Her musicianship is resplendent with six-string sparkle."

- Stan Jay, Mandolin Brothers

 

"I've been following Marjorie Thompson's music for, well, almost ten years. Right By Me is certainly her finest outing to date. It is well produced and delivered with depth and conviction. Strong, Marjorie, very strong."

- Jorma Kaukonen

 

"I almost don’t know where to begin to share the fascinating story included in this 40 something woman’s bio that came to me with her 4th CD, Right By Me.

Like most of her peers, Marjorie Thompson became interested in music as a young girl in the 60’s. Her first guitar became a stepping stone to teaching herself a unique style of finger picking. A style that has and is a story all on its own. But here’s where this artist is truly one of a kind. She also became interested in Science and went on to study and get a PhD, (yes, that’s what I said) in biology from Brown University, where she ended up teaching and to this day continues to be a member of the faculty and deanery. Ok, now if that’s not enough to impress you-get this-she also has seven children! It makes me truly wonder how this woman with seven kids found the time and the energy, to once again, 'rediscover' music later in life, and not only to excel in the finger picking style she had taught herself as a young girl, but also to begin the process of writing her first song and then recording them in her late 30’s. So listen up all you late bloomers. Here is a shining example of the old adage, 'its never too late!'

Now about her music. It has to be obvious from reading what I just wrote, that this woman is her own person. And that certainly comes thru in her songs on this CD. Starting off with the ominous, 'Don’t Look Back', she takes us down an artistic path that is truly admirable. And although her particular simple and raw style will not appeal to everyone, you can’t help but appreciate this one of a kind artists commitment to her craft. Every song but one is a solo write and carries its own weight, staying within the realm of her unique guitar playing and very basic singing. The one song she didn’t write is a stripped down hip rendition of the Beatles classic, 'When I’m Sixty-Four', that somehow manages to come off as a Marjorie Thompson song, even though I knew of course that she did not write it.

To call this woman an overachiever would be an understatement. If you go to her web site, you will see that she also sells jewelry that she makes in the form of cells-not the kind you talk on, but the one’s swimming around in a biology lab. Still, I wouldn’t want you to think that any of this takes away from her music. It’s a joy to discover an artist like this. And even more so, to be able to write about it and hopefully inspire other mature bloomers to never ever give up on their dreams.

- Nancy Montgomery, Music News Nashville

 

"I'm tempted to say that I taught her everything she knows, but she's gone so far beyond anything I showed her I'm afraid I might get called on it."

- Chris Smither

 

"Great work throughout - it makes me proud to be a Marge-Tone!"

- Pat Donohue

 

"Marjorie Thompson's singing and lyrics channel the classic folk artist of old, and her playing shows that all you really need is the pure touch of an acoustic guitar, and a heart-felt, soulful song."

- Pete Sears

 

"I was not familiar with Marjorie Thompson, but was intrigued that this remarkable over-achiever (or perhaps a true renaissance person) managed to balance a thriving musical career with a full-time academic position at an Ivy League university. Her original music combines elements of folk, country, and blues, with a nod to traveling troubadors that provides a unique lyrical quality coupled with contagious melodies.

"A native New Yorker, her early interest in piano was essentially stifled due to space limitations. At 10, she received a $16 guitar and began to emulate blues players like Mississippi John Hurt. A competing passion for science ultimately led to a Brown University Ph.D. in Biology in 1979; Thompson had the first of seven children in 1980 followed by a Masters in Accounting at the U. of RI. An appointment as Associate Dean of Biological Sciences at Brown followed in 1983, where she also teaches Histology at the Medical School and Embryology to undergraduates. After completing a Certificate of Scientific Illustration at Rhode Island School of Design in 1990, she began designing and selling "biologically correct" cellular jewelry.

"In 1999, she saw an ad for Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch Guitar Camp, which offered weekend workshops. She had admired Kaukonen since 1970, when he and bassist Jack Casady, after leaving Jefferson Airplane, released Hot Tuna's first album. She attended the first of many workshops and ultimately achieved her ambition to play the Rev. Gary Davis' 'Hesitation Blues' the way Jorma played it. By 2001 she began to write songs and was encouraged to begin performing. After a demo CD, she booked 92 performances the first year. Right By Me is her fifth CD, and she performs throughout the east coast and Europe. She now teaches her own workshop at the Ranch -- the most recent being 'Songcrafting and Country Blues Essentials.' Oh yes -- her music, in a word -- INFECTIOUS!"

- Scott Peavler, Elmore

 

"The songwriting is thoughtful, witty, sometimes whimsical but always clever. Her guitar playing is steeped in the Piedmont and Blues traditions, showing that she is an expert fingerpicker. Taken as a whole, this CD simply works. It's wonderful."

- Little Toby Walker

 

Track Listing

1. Don't Look Back	3.00
2. America the New	4.25
3. Eat Right By Me	3.02
4. Come to the River	3.13
5. Watch the North Wind Rise	3.50
6. Ernie and Grace	4.58
7. How to Be	3.27
8. Dead or Alive Blues	3.58
9. Dignity	3.53
10. Light of Day	2.54
11. Weather Report	3.26
12. When I'm Sixty-Four	3.00
13. Life of Me	4.08

 

Lyrics