I got to meet her after one of the shows in 2004 ( After I got to hear her sing DIMMING OF THE DAY. ). The applause was so loud and sustained that she was a bit taken aback, in a good way that people would have even remembered who she was. That was an audience that I was proud to be a part of because of the positive impact that it had on the artist.

Remember when the BBC used to have great stuff like this on?

Linda is massively underrated. A really great voice.

The world really missed appreciating a great group. Linda is a wonderful singer and Richard is not only a great guitarist but perhaps the best at duetting his guitar to a woman's voice.

Trigger warning: Dimming of the Day is NOT recommended for anyone with a broken heart. Absolutely the saddest most beautiful song ever recorded.

Brilliant performance. Linda is a massively underrated vocalist.

I've loved Richard Thompson since about 1969, and I've lost count of the times I've seen him either acoustic, electric with great bands and always great great gigs. But always, and I mean ALWAYS there was something about that just wasn't quite as good as I wanted it to be., something missing And here it's clear. He has the perfect voice, for supporting Linda. What a loss to music that Linda developed dysphonia. Truly wonderful. 24 minutes Dimming of the Day. Has there ever been a more beautiful song more beautifully sung.

I'm always amazed how much I learn about artists from people's comments.

Delighted to find this. Musically, they were so great together. Very glad she regained her spirit and her voice after losing them for years after he suddenly abandoned her and their family.

Richard in full emotive solo mode, Director: 'let's focus on the Rhythm guitar

R.I.P. Pete Zorn. Man of all instruments. Cog in the wheel of the R.T.B.

I saw him (R T) at Mothers in Erdington High Street, Birmingham, Christmas 1970. Cold, snowy etc, but the beer soaked club allowed me to watch a miraculous player perform. Wonderful.

What a fantastic performance. Linda is sublime and Richard is delivering big time. What a partnership. We were blessed and lucky for it how brief and brilliant it was.

Absolutely fantastic - this must have been only a short time before Richard and Linda parted company as man and wife.... Very sad.. And then Linda lost her beautiful voice completely for a number of years.. Thankfully it is back now - I was fortunate enough to see Richard in concert here in Brisbane and talk to him after the show.. He is not only a supreme guitarist that few could ever match and a brilliant singer songwriter, but he's a lovely man as well.... It's lovely to see the two of them in unison as they were for the magnificent I WANNA SEE THE BRIGHT LIGHTS TONIGHT... We need talent like this in the dim times of Covid 19 and Trump.

Linda is the only one who can sing the RT songs the right way. Great. Thanks for the sharing.

May the wonderful Pete Zorn rest in peace carried by great musical vibes.

Thompson's guitar solo on Shoot Out The Lights is astonishing. Wonder how many later guitar "heroes" were influenced by it! So lucky to have seen this band at the time.

Looking at when this was broadcast 1981 we were in a musical wilderness just coming out of punk and just entering new romantic this must have been a breath of fresh air as it still is in today's desperate musical desert

Fantastic that this has been found and put on youtube. I had it for years on VHS from about 81 when I discovered them, then lost it in a move or loan. Can't recall. As fantastic as this is, with superb atmosphere created by the brilliant BBC, you can see how RT's guitar has become even better with every decade since. Now the best guitarist who ever lived. Just saw him at Cropredy - unbelievable!

This upload is what youtube is all about..., a true gem... thanx for uploading

Always loved Linda's version of Sandy Denny's "I'm a Dreamer."

Was Looking Through Q Magazine's List Of 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever - And Found This Gem!

"Dimming of the Day" is one of my favorites among Richard's hundreds of songs.

Thanks for making this concert available and love the music...

Great to hear "You're Going to Need Somebody", one of my favorite R&L tracks.

What a line up! All top of their own ranges. Saw Pete Zorn with Richard at Derngate Northampton and he was one of the great multi instrumentalists. RIP.

It's so good to see this again after all these years. I'd given up hoping that it would surface again. Thanks very much for posting.

I remember when this excellent special was broadcast. I had the TV turned down and was just enjoying a 'Jazz Woodbine' before turning in for the night. Suddenly THIS came on and I couldn't believe I hadn't KNOWN they were showing it!

Absolutely great; such soulful, timeless and far reaching music. It is magical and true. THANKS.

Total Class in every way! I too recorded this on the first BBC2 broadcast with the old Fergusson Videostar. Spoilt at the age of 20.

Pre VCR in my house. I watched it (booked the living room). Dad sat through this one with a whiskey and a fag and didn't make snarky comments, because while he didn't like it, he was more than a good enough musician to know this was something special. The whole series was a high watermark for me. It had sets from John Martyn and The Home Service as well (Dad loved the Home Service). Required viewing. I was so used to these musicians by this time, that I didn't really appreciate how special this lineup is. I'd met some of them and seen most of them live at one time or another. Dad was classically trained and had roots in the jazz scene of the 50s and 60s. He could hear how Richard wanders outside the lines, pulling the melodic line into wild new shapes, and resolving perfectly in a way Coltraine or Davis would understand. He was grudgingly impressed. I was ecstatic. Great to find this here.

Best live performance by RLT I've heard yet. Very good sound for the era. A real treat.

Blimey. Wow. Thanks for posting this gem.

Tremendously powerful! Thanks for posting this. TRULY!!

This is incredible. Thank you for posting this.

She is magnificent.

Real heart and soul for days with these two, not to mention some of the best guitar playing ever. What a treat.

Wow!!! I can hardly believe how good this is.

Linda's voice is fantastic. Brings back some great memories. Interesting how they changed Dargai and Dimming of the Day around. Those last two songs were recored the other way so it threw me for a bit. I think I prefer the original order. But the electric version is WOW!

Fantastic stuff Brian. I had this from '81 for years on VHS until recently, then lost it in. a move or something. It converted me for a lifetime.

Great performance. Thanks for posting it!

The most beautiful sound I have ever heard...musical perfection RT, LT

This is gold. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for posting this! Richard and Linda are my all-time favorites, ever since I heard their “Bright Lights” album.

At 7:00, video shows an acoustic guitar being strummed while somewhere off-camera Richard is playing a tasty solo. Damn you, BBC video editors!

Linda does a great job on Sandys I’m a dreamer

A joy....thanks for posting it :-)

Wonderful. Thank you.

If I should ever come back in the next life I hope I find a woman nearly as breathtaking as Linda Thompson but hey I'll settle for the video for now LOL

Fantastic as always. June Tabor and the Oyster Band covered "Night Comes In", a very fine version off a great album by them.

Somewhere I have a copy of this from the BBC master, hopefully one day I'll find it!!

This is fucking terrific! What a great find!

Bright Lights!! Love that intro too :)

thanks for posting this - fancy seeing Linda playing a Telecaster - seen her playing an acoustic guitar more recently on Jules Holland, but didn't know she ever played electric.

I got to see this band at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto , great show.

Nice thanks

Saw this line-up, apart from John Kirkpatrick and Linda (who pulled out at some time before the performance) the following year at a small club, The Blue Note, in Derby. Superb, as always, but I remember being disappointed by Linda's non-appearance. Didn't realise at that stage she and Richard were finished as a couple......

Bryan, you are my hero! Thank you so much for this upload! Thank you for sharing it, you are a gentleman!

Linda was soooo good.

I saw Richard & Linda on the "Shoot Out The Lights" tour in the states. (Same band I believe, although I'm not sure about John Kirkpatrick.) Watching this clip, now nearly 40 years old, I'm struck by what a good electric bass player Pete Zorn was.

I mean, watching this incredible, precious performance footage, and then you have to look at pictures of homeless people...maybe it seemed like a good idea at the time....

Wow . Gotta love em

Amazing

Magical.

At some point, Richard must have been a huge Ry Cooder fan, just listening to his guitar sound and style

She knew just where he kept his better side.

Pete on bass is amazing

Brilliant

RIP Pete...

Doing a great cover of Sandy Dennis's I'm A Dreamer.

I'm a dreamer. Linda is the best. Reminds me of GP....not always the best, but when she hit's it, its the best!

Marriage on rocks, music the jagged edges. (Note they're not anywhere near each other.) Oh well, we got them together for a few years. Linda not in good shape but still better than 90% of other singers. Richard the gunslinger he's been since the age of 17 (and still is). What great music though questionable camerawork.

Night Comes In 💞❤💜

Heaven.

Fab

Would anyone in 2024 ever think of filming this in such a low key way?

Brilliant and timeless music. Sublime performance. Pisspoor shite for video production overkill...

this is on the LIVE AT THE BBC box set....

Brilliant music pity about the crap camera work and video editing.

Wow. Be still my beating heart @8.25

good looking woman

Wonderful version of 'I'm a dreamer'. Photographs of Bristol; was the set recorded there?

DM and the sadly missed Pete Zorn in good form.

I saw the bright tonight.

Oof. "Bright Lights" really isn't in Linda's key here is it. Ouch.

Stunning version of Dimming of the Day, but we cant see if it's Richard, or Pete Zorn, playing the banjo. I cant hear any acoustic guitar in there......PS, the video ends with the first bars and chorus of Night Comes In; I wish they hadn't cut it off !

This has to be one of the most frustrating yet awesome videos. Worst directed music video Ever. Maybe they said to not get Simon's or Dave's, or, barely, Richard's face during filming. 300-foot shots of a guitarist? Really?This is such a signature moment. Not just to see what R&L were like together, but doing a Sandy Denny song right after she died. Maybe that's why they didn't film them because it had to hurt all of them. Linda Thompson, I know why the camera guy went to you. Beautiful.

What a mix. That squeeze box player makes such a difference. How does he do it?

RT in pre-beret days lol

RT's songs with Linda were real and personal, where his later work often feels a bit detached. I haven't heard the whole of his massive back catalogue but I doubt he ever did a song as intense and sinister as Shoot Out the Lights. Turned out to be the pivot of his life.

Let's talk signal chain here, especially "Shoot Out the Lights." '59 strat with '55 neck, original pickups, formvar-coated windings, 0.09's Maybe a Deluxe Reverb? I can't see Richard's amp in this footage. I assume he's using the amp's trem and verb. I hear slapback delay, also hear chorus on "Night Comes In", there are clearly pedals at his feet, just too low resolution to make any of them out. Anyone have any idea what pedals Richard used in this era? His tone in this era is unbeatable. It destroys me. I gotta know!

Buried Treasure

As they're doing 'Shoot Out The Lights', presumably this was during the Tour From Hell of 1982?

Is there at least one other good song out there besides "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight?"

More importantly, we demand to know if that's Brum's Mayfair Suite at 8:13?

You've gotta love Dave Mattacks but for years I have found his rim shot in a ballad just too loud. He and Trevor Lucas ruined ":Carnival" by Sandy Denny with the same tuneless thump...also you're got to love Linda - Sandy's old drinking buddy ,but no matter still can't bare anyone else singing her songs..even her friend. Sandy Denny RIP

Social distancing?

A more interesting version of Dargai than the one on "Pour down…"

@Bryan Petifer, Linda's maiden name was Petifer, any relation?