Richard Thompson has had a long, rewarding career in music that's still going strong, from his early days with Fairport Convention, to his albums with then wife Linda Thompson, and a solo career. He's now reflecting on his life and career in his first-ever memoir, titled Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975, which will be published in the U.S. on April 6 via Algonquin:

Thompson packed more than a lifetime of experiences into his late teens and twenties. From the pivotal years of 1967 to 1975, he matured into a major musician, establishing the genre of British folk rock with the era-defining band Fairport Convention, only to depart for a duo act with his wife, Linda, at the height of the band's popularity. His discovery and ultimate embrace of Sufism profoundly reshaped his approach to everything in his life and, of course, the music he wrote thereafter. In this intimate memoir, Thompson recreates the spirit of the 60s as he found, and then lost, and then found his way again, and takes us inside life on the road in the UK and the US, crossing paths—and occasionally sharing the stage—with the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and more.

Like Patti Smith's Just Kids or Marianne Faithfull's Faithfull, Beeswing vividly captures the life of a remarkable artist during a period of creative intensity in a world on the cusp of change.

You can pre-order Beeswing now.

Richard released the Bloody Noses EP, which he made during lockdown, back in July.