Arms folded, she walks to different corners of the room, head down, listening to the music.
Every so often, she moves her hands with the rhythm or does the slightest of jigs.
I cant, she says, sitting back down on a folding chair.
Linda Thompson lost her ability to sing to spasmodic dysphonia, but the British folk-rock legend’s music is still being heard on a new album.Tom Oldham*
I mean, I really wish I could.
Its enough for me to speak.
Now 76, Thompson is a grand dame of the Britishfolk scene.
Thompson, though, didnt have a choice but to pull back.
In Thompsons case, she says it was because of trauma.
It was feeling maybe I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, she says.
It was kind of a punitive regime, especially for women.
Thats what did it for me.
I found that I couldnt breathe properly, she says.
I thought it was my pregnancy.
But it was dysphonia.
It was quite hard to diagnose, because doctors didnt know much about it.
It was very freaky and scary, because you just dont know whats happening.
Thompsons condition has receded and returned periodically since but has accelerated in the last few years.
With the help of an occasional Botox injection, Thompson can sometimes speak as if nothings amiss.
But singing is now part of her past.
Its the same thing, although hers is a little more serious, she says.
But dysphonia is a neurological ailment.
But once its happened, its like Parkinsons: you cant switch it off.
And its just getting worse.
I think everybody would like to write a song, Thompson says.
Whether you could write agoodsong or not is a different matter.
When I couldnt sing, I had to do something.
Im very protective of my mum and her legacy as a musician, says Teddy.
As far as recordings with my dad, thats only five, seven years.
That sort of thing is attractive; it burns so bright for a short amount of time.
So Im hoping that people will remember those two bookends, including her second act as a songwriter.
The lineup will ultimately include Martha Wainwright, Amy Helm, Syd Straw, and the Bangles Vicki Peterson.
At the studio, Thompson greets them all warmly.
Singing is a fantastic way to express yourself, she says during a break.
And I miss it a lot.
I even miss being able to sing in the shower.
But I dont let it get me down.
I had it until I was 60-something.
So, you know, that will have to do.
The tattoo artist was about to spell it mom before she corrected him.
Its made for a lot of interest.
I should have taken notice of album covers before, because I just never bothered.
I would say to people, Just do whatever.
But now I think its good to do something controversial on the cover.
For a brief period,Nick Drakewas a sorta-boyfriend.
It was a weird thing, she recalls of the low-key Drake.
He would just show up at my house and play songs and wed hang out.
But it wasnt what can I say?
But he was amazing.
I wish Id had recordings of all those songs he sang in my living room.
She and Richard married in 1972 and soon began making records together.
But you did have the condescension and the you cant possibly know what youre talking about, she recalls.
You couldnt possibly say, What about a mandolin here?
Theyd go, What?
But then ten minutes later theyd go, Maybe we should try a mandolin on this.
It was just the way it was.
I became used to circumnavigating.
When her first case of dysphonia kicked in, Thompson says it was manageable for a while.
I couldnt do anything quickly anymore.
(She would also express her anger at Richard by occasionally tripping him as he walked onstage.)
Ronstadts friend Jane Fonda came by and gave Thompson a copy of her then-ubiquitous workout guide.
Teddy, who was born in 1976, didnt learn about his mothers issues until later in life.
There was no sort of announcement of her saying to me, Im not going to sing anymore.
It was just a slow petering out.
Looking back now, especially at the records she made, Teddy can hear the onset of her condition.
On her own, Thompson madeOne Clear Moment, her first solo album, in 1985.
Well, Ididused to be pretty, she says matter of factly.
You dont realize when you have it when youre pretty young.
And once its gone, youre kind of invisible.
But you know, thats okay.
Its nice to be pretty.
She also chafes when the wordlegacyis brought up: Legacy is a male concept.
My kids are my legacy.
God, that was 50 years ago!
she says of her marriage to Richard before referencing the songs sly connection between sex and dessert.
It does make me want to have ice cream, though.
