Biography and Career
His father, a miner, joined the Royal Navy at the start of World War II and was lost in action whilst crewing submarines. When Thompson was aged 6, the family moved to London and he was brought up in the working-class area of Battersea. At school he excelled at football and played as a junior for Chelsea, the team he has supported ever since. Whilst at school he learnt guitar, mandolin, trumpet and trombone before settling on the upright bass as his instrument of choice.
While he has his own album releases Thompson is predominantly a session musician contributing to other artists, his highest profile recordings are currently with Richard Thompson e.g. Mirror Blue, The Old Kit Bag, and the concert DVD release Richard Thompson Live in Austin Texas, from the Austin City Limits televised concerts.
Like many musicians, Danny Thompson's life has featured brushes with substance abuse. During his partnership with John Martyn, their drinking and the excessive behaviour it spawned became the stuff of legend. In one incident related by Martyn, he woke up after passing out on a hotel room floor, to find himself under a rug which Thompson had nailed down, leaving only Martyn's head exposed. Thompson went about his business, eating breakfast etc., ignoring Martyn's pleas to let him loose.
Danny Thompson spent some time living in Clopton, Suffolk in Suffolk during the late 1970s early 80s with his wife Daphne and son Dan (Danny Junior who went on to be the drummer with Hawkwind) The lifestyle was that of a rock star with a country manor and a Bentley and eventually a recording studio in the grounds of Manor House. Thompson loved the fame and fortune but made time for everyone he encountered and spent time socializing with the parishioners of The Clopton Crown and The Otley, Suffolk White Hart. Early in the 1980s he moved away from Suffolk and back to London as a base to work from. Thompson regularly watches Watford F.C. and was featured in the Matchday programme in the 2011-12 season.
Thompson received a Lifetime achievement award in the 2007 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. An acclaimed biography of Thompson was written by John Hillarby.
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