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The British guitarist was recently in New York to promote his new album, the superb "Mock Tudor." It's a concept album, like those that dominated the 1970s. In it Thompson documents growing up and living in the London suburbs, a dour Twilight Zone populated by gangsters redeemed by LSD, housewife-whores, failed French rap DJs, a con man or two and regular citizens with horrible, horrible love lives -- the men evoking troublesome female icons such as Marie Antoinette and Bathsheba, while women just stay quiet lest they be beaten.

Uplifting stuff, eh? Of course, you don't listen to Richard Thompson to be inspired by his lyrics. It's his guitar playing that's transcendental. Most of "Mock Tudor" is electric with catchy rhythms, plenty of hooks and half a dozen great guitar solos. Of course, half a dozen's not enough -- but then Richard Thompson records never have enough solos on them. It's a condition guys like me and Brit author Nick Hornby (who raves about Thompson in his novel "High Fidelity") will have to live with. As for the signature sound of Thompson's guitar itself, would I persuade the man to explain just what makes his playing so unique? Or would he be secretive like Robert Johnson? (Legend has it that the bluesman would turn away from other guitarists in the audience so they couldn't see his hands and learn any secrets.)

Was Fairport Convention your first band?

I was in bands since I was 12 or 11. During my big exam year -- I was 17, 18 -- I was on the road with Fairport. It was fairly difficult to juggle school and being on the road. I assumed that I was going to art school or university someday, but I stuck it on the back burner. "This is much more fun. Look! Wages! This is fantastic. We can get paid for doing this. We're having a great time. We'll just do this for a year and then see what happens." And that's really what we did. I sort of looked around about seven years later and said, "Whoops! I still haven't gone to university. Well, never mind ..."

Did the Velvet Underground show up on your radar?

I thought they were interesting. They were the first band that wasn't swinging. It was sort of robotic. Very interesting. They were a kind of precursor to a lot of things. All those German bands.

Can you tell a layman why your sound is so distinct -- or is that a trade secret?

My actual sound or style?

Both.

The sound I don't know. It seems to me if you play an electric guitar there's only five conceivable settings. You can spend a lot of anal research time getting the guitar exactly right and the amp exactly right, but I think it has to do with touch. There's a certain way you attack it that gives it tonality.

In terms of style, I come from a different tradition. I grew up listening to Scottish music and Django Reinhardt and Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. The family record collection. And Jerry Lee Lewis and Everly Brothers. Gene Vincent.

So when we hear you scatter notes up and down, are you using jazz intervals?

To some extent. It's more [that] the root of what I do and the modes that I'm singing in come from more traditional British folk than the blues. There are overlaps, however. Country music is basically Scotch-Irish anyway. It's not that different, but there is a difference. [He pauses, then goes ... ] Um, um, um, um. I also grew up listening to Ravel, Debussy, that kind of stuff. And Charlie Parker. Ornette Coleman.

You know, I don't listen to guitar players much, because I don't think there is much to learn at this point. I'd rather listen to other instruments. You know, "This is impossible on the guitar -- how can I get the tonality of a saxophone?" I think if you listen to other guitar players it gets a bit incestuous. I don't think guitar playing has really gone anywhere since Hendrix, really.

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