Hosannas Heard for Richard Thompson

If Richard Thompson keeps doing shows like this, he could be in danger of losing his standing as a “cult hero.”

Though hailed by Rolling Stone as the creator of two of the best albums of the last 20 years, and heavy with the hosannas of his musical peers, the British singer-writer-guitarist is far from household-name status.

Yet, at Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival Friday, Thompson played to a packed field of hard-core fans that was augmented by several thousand Thompson novitiates. And by show’s end you couldn’t tell them apart, as, by way of a third encore call, they sang the chorus refrain of Thompson’s “Tear Stained Letter” for minutes after he had left the stage. Earlier in the show, when he asked for a throat lozenge, he’d been inundated with a Beatle-like hail of the things. Can Shea Stadium gigs be far behind?

It has been two years since Thompson’s most recent, typically wonderful and practically unheard album, “Amnesia” was released, but he hardly has been taking it easy since. Along with several solo tours--including one that brings him to the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano tonight--he has: composed and performed the soundtrack to an upcoming Taylor Hackford film; assembled the soundtrack for a British TV documentary, “Hard Cash” (the album is available domestically on the Green Linnet label); recorded a second avant garde John French-Fred Frith-Henry Kaiser-Richard Thompson album (out soon on Windham Hill); guested on albums by Maria McKee, Crowded House and others, and written a musical he has since decided he doesn’t like.

The Hackford film proved the most demanding. Interviewed last Friday before his Seattle gig, Thompson described the film as “a lovable, wacky, Australian romantic comedy,” though the creation of it was evidently a bit less carefree. Indicative perhaps of the second-guessing that goes on in the high-stakes film world, “Sweet Persuasion” is the fifth title given the flick so far, and Thompson wouldn’t be surprised if it changes a few more times before its release next March.

Unlike director Hackford’s recent music bios--”La Bamba” and “Chuck Berry--Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll!”--this film called for an original, acoustic-based score, which the 41-year-old guitarist is singularly equipped to provide. Best known for his terrifyingly emotive and intense electric work, Thompson was also a founding member of Fairport Convention, the ‘60s band that pioneered the exploration of centuries-old British folk styles. On acoustic guitar--also the chosen instrument for his solo gigs--he has a command of styles ranging from transposed 16th-Century Scottish pipe tunes to modern jazz. For the film he also played mandolin, which he’s none too feeble on either.

Though he reports he’s “fairly pleased” with the result, Thompson wasn’t particularly enamored of the experience of doing a film. Whether recording for independent labels of the majors, he has always held control over the integrity of his musical visions. It was a new experience to be overruled at times on those musical choices. “It’s very difficult, especially when you think you’re right. It was overall a long and difficult experience, which I don’t think I’d take on again until the next millennium, which gives me 10 years.

“I’m not sure how the soundtrack will hold up as music. Very much with films, the music is determined by what’s required of the picture, which is why ‘It sounds like film music’ can so often be a derogatory phrase. It’s often so boring, unless it’s (Ennio) Morricone, Sir William Walton or Prokofiev. This will be coming out on an album, so judge for yourself,” he said with a laugh.

Though he is due to go in the studio next month to record his next Capitol album, that project is still unsettled. He plans to team again with “Amnesia” producer Mitchell Froom and will probably draw again from the “usual unusual” crew of musicians who peopled that album. Beyond that, he said, it could go in any number of directions, one being a divergent “concept album” he is loath to go into much detail about. “David Byrne might read it and steal my ideas,” he joked.

If the final direction allows, he’d like to commit the new songs he’s been performing live to disc. Those include: “I Misunderstood,” another of his seemingly endless supply of heartbreakingly sad songs; “1952 Vincent Black Lightning,” a tale of motorcycle romance; “Why Must I Plead,” described by Thompson as “a kind of Celtic Aaron Neville thing,” and “I Feel So Good,” a song that sounds uncharacteristically jubilant until one realizes its narrator is a released convict contemplating new mayhems.

Though he likes nothing better than to have a free month in which to write, he said songwriting is a non-stop process for him.

“It starts with anything: words, music, riffs, hooks, lines and sinkers--ideas, concepts, television, telephone directories, it doesn’t matter. I think if you’re going to write, you have to keep your ears and eyes open. When you’re hit with an idea you’re always looking for other bits of that idea. You’re walking down the street and suddenly light bulbs go off and you take out your little notebook.

“It’s a full-time job, but the tax man doesn’t believe that. I think I should be allowed to write off everything in my life, because everything in my life is relevant to my work, but they won’t have it.”

One thing that isn’t particularly relevant to his work is contemporary pop music. He doesn’t listen to much of it, both because he wants to avoid copying others and because: “I really like to be thrilled by music, so I try not to listen to too much of it. When I do hear it, then it becomes more special.”

His recent tastes run toward baritone sax-man Gerry Mulligan’s older work, opera and Madagascarian music. Whether listening to music or playing it, he’s looking for the same thing.

“It’s the moments where the composer, player or players somehow just take off. They loose themselves and the music just flies. Those are the great moments. Playing, I think you aim to get lost in the music. You aim for excellence, even if you never achieve it. But sometimes it gets that way despite you. Sometimes with an audience you’re able to communicate something, almost without interfering with it. Something just flies from here to there, flies around the room, and it’s wonderful,” Thompson exclaimed, adding with a laugh, “Then it’s gone.”

“But I think there are moments where a performer touches an audience or when there’s a mutual raising of spirits or something. I think musicians have a responsibility to tell the truth, to propagate ideas, to challenge people, if you like, and to create beauty. Music is such an elusive thing, I think talking about it is incredibly difficult, as I’ve just proved.”

Richard Thompson and Tuxedo Cowboy play at 8 p.m. at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. Tickets: $17.50. Information: (714) 496-8930.