Thompson’s Humor Sees Him Through

Richard Thompson is one of the finest songwriters of his generation. Four decades and more than two dozen albums into his career, the 58-year-old British guitarist remains as creative — and surprisingly little known — as ever. With his ex-wife Linda, Mr. Thompson released six astonishing albums during the 1970s and early ’80s, but the musical and romantic partnership famously ended in 1982 with a masterpiece, “Shoot Out the Lights.” Linda lost her voice, but Richard kept turning out the songs, moving from all-acoustic outings to live albums to electric music over a span of 32 albums. For his recent project, he was hired by Werner Herzog to compose the music to the 2005 documentary “Grizzly Man.”