Acoustic Classics is the fifteenth solo studio album by British singer/songwriter Richard Thompson. It was released by Beeswing Records via Proper Records on 21 July 2014 in the UK and 22 July 2014 in the USA. Background Acoustic Classics is an album of acoustic versions of songs from Thompson's back catalogue, both as a solo artist and as part of the folk rock duo Richard & Linda Thompson. Thompson states that the album "was conceived to be something to sell at acoustic shows" as he did not have anything available that was "representative of a solo show". The album includes his first solo studio version of "Persuasion," which was previously available in a live recording and a studio duet with son Teddy Thompson. Thompson wrote the music with Peter Filleul for the Sweet Talker soundtrack; Tim Finn, formerly of Crowded House & Split Enz, later wrote lyrics for it. Finn had a minor hit (43 on UK chart) with the song when released as a solo single in 1993. The song was included on Finn's solo album Before & After, also released in 1993. "From Galway to Graceland" is a song about an Irish woman who is convinced she is married to Elvis Presley and travels to Graceland to kneel by his grave before being ejected at closing time. The album was released on CD and digital download. Equipment According to the album credits, Thompson plays Lowden guitars on Acoustic Classics. An article in Acoustic quotes George Lowden as stating that Thompson has played such a guitar since the early 80's and that he built a signature model for Thompson based on the Lowden F model guitar, with a cedar soundboard and ziricote wood for the back and sides and (as on most standard Lowden models) no position markers on the fingerboard. Critical reception On the Metacritic website, which aggregates reviews from critics and assigns a normalised rating out of 100, Acoustic Classics received a score of 76, based on 1 mixed and 9 positive reviews. The album was widely reviewed, with critics giving mostly positive comments. Martin Chilton in The Daily Telegraph states that the album is "full of interesting guitar flourishes and rhythms which bring an imaginative touch to classics" and that "you will still find much to enjoy listening to a master re-touch some of his best works". John Paul of PopMatters writes that "Acoustic Classics serves