Small Town Romance is a live album

Live album

A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 by Richard Thompson (formerly of Fairport Convention

Fairport Convention

Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...

).

Before and after the "Tour From Hell" to promote the Richard and Linda Thompson album Shoot Out the Lights

Shoot Out the Lights

Shoot Out the Lights is the sixth and final album by British husband-and-wife folk rock duo Richard and Linda Thompson. It was produced by Joe Boyd and released in 1982 on his Hannibal label...

, Richard played solo shows in the USA in 1982. Three of these shows were recorded for radio broadcasts. When Thompson left the ailing Hannibal Records

Hannibal Records

Hannibal Records was a record label and one of the first to work with the World music genre.Hannibal was started by Joe Boyd in 1980. Boyd had produced records by artists such as Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention and released recordings by these artists as well as...

 label in 1984, the release of an album collated from the 1982 live recordings was negotiated as part of the amicable separation.

Thompson was unhappy with the quality of the recordings and the performances and later persuaded Hannibal to delete Small Town Romance from their catalog. But the demand continued, and in the face of bootleg

Bootleg recording

A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...

 versions and high prices being paid for second hand copies the album was re-released, with Thompson's consent, in 1997.

The album might be described as "warts and all". Thompson's vocals are sometimes shaky, especially on songs formerly sung by Linda Thompson

Linda Thompson (singer)

Linda Thompson is a British singer. Born Linda Pettifer in Hackney, Thompson became one of the most recognised names—and voices—in the British folk rock movement of the 1970s and 1980s, in collaboration with her former husband and fellow British folk rock musician, guitarist Richard...

, but his playing is assured and for many years this was the only legitimate record available of Richard Thompson playing a solo, acoustic show - a live presentation which he has increasingly featured and which now makes up the majority of his live performances.

Track listing

All songs written by Richard Thompson; except "Honky Tonk Blues'" by Hank Williams

1. "Time to Ring Some Changes"
2. "Beat the Retreat"
3. "Woman or a Man?"
4. "A Heart Needs a Home"
5. "For Shame of Doing Wrong"
6. "Genesis Hall"
7. "Honky Tonk Blues
   Honky Tonk Blues
   "Honky Tonk Blues" was a hit country and western song written and performed by Hank Williams. The original 1952 recording was a major hit, and it later became a hit for later-day superstar Charley Pride.-Song history:...
   
   "
8. "Small Town Romance"
9. "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight"
10. "Down Where the Drunkards Roll"
11. "Love Is Bad for Business"
12. "The Great Valerio"
13. "Don't Let a Thief Steal into Your Heart"
14. "Never Again"

The 1986 Compact Disc

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 release of the album, later deleted but subsequently reissued in 1997, included three extra tracks

• "How Many Times"
• "Roll Over Vaughan Williams"
• "Meet on the Ledge"