The delay was partly due to changes at the top at Capitol Records which saw long time Thompson fan and supporter Hale Milgrim being replaced by Gary Gersh.

All of which I thought were terrific records and they all had a kind of character to them – a sound that was really trying to strip away some clichés, like why have a snare drum, why the backbeat?

Despite the critical backlash and the poor sales, some of the songs on the album have become concert staples and favourites of Thompson’s fans.

In particular "Beeswing" – a tale about a travelling girl and the prices that she and the young man who falls in love with her pay for the choices they make – has come to be regarded as one of Thompson’s very best compositions.

He revealed in his autobiography “Beeswing: Finding My Way and Losing My Voice” that the female protagonist is based on the English folksinger Anne Briggs, whom Thompson did not know personally but had heard many stories of from their mutual close friend Sandy Denny.