172 Michael Thompson Shares the Shimmering Sound That Made Him a Studio Legend

No Guitar Is Safe

Jude Gold

Music

4.8 • 857 Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2024

⏱️ 135 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we plug in with session king and bandleader MICHAEL THOMPSON — “MT” to his friends — who is one of the most recorded guitarists in history. Thompson has worked with everyone from Michael Jackson, Shania Twain, Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Ray Charles, Fleetwood Mac, and Beyoncé to Lionel Richie, Bob Seger, Neil Diamond, Michael Bublé, Whitney Houston, Madonna, Justin Bieber, Celine Dion, and Earth, Wind & Fire, to name just a small fraction of the staggering roster of superstars he’s tracked with. The L.A.-based guitarist has also released multiple Michael Thompson Band solo albums over the years, including 2023’s “The Love Goes On.” Hosted by JUDE GOLD and taking place at MT’s home studio, this episode offers a deep dive into Michael’s life, career, gear and signature sound — the shimmering, melodic, funky and fully rockin’ guitar approach that made Thompson an A-list session cat for such super-producers as David Foster, Babyface and John “Mutt” Lange during the peak of the session guitar era. Presented by GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE and GUITARPLAYER.COM.

Transcript

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0:00.0	What's up? Get ready. In less than one minute, we will be on this copter headed over to a truly
0:04.6	magical home studio, a guitar lair like no other, where Michael Thompson, M.T., to his friends,
0:11.3	will demonstrate the shimmering sound that made him one of the literally most recorded
0:16.6	guitarists in history. He's played with as many superstars as you can name and probably more.
0:22.0	You're going to be dazzled by his resume, but mostly by his sound, which you can also
0:27.3	check out with the Michael Thompson band records, MTV. There's a lot going on in this episode.
0:33.4	Got some long jams. We've got all kinds of tone talk. and if you make it all the way to the end of this epic hang,
0:39.1	which I know all of you will,
0:40.8	he goes deep into a discussion of working with Mutt Lang
0:43.8	and then ends with a beautiful Elton John interpretation you won't forget.
0:48.9	Thank you, Guitar Player magazine and GuitarPlayer.com
0:51.6	for putting the fuel in this chopper to get me over to great guitar layers,
0:56.8	like the home studio of Michael Thompson.
1:01.3	That's beautiful.
1:14.6	I'm at the home studio of Michael Thompson.
1:31.5	This is crazy.
1:42.3	I want to thank Guitar Player magazine for bringing us here today in
1:46.3	GuitarPlayer.com.
1:47.7	This is No Guitar Safe podcast, where we fly the helicopter to the most awesome guitar layers
1:55.5	of the most awesome guitar players.
1:57.9	I'm Jude Gold, and I'm in heaven.
2:00.8	This is the famous guitar sound and guitar player
	...

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