Basslines #22: Danny Thompson is folk music’s best known bassist; in fact, I’m not sure I can name another.

Thompson was the go-to guy for anyone in need of a double bass player; from the blues revivalism of Alexis Korner to the neo-folk of Pentangle and baroque pop of Nick Drake.

For 60 years he played with artists as diverse as Sandy Denny and Elvis Costello, Rod Stewart and T. Rex, Kate Bush and Talk Talk, ABC, David Sylvian and Everything But The Girl. He even played on Cliff Richard’s chart-topping Eurovision song Congratulations.

His career began when, after a brief period with British saxophonist Tubby Hayes’ band, he joined Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated in 1964, leaving three years later with drummer Terry Cox to join Pentangle.

He made a solitary album as the Danny Thompson Trio with jazz saxophonist Tony Roberts and a pre-fame guitarist John McLaughlin but Pentangle’s success at bringing folk to the mainstream meant he dedicated himself to that band until they dissolved in 1972.

In the Eighties he formed his own band, Whatever, with saxophonist Paul Dunmall and guitarist John Ethridge, before forming a multicultural acoustic group, Songhai, with Mali-born kora player Toumani Diabate and Spanish flamenco group Katemah.

He went on to work with folk legend Richard Thomson but for me his most memorable collaborations were with John Martyn: they shared a passion for jazz, folk and booze that almost derailed one career and brought the other to a premature end.

Here they are together at the Transatlantic Sessions in 1996, performing Martyn’s song Big Muff.