Richard Thompson on Crazy Crowds, His Beloved Bert and Driving Skills; Sandy Denny: “A Man Held a Knife to My Throat and Said: Play Something Normal!”

As he releases a new album, Hippies, Thugs and Heroes, the 77-year-old British folk legend answers your questions about Billy Connolly, California fish and chips, and whether he nearly joined the Eagles. Billy Connolly recalls being in a room with you, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake and John Martin. Did you feel you were doing something special collectively? A Poscopy that may be at the Royal Festival Hall

Billy Connolly remembers being in the same room with you, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake and John Martin. Did you feel like you were doing something special collectively? Poscopy

It might have been at the Royal Festival Hall [in 1969], where at the Fairport Convention Nick and John were opening and Billy must have been backstage. He was in the Humblebums with Gary Rafferty before he went from a banjo player who told jokes to a comedian who played a bit of banjo. He was always a wonderful young man and we were friends for a long time.

There was great camaraderie between the cast that Joe Boyd produced: Fairport, The Amazing Strings, John Martin, Chris McGregor. We felt different, we weren't special, and because we weren't, we didn't feel successful. None of these guys really sold many records in their lifetime, but people are still discovering them. This album is my last attempt to sell some units.

Have you ever ridden a 1952 Vincent Black Lightning and was that the inspiration for the song? Lamapaka

I have never ridden a Vincent Black Lightning. There are only about 15 left, but when I was a kid a neighbor had a Vincent Black Shadow - a very similar motorcycle - and we kids thought it was one of the coolest things we'd ever seen. I was going for an English equivalent of American romantic pictures, so I thought it would be a good idea to build a drama around it. Boy, girl, motorcycle, armed robbery...

The narrator of the song You Cold Kisses is one of the best heartbreaking characters I have ever met in a song. How rebellious are you? If none, where did you summon him from? LeroyDeSwoon

She wants to compare herself with her old boyfriends. Some of us have been there – not necessarily going through someone's drawers, but looking through someone's diary or emails, trying to find out more about a new partner. It's obviously sneaky to do this, but under the guise of entertainment songwriting it can slip below the surface of what's considered civilized and into slightly uncomfortable territory. I love it.

On the new album, the song Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking is based on people I met during the psychedelic era who were a bit edgy or violent. Then came the acid and they suddenly left with peace and love, but it didn't last. So the last verse asks, "Who will win the battle before the nurse cuts the power? Hippie King's Road or Sachihal's mob?" Conflicting people. I thought John Lennon was a bit like that.

Can you tell me a good - not sad - story that I haven't heard about Sandy Denny or Nick Drake? Catesto

Nick was so tight-lipped and difficult that I found I couldn't say much uplifting about him. Sandy was a terrible traveler, too sensitive. He was going in the car: "What was that sound?" "Why did you brake?" Finally, our tour manager [at the Fairport convention] had to teach him about the internal combustion engine: "I'm changing gears now." On the plane, he was impossible. Flying to Los Angeles, he slipped a jean and tunic into my skirt within the first hour, although he was perfectly comfortable on a boat, hence his many songs about the sea. From what I've heard, when he finally got his license, he was driving potholes and all sorts. bless him

Who inspired Beeswing? Eddie Haskell

People say, "Oh, what a beautiful song about [local singer] Anne Briggs," but it's more complicated. When I lived in Suffolk in the 1970s, a vagrant would come in looking for odd jobs. He did a little gardening, we washed his clothes and fed him, and he told wonderful stories about his life. So her stories were part of the song, but Sandy and Ann were also good friends, and Sandy really felt like she was this free spirit. But I also need credit as a fiction writer, because it's not about anyone.

Do you have a favorite cover of any of your songs? Mine is Wall of Death by REM. Miss Grafferty

The Wall of Death was a note to myself: take risks, go to the edges, don't settle. But my favorite cover is The Great Valerio by Swan Arcade, a vocal trio in the folk scene of the 60's and 70's. They did a fantastic job of capturing all the weird and unusual harmonies in the guitar arrangement and ended up with a great piece of music. [Swan Arcade's] Dave Brady had one arm. The story goes that he was on his motorcycle and was running towards a brick wall, so he stuck his arm out to grab a lamp post. But he managed to make a chord with his left hand and hit it with his little finger. A great character

Would you have liked to have worked more closely with John Martin - at least before he got "difficult" and his music went in a different direction? archiebargie

"Hard" is a bit rude. John was one of those guitar players, like Martin Carty, who covers all the bases. I'm a bit like that myself, so if you put us together, we'd step on each other's toes, but we were neighbors for a while in the late 60s and early 70s and jammed together. Once we were at Olympic Studios for one of John's sessions and he was playing acoustic and I was playing electric. We jammed for about 20 minutes and it was just awesome and ecstatic, but they didn't have the device. We should have done more.

How was the offer to join the Eagles made? BobinDay

Proposals are made through lawyers or management. I don't think anyone from a band is going to get on the phone and say, "We'd love to have you." When I was on tour with Sandy in '71, I had a strong approach to joining Linda Ronstadt's band because four of them had left to form the Eagles. I thought: I can't jump ship. Sandy is killing me... and do I want to live and work with some Californians? I wanted to do my Anglo-Celtic thing and sing in my own accent. I was asked to join the next incarnation of the Animals when they were going to drop [guitarist] Hilton Valentine. Shocking stuff I was asked to join the band twice but I thought they were going to drink themselves to death.

You were originally a fan of all things British and yet now you live in the US, which seems to go against everything Britain stands for. why embroidery

For the past 40 years, I've had a place in London and a place in America. I lived in Santa Monica for a long time, but you're surrounded by Brits in the music and film business. You can't go 10 or 20 yards without a pub showing Premier League games or a fish and chip shop. Plus, when I open my computer, Guardian is my home screen. You can connect anywhere in the world, but I've never connected with American culture. I'm not going to sing John and Dean's songs about surfing. My inner landscape is London, Scotland, or a dark anchorage in Brontë's country.

What was it like to be on stage with Bob Dylan at the Guitar Legends festival in Seville in 1991? You seem alert or anxious. Was there any training beforehand? Masked tortilla

I was on the road with [American singer-songwriter] Bonnie Raitt when I got a call from [guitarist] Phil Manzanera. Word was that Bob wanted to do some vocal numbers together, which was great. We rehearsed in the dressing room, and we rehearsed all of Watchtower with his band. When we went on stage, the acoustic guitars were gone, so I spent the first song tuning out – probably sober – but once it settled down, it was a lot of fun. Great honor to work with Bob

Your first group was Emil and the Detectives, with Hugh Cornwell, later of the Stranglers. Did you cross paths again? Haygin 88

We had the band at school, but I was playing with Fairport Convention when I was 16, so I didn't see Hugh for 40 years. Then, in the 2000s, we were both doing a festival in Spain and picked up the conversation where we left off. Since then we've been doing gigs and gigs together and we did a great version of Tobacco Road for charity.

What has been your most unlikely support role as a guitarist? the thinker

In the band with Hugh, we were supporting Helen Shapiro, but I've played in unlikely places like care homes, funerals, weddings and schools. Singing at my mother's funeral was the hardest gig. I played at an all-girls school in Connecticut because we knew the teacher. The kids knew a bit of Chaucer, so I could do something like Sumer Is Icumen In plus a Britney Spears song or something. The kids went crazy, the best audience ever

Bono spent a small fortune to fly his favorite hat in first class to a concert in Italy. How much do you want to make sure your trademark beret [a Balmoral] is in place at show time? Salfordian Blue

It must have cost Bono £20,000. For the price of a stapler, I'll have someone staple it on my head before going to the airport. Sometimes I forget to tie my shoes, but people don't notice because I wear black socks.

The last time I saw you, the fire alarm cleared the theater. What is your best, worst or most memorable moment performing live? Rob Frampton

In the 70s, I did a solo tour in Sweden and played somewhere in the Arctic Circle, where I sang my little folk-rock songs in between discos. A man held a knife to my throat and said, "Why don't you play normal?" I was not afraid; I wondered: What is normal? I might have done a Buddy Holly cover. At school, when I was chosen to stand in for the local band to cover the poppy, there was a real fight in the audience, kids threw chairs. Grab your gear and exit the scene.

At one point, you became an antiques dealer. Why did this happen and how did you acquire this expertise? rjoncas

A friend of mine took over an antique shop in Merrill Boone. Little did I know, but I was very kind to the old ladies, very honest: I'd tell them we'd bid £1,000, but they'd get double that at the auction. I sold some Ming Dynasty Chinese lions for £60, I thought they were fakes. They were worth thousands. I got back into music pretty quickly, but I still annoy my family by watching antique shows and guessing the value of something correctly, so they look at me like I'm some kind of genius.

Richard Thompson's Hippies, Thugs and Heroes is out October 16th on New West Records. He will tour North America until February 18th, then Europe and the UK from April 15th to May 7th