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Post by nonrabbit on May 3, 2011 18:08:35 GMT
Let's start "A" is for ...em .."A" - someone else can do that one AQUALUNGi53.images obliterated by tinypic/2poxrw7.jpg[/IMG] all the basic facts and figures about the album here.. www.j-tull.com/discography/aqualung/index.htmland as posted by rttullfanl - the latest on the 40th anniversary on the official site and news of a re-release of the album in the coming year. Fellow Tullogians lets look a bit more in detail on this, for many, the calling card of Tull albums and probably the most iconic collection of Tull songs and instantly recogniseable album cover of all. Quote from Wiki.. "The album's original cover art by Burton Silverman features a watercolour portrait of the title character, Aqualung. Ian Anderson recalls posing for a photograph for the painting, though Silverman claims it was a self-portrait. The rear cover shows a less-lecherous looking portrait of the same character sitting on a street-curb with a dog, a scene reminiscent of the band's photographic portrait with age make-up and a pack of dogs on their first album, This Was. The inner art on the fold-out cover showed portraits of the five band members in typical stage attire performing irreverent acts in a chapel..."I would like to ask the question that has been circulating around Steels brain cells for a matter of years now;"Did Ian see the image of the character that Aqualung was to become after watching a performance of Fiddler on the Roof in the West End?"* Perhaps the Steelmonkey could enlighten us with his theory? or a darker suggestion - not necessarily Steels more mine"Was the character and image of Aqualung based on a Charles Dickens figure?" say Fagin for eg? Certainly the album has a Dickensian feel, I always felt that in Cross Eyed Mary - set in Whitechapel "Ripper Strikes Again" well except for drops her off at school and Mother Goose was surely a Victorian/Edwardian fair in Hampstead? The character of Fagin; "Born in London, Fagin is described as "disgusting" to look at. He is the leader of a group of children, the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates among them, whom he teaches to make their livings by pickpocketing and other criminal activities.." He was also described by Dickens as "the merry old gentleman" a phrase that was commonly used to describe the Devil. So making a huge leap that would astound a leopard the album Aqualung imo is based on a Dickensian figure who in return was based on the devil and given the anti religious songs on the album as well - I rest my case. Ps and to back it up I present a china plate from Royal Doulton's Dickensian collection ;D i52.images obliterated by tinypic/2a8gqdk.jpg[/IMG] * we have no actual proof that Ian went to Fiddler On The Roof unless Steel knows better
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Post by maddogfagin on May 4, 2011 18:15:44 GMT
One of the greatest iconic album covers of all time and instantly recognisable to just about any self-respecting rock music fan and others into other music genres as well. It’s up there with Sgt Pepper, Disraeli Gears, Led Zep 4, Forever Changes, Axis Bold As Love etc., and they’re only my personal favourites.
When ever I meet with folks not especially into Tull, the Aqualung cover is almost always referred to and the “sitting on a park bench” line is always sung back to me.
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Post by steelmonkey on Sept 1, 2011 1:04:30 GMT
I remember the day I took my hard earned ( $1.35 an hour for working at a franchise hot dog stand called Der Wienerschnitzel) to the local record store (Tempo Records-incense,black light posters, cut out bins and cool record store employee) on Colfax Avenue (old fashioned 'main street' of Denver....U.S. Routes 6 and 40) to buy Aqualung...I already owned TAAB and LITP and was told by a friend who knew ( he died of a heart attack last year: R.I.P. Morris Starr) that my next Tull purchase must needs be Aqualung......but I digress ( and digress).
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Post by nonrabbit on Sept 1, 2011 6:06:19 GMT
I remember the day I took my hard earned ( $1.35 an hour for working at a franchise hot dog stand called Der Wienerschnitzel) to the local record store (Tempo Records-incense,black light posters, cut out bins and cool record store employee) on Colfax Avenue (old fashioned 'main street' of Denver....U.S. Routes 6 and 40) to buy Aqualung...I already owned TAAB and LITP and was told by a friend who knew ( he died of a heart attack last year: R.I.P. Morris Starr) that my next Tull purchase must needs be Aqualung......but I digress ( and digress). that's not digressing thats sharing how you came to the flock via the path of enlightenment
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Post by maddogfagin on Sept 1, 2011 7:37:41 GMT
I remember the day I took my hard earned ( $1.35 an hour for working at a franchise hot dog stand called Der Wienerschnitzel) to the local record store (Tempo Records-incense,black light posters, cut out bins and cool record store employee) on Colfax Avenue (old fashioned 'main street' of Denver....U.S. Routes 6 and 40) to buy Aqualung...I already owned TAAB and LITP and was told by a friend who knew ( he died of a heart attack last year: R.I.P. Morris Starr) that my next Tull purchase must needs be Aqualung......but I digress ( and digress). Does anyone remember the listening booths in record shops? We used to go to a couple of small record shops, one next to West Croydon railay station and one under the bridge in the Lower Addiscombe Road and spend a couple of hours just listening to new releases and eventually walking out with our purchases. Buying "This Was" was such an occasion along with Bob Dylan/Paul Simon/Jimi Hendrix/Cream et al. Also anything on the London American label was sure to be good as was buying The Doors and Love on the Electra label. As for the outcry over the TAAB tour and the spectacular non event on the official site well . . . we have to wait and see. We could be surprised as to what eventually happens. Or am I being over optimistic?
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Post by hawkmoth on Sept 1, 2011 17:36:03 GMT
Yes i remember those booths we had them in the 70's up north. First heard Passion Play in one of them and when it got to Hare WHo Lost his Specs,couldnt beleive what i was hearing Very Strange for Tull i thought at the time. SAved up my 50 pence a week paper delivery money to get it back in 75. AH Memories
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Post by nonrabbit on Sept 1, 2011 17:53:49 GMT
Yes i remember those booths we had them in the 70's up north. First heard Passion Play in one of them and when it got to Hare WHo Lost his Specs,couldnt beleive what i was hearing Very Strange for Tull i thought at the time. SAved up my 50 pence a week paper delivery money to get it back in 75. AH Memories Ah good story ;D
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Post by maddogfagin on Sept 1, 2011 18:41:11 GMT
Yes i remember those booths we had them in the 70's up north. First heard Passion Play in one of them and when it got to Hare WHo Lost his Specs,couldnt beleive what i was hearing Very Strange for Tull i thought at the time. SAved up my 50 pence a week paper delivery money to get it back in 75. AH Memories Those booths usually had posters pasted up inside them with adhesive tape. If there was a really good one we'd carefully remove it. Got my 1st copy of Aqualung from Landau's Record Shop in Sutton. Great shop, they always had loads of 45s which I would religiously trawl through for what seemed like an eternity.
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Post by silktork on Oct 7, 2011 10:52:13 GMT
According to Scott Allen Nollen in "Jethro Tull: a history of the band, 1968-2001", the idea for the album came from some photos Anderson's wife took of homeless men on the Embankment in London, and of one character in particular. Anderson says he later regrets not using the real photo as he doesn't like Silverman's painting, especially as it looks like Anderson himself.
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Post by oksauce on Oct 7, 2011 13:50:54 GMT
They should put the photo in the booklet for the remastered version, as it's not available to see anywhere as far as I know. I've certainly never seen it anywhere
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Post by nonrabbit on Oct 7, 2011 14:51:47 GMT
Hello silktork and Welcome to the ForumHave fun looking around if you haven't already and look forward to your posts.
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Post by nonrabbit on Oct 7, 2011 14:58:12 GMT
According to Scott Allen Nollen in "Jethro Tull: a history of the band, 1968-2001", the idea for the album came from some photos Anderson's wife took of homeless men on the Embankment in London, and of one character in particular. Anderson says he later regrets not using the real photo as he doesn't like Silverman's painting, especially as it looks like Anderson himself. There seems to be a bit of mist surrounding this, on one hand Ian supposedly posed for the cover therefore a passing resemblance shouldn't come as a surprise and could he not have said something then? Wonder if they had used the original pic on the cover what the copyright regulations would have been then and if any royalties or a one off payment would have been given to the homeless man
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 7, 2011 17:43:15 GMT
According to Scott Allen Nollen in "Jethro Tull: a history of the band, 1968-2001", the idea for the album came from some photos Anderson's wife took of homeless men on the Embankment in London, and of one character in particular. Anderson says he later regrets not using the real photo as he doesn't like Silverman's painting, especially as it looks like Anderson himself. And thereby hangs a tale Silktork. Never seen any of the pics myself and don't know of anyone who has. And just think, if Aqua Lung International had either refused permission to use the name or had demanded exorbitant royalties for the use of it, Tull history might well have been a lot different. Welcome along to the Jethro Tull Forum - good to have you onboard.
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 7, 2011 18:08:26 GMT
From thehomelessinwilliamsburg.blogspot.comFor many people in the late 70's and 80's this was a popular song that blared from cars cruising around town on boring summer afternoons. For me, this song reminded me about a real person in the town I grew up, Charleston, WV. He was a homeless guy that roamed our streets of downtown, pushing a large, overfilled grocery cart. People always wondered what was truly in the cart, because there were so many stories circulating about Bill Dunn, aka Aqualung. Why was he nicked named that? Because he looked identical to the guy on Jethro Tull's album cover. He was as famous and important to our town as many of the well known Governors. Many times you could ask people of the town, mostly the teens, who was Governor and they couldn't answer, but to ask "Who is Aqualung?" and you would get an essay on him and their stories of time they spent with him.More at thehomelessinwilliamsburg.blogspot.com/2003/04/do-you-still-remember-aqualung-jethro.htmltomhindman.blogspot.com/2007/12/wher-bill-dunn.html
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Post by nonrabbit on Nov 3, 2011 11:47:21 GMT
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Post by oksauce on Nov 3, 2011 11:47:40 GMT
Were there any religious groups that reacted particularly badly to Aqualung's criticisms? If anybody knows I'd be interested
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Post by nonrabbit on Nov 3, 2011 11:58:07 GMT
Were there any religious groups that reacted particularly badly to Aqualung's criticisms? If anybody knows I'd be interested Well apart from my deeply religious parents when they'd pass by my bedroom but like all good religions I could twist the meaning to suit the situation Good question and would have made a good addition to the Collector's Box as well ie headlines from articles damning some of the sentiments- must try and find out.
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Post by oksauce on Nov 3, 2011 19:00:33 GMT
Were there any religious groups that reacted particularly badly to Aqualung's criticisms? If anybody knows I'd be interested Well apart from my deeply religious parents when they'd pass by my bedroom but like all good religions I could twist the meaning to suit the situation Good question and would have made a good addition to the Collector's Box as well ie headlines from articles damning some of the sentiments- must try and find out. Just found this in the booklet of my nice new copy of Aqualung actually :Ian said ''They got a bit bent out of shape in some southern states, and has ritual burnings of the Aqualung album. it was in the Bible Belt, so you kind of expected it!'' Interesting, though not very specific
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Post by nonrabbit on Nov 3, 2011 21:31:16 GMT
Well apart from my deeply religious parents when they'd pass by my bedroom but like all good religions I could twist the meaning to suit the situation Good question and would have made a good addition to the Collector's Box as well ie headlines from articles damning some of the sentiments- must try and find out. Just found this in the booklet of my nice new copy of Aqualung actually :Ian said ''They got a bit bent out of shape in some southern states, and has ritual burnings of the Aqualung album. it was in the Bible Belt, so you kind of expected it!'' Interesting, though not very specific There must be some newspaper clippings/pictures on some local Bible belt newspaper somewhere - love to see that. Problem is the only sensational headline I've found so far is "Tull wins Grammy"
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Post by steelmonkey on Nov 4, 2011 2:44:34 GMT
That's a point i tried to make on the radio show...too bad I was inarticulate...I wanted to say that 'Aqualung' for a second or three, for a certain age group...was a generic term for a homeless person and that peers would understand if you described someone as 'an aqualung'...as the post and photo from Charleston show...every town had one.....back before every town had dozens then hundreds then more......there's one at my local commuter train stop....looks just like the one in the photo above, thus, much like aqualung and the original inspirations for Aqualung in Jenny Anderson's photo essay. Sadaam looked a bit lungy in the end, didn't he?
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Post by nonrabbit on Nov 4, 2011 7:33:54 GMT
He did. Don't suppose there was any ritual burnings of the album in Colorado or Cali? Had a few Aqualung moments myself when you would look at a homeless person and think of the song although the Snotted One wasn't a character who would ellicit much sympathy or romanticism. In the early 80's there was a woman who lived in the railway station in Windsor- the smaller one of two that was in the town. Back then the place had more character and hadn't yet been yuppified or spoiled with designer shops and expensive cafes. I would see her as I caught the last train. She would shuffle down the little street leading to the station,just across from the castle,in the shadowy street light,carrying her wordly possessions in (about)six carrier bags, muttering to herself and then park herself on one of the benches for the night. Oblivious to anything around her. Always so curious as to her story - Cross -eyed Mary - the latter years maybe?
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Post by maddogfagin on Nov 4, 2011 19:10:23 GMT
My dear old Dad had his Aqualung moment with a tramp who used to wander the streets in Wallington called Paper Jack. Paper Jack was, it appears, quite a well known local character and although choosing the life of a “traveller” and dressed entirely in newspaper, was well liked amongst the community. www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/1932507.the_real_story_behind_enigma_of_paper_jack/I worked for many years in Sutton and regularly used to see a tramp who the locals called “Jesus”, mainly because he had long wavy hair and used to dress entirely in a white suit (where he got it from nobody had a clue) which was always immaculately clean. In fact if you think of the John Lennon images where he’s dressed in a white suit you get the idea. Anyway, he never used to beg money although folks would give him generous amounts of the green stuff now and again which he would share with his fellows. When he died, the local populace in Sutton arranged and paid for his funeral and many people attended who had known him though the years. “Sun streaking cold - an old man wandering lonely. Taking time, the only way he knows.”
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Post by steelmonkey on Nov 4, 2011 22:40:10 GMT
And let's not forget the preponderance of impoverished African-Americans on the streets of our big cities....many bearded, dis-sheveled and needing a comb thru something awful....Blaqualung anyone?
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Post by hawkmoth on Nov 7, 2011 1:41:30 GMT
Who cares about these drop outs, its a cruel cruel heartless world unfortunately . The music is what counts i.m.o.. We can all try to be Mr Cameron,My God,Our Father high in heaven,this corrupt world will still turn and millions will continue to suffer.
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Post by maddogfagin on Jan 21, 2012 16:28:20 GMT
10 Great Prog Rock Guitarists Ian Anderson may be the face of Jethro Tull, but the band’s Celtic-inspired folk rock gets most of its energy from Martin Barre’s aggressive six-string work. On songs such as “Bungle in the Jungle” and “Aqualung,” Barre showed a sense of economy and melody that sometimes eluded his prog-rock peers. His solo in “Aqualung” is often cited as one of rock guitar's greatest moments. Poor Man’s Blues: 10 Songs for Hard Times “Snots running down his nose/Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes,” Ian Anderson’s character Aqualung is no charmer. But softer lyrics about “an old man wandering lonely” make this song far more complex than most listeners consider, weaving in the threads of poverty, mental illness and disenfranchisement that are among the greater issues surrounding homelessness. Of course, with Gibson Les Paul Custom legend Martin Barre bringing it all home with his slashing chords and rippling guitar solos, this title track from Tull’s 1971 masterpiece was destined to become the rock classic that it is. www.gibson.com
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2012 21:42:32 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2012 20:57:31 GMT
Tune of the (yester) Day: Jethro Tull - Aqualung | Issue #1 hangout.altsounds.com/features/147111-tune-yester-day-jethro-tull-aqualung-issue.htmlA look back to a tune from the days of 1982 When you see a classic band’s performance from 30 years ago, they generally look young, vibrant, fresh and sexy. The age of the timeless music is often only given away by the awful fashion sense of the day, but Jethro Tull always looked old. When they performed ‘Aqualung’ in 1982, they resembled a group of aging dad’s in an attempt to re-create their youth, down an old man’s blues club following the mid-late-life crisis that arrives when you reach 55. The Spinal Tap-esque guitar riffs mixed with the acoustic guitar playing of frontman Ian Scott Anderson and ferocious drum fills encapsulates the sound of the time as prog-rock. Add these amazing musical thinking to the beards and bald heads of Jethro Tull and you have an amazing tune of the (yester)day. LISTEN: 'Aqualung' The Story According to their offical website "Aqualung," to many, is Tull's masterpiece. The title track and "Locomotive Breath," with their catchy riffs, would be joined by "My God," "Cross-Eyed Mary," and "Hymn 43" as classic rock staples. There's no arguing with its commercial success, having sold more than seven million copies and continuing to outsell anything in the back catalog. from left: Martin Barre, Clive Bunker, Jeffrey Hammond, Ian Anderson, John Evan. Photo by Barry Plummer. All Rights Reserved. Yet, "Aqualung" is arguably Tull's most misunderstood album. Critics dubbed it a concept album, particularly for Anderson's critical, skeptical views of organized religion, mostly on side B ("My God"). Anderson has disputed, almost resented, the assessment seeing the record as "just a bunch of songs." The labeling lead the band to really give the critics a concept album with the following studio release "Thick as a Brick." "Aqualung" has a dominant theme but is certainly more, much more, than a concept album hindging on a solitary subject. Anderson explores the struggles of the less fortunate in our society (e.g., "Aqualung," "Cross-Eyed Mary," "Up to Me"), teenage angst and formal education difficulties ( e.g., "Wind Up," "Mother Goose"), and returns to his parental themes with "Cheap Day Return, a tune encompassing Anderson's feelings while traveling to visit his sick father... Read more here
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2012 15:04:28 GMT
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Post by maddogfagin on May 21, 2012 15:17:20 GMT
"Take Aqualung out for a spin, it is a great adventure"Couldn't agree more
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Post by steelmonkey on May 21, 2012 17:28:21 GMT
Ha ha...the blogger got tricked...stepped right into the Metallica/Iron Maiden Cross-eyed Mary poop pile. Happens to the best of us.
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