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Post by maddogfagin on Aug 31, 2018 13:28:33 GMT
Now thinking along the alternative time line idea, Mick Abrahams has suggested in the past that "Ahead Rings Out" was his original vision of how Tull should have progressed. Now had this turned out to be the case, it's an interesting thought as to what the band's second album would have consisted of. Perhaps six off "Ahead . ." and six off "Stand Up" perhaps ? Oh, I like this game. I've played it before with Beatles solo albums; you can get a very tidy and thoroughly enjoyable impression of what a seventies Beatles album might have sounded like if you hive off the best tracks off each solo Fab album up till, say, 1973. But I digress. Has Mick ever gone on record citing what 'musical differences' there were between him and IA? I'm not sure it's as simple as saying that he wanted Blues rock and Ian was going more folk/Prog, as Pig don't stick to the Blues rock template all the (new) day long either. Although I'm fairly sure he thought 'Fat Man' was about him. OK, in no particular order, this would be my initial selection for the mythical follow up, with MA, to This Was bearing in mind it's purely all a whimsical notion A New Day Yesterday Bouree Nothing Is easy It's Only Love Dear Jill Sweet Caroline Look into The Sun Driving Song Back To The Family Ain't Ya Coming Home Babe Leave It With Me Sing Me A Song That I Know I can imagine Mick's guitar work on Bouree and A New Day with IA's flute on Dear Jill and Sing Me a Song That I Know. I've cheated and picked some of the bonus songs from later editions. Don't know what I'd call the album though. And I'm sure you're correct with your thoughts in the 2nd paragraph above; "musical differences" covers a load of excuses
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Post by maddogfagin on Sept 2, 2018 6:32:43 GMT
Jethro Tull, special edition of This Was for its fiftieth anniversaryOn November 9, the special edition will be released for the fiftieth anniversary of This Was, Jethro Tull's first album. This record was recorded in the summer of 1968 and counts on the guitar with the great Mick Abrahams who left the band shortly after to form Blodwyn Pig. The album was perhaps more oriented to blues than to rock, but contains classics that have continued in the group's repertoire to date. "My Sunday Feeling" and "Beggar's Farm" are two good examples. Link
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Post by maddogfagin on Sept 4, 2018 6:23:38 GMT
www.warnermusic.de/news/2018-09-03/zum-50-geburtstag-this-was-erscheint-am-0911-als-erweiterte-3cddvd-deluxe-version03.09.2018 - 18:53 On its 50th birthday: "This Was" will be released on 09.11. as an extended 3CD / DVD Deluxe versionIn 1968, Jethro Tull released "This Was" - her debut and at the same time the only album with Mick Abrahams on the guitar, who left the band shortly after the release to found Blodwyn Pig. For the 50th anniversary of the work, "This Was" - whose title refers to the fact that the band moved away from their original blues roots with the album - will be released on November 9 in a special 3CD / DVD 50th Anniversary Edition , the contains the following highlights: Link
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 28, 2018 7:06:06 GMT
50th anniversary edition of Jethro Tull's debutOctober 27, 2018 Author: EFEEME "After several name changes, Jethro Tull played his first concert under this name in February 1968. Months later, Ian Anderson, Mick Abrahams, Glenn Cornick and Clive Bunker released the band's debut: This Was. The album went straight to number 10 in the list of US albums, but the most important thing is that this would be the first step of a long journey that would cover 50 years, in addition to making Jethro Tull one of the bands of the most successful progressive rock in the world, "says the press release of Warner. "This collector's edition includes: -The original album and extra recordings remixed in stereo by Steven Wilson. - Live BBC sessions recorded in 1968. -Original mix in mono and stereo (1968 UK). -Original album and extra tracks remixed by Steven Wilson in Dolby Digital 4.1 DTS and AC3 surround sound and 96/24 LPCM stereo. - Flat transfer of the 1968 stereo remix. -Presentation in a bound book, DVD-size, with an extensive history of the album, track-by-track annotations by Ian Anderson, as well as photographs, many of them unpublished. "Recorded during the summer of 1968, This Was is Jethro Tull's only album that features guitarist Mick Abrahams, who left the group shortly after the release of the album, to assemble Blodwyn Pig. The title of the album makes reference to the sound that the band had in its beginnings based on the blues: "This was how we played then, but things change, is not it?" The album includes songs that have been in and out of direct of Jethro Tull for 50 years, as "My Sunday Feeling" and "Beggar's Farm". Also included are several additional songs: "Love Story", "A Christmas Song". "Sunshine Day" and "Airplane". "In 1968, BBC Radio presented the band twice on its" BBC Top Gear Session "program, the recordings collected in both programs are included in the second CD along with B-sides, discards, radio announcements and an unpublished mono blend of "Someday The Sun Will not Shine For You" (quick version). The third CD presents the original stereo mix of the album in the UK and its original mono mix. "The DVD features the original album and the extra tracks remixed by Steven Wilson in Dolby Digital 4.1 DTS and AC3 surround sound and 96/24 LPCM stereo. There are also 5.1 surround versions of "Love Story" and "A Christmas Song". The 1969 mix published in the USA is also included in stereo 96/24 LPCM. "
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 29, 2018 7:46:06 GMT
www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/17117158.classic-vinyl-lifes-a-long-song-for-band-fronted-by-flute-playing-legend/28th October CLASSIC VINYL: life's a long song for band fronted by flute playing legendBy Adrian Mullen This Was by Jethro Tull released on Island Records label 1968, value £350 mono; £150 stereo with laminated sleeve.THE real Jethro Tull (1674-1741) was an agriculturist credited with inventing a horse drawn drill that sowed crop seeds in furrows with neat formation, writes MICHAEL BROOKS. He became one of the most influential engineers of the early 18th Century. The band Jethro Tull was formed by frontman and main songwriter Ian Anderson who was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, and grew up in Edinburgh before moving to Blackpool. His first band began in 1967, and in order to gain recognition and maintain new bookings, they continually changed their name. The name Jethro Tull was chosen by a booking agent/promoter who liked their performance so much he invited them back to play at a later day. After a residency at the Marquee club in London, they were signed by Island Records. The production cost of This Was was £1,200 and the entire album was recorded in under a week. The cover represents an image of the band as a medieval folk group. Fast forward to present day, and they have released 33 singles, 21 studio albums, 15 of them achieving gold/platinum status amassing sales of 60 million. Album ratings have put this particular one at number 9; but it is their first release, and was successful, that is why it is so collectable. This was the first rock band who had an extrovert flute player as the leader, Ian Anderson. With his exaggerated gestures, long wiry hair, ragged coat and distinctive one-legged stance, Ian cultivated a compulsive stage personality to the extent that, for many spectators, this was indeed Jethro Tull and the other musicians merely underlings. To date approximately two dozen musicians have appeared as former members, notably Mick Abrahams, Tommy Iommi, Roy Harper, Dave Pegg and many more. JT's music has influenced such bands as Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Pearl Jam, Nick Cave among others; Nick Cave having named one of his sons Jethro in honour of the band. The success of albums Thick As A Brick and Aqualung elevated them to supergroup level performing in top venues. Their 1978 Madison Square Garden concert was beamed around the world by satellite, and is still available as a live recording. JT are back on the road again, their tour, called 50 x 50, celebrating the band's 50 years of music. They are acknowledged as one of the greatest bands in progressive rock history.
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argentull
Journeyman
Live Detective
Posts: 239
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Post by argentull on Nov 5, 2018 20:04:49 GMT
This is...THIS WAS
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argentull
Journeyman
Live Detective
Posts: 239
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Post by argentull on Nov 6, 2018 19:01:27 GMT
Oh I was about to post some pictures of the set but one cannot upload pics that are not previously on the internet. And then I forgot to delete the post.
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Post by maddogfagin on Nov 7, 2018 7:24:04 GMT
Oh I was about to post some pictures of the set but one cannot upload pics that are not previously on the internet. And then I forgot to delete the post. It's easy to post your own images - log into postimage.org or any similar sites that are available (don't use photobucket) and you can download images from your pc/laptop to the provider then paste them onto here. It's quite easy to do and relatively quick.
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Post by maddogfagin on Nov 9, 2018 15:29:37 GMT
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Post by maddogfagin on Nov 10, 2018 7:27:05 GMT
www.billboard.com/Jethro Tull's Debut 'This Was' Turns 50: A Track-by-Track Retrospective11/9/2018 by Morgan Enos Jethro Tull are looking back at This Was. On Friday (Nov. 9), Ian Anderson’s long-running band released This Was: 50th Anniversary Edition, an expanded version of their debut album, which hit shelves Oct. 25, 1968. The 3-CD/DVD set sheds new light on their earliest sound, which brought their flute-driven approach to British rock audiences for the first time on tunes like “My Sunday Feeling,” “A Song For Jeffrey” and “Dharma For One.” Years before hit albums like 1971’s Aqualung, Jethro Tull was a blues band on the nightly grind, regularly adopting silly new names (including Ian Henderson’s Bag O’Nails) to maintain interest from promoters. But this familiar origin story had a few crucial wrinkles early on. In the age of string-popping heroes like Eric Clapton, Anderson observed that the market might have been saturated in respect to the electric guitar. LINK
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Post by maddogfagin on Nov 11, 2018 7:54:28 GMT
Well . . . was "Ultimate Confusion" worth the anticipation ? Not really in my view but who knows. The same sort of studio noodling while waiting for the coffee to arrive. Not even bettered by "McGregor Muckabout" from the Blodwyn Pig ARO/GTT set. The BBC recordings are superb as they always were and we owe a great deal of debt to the BBC staff for not junking them at the first opportunity. Discuss - dissertations in by the end of the week
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cecil
Journeyman
Posts: 162
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Post by cecil on Nov 12, 2018 2:45:58 GMT
Well . . . was "Ultimate Confusion" worth the anticipation ? Not really in my view but who knows. The same sort of studio noodling while waiting for the coffee to arrive. Not even bettered by "McGregor Muckabout" from the Blodwyn Pig ARO/GTT set. The BBC recordings are superb as they always were and we owe a great deal of debt to the BBC staff for not junking them at the first opportunity. Discuss - dissertations in by the end of the week How does Blues for the 18th sound? Fine track. Also, does Aeroplane and Sunshine day sound less mid 60s and more late 60s after Steve's remix?
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Post by maddogfagin on Nov 12, 2018 7:31:48 GMT
Well . . . was "Ultimate Confusion" worth the anticipation ? Not really in my view but who knows. The same sort of studio noodling while waiting for the coffee to arrive. Not even bettered by "McGregor Muckabout" from the Blodwyn Pig ARO/GTT set. The BBC recordings are superb as they always were and we owe a great deal of debt to the BBC staff for not junking them at the first opportunity. Discuss - dissertations in by the end of the week How does Blues for the 18th sound? Fine track. Also, does Aeroplane and Sunshine day sound less mid 60s and more late 60s after Steve's remix? Blues is a good track and the MGM single sounds exactly the same as the previously cleaned up versions, better than the vinyl discs. Both to my elderly ears still sound early to mid 60s beat combo style recordings
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Post by maddogfagin on Nov 13, 2018 7:38:48 GMT
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Post by maddogfagin on Nov 20, 2018 7:16:46 GMT
www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/1047218/Review-new-rock-albums-releases-The-Beatles-Rolling-Stones-Jethro-Tull-Pretty-ThingsREVIEW: This week's best rock album releases - The Beatles, Rolling Stones, moreLATEST music releases from The Beatles, Jethro Tull, The Pretty Things and the Rolling Stones follow below.By PAUL DAVIES PUBLISHED: 10:33, Mon, Nov 19, 2018 | UPDATED: 10:40, Mon, Nov 19, 2018 Jethro Tull This Was (Rhino) ★★★★ This was the studio album that started this now legendary and much loved British blues, rock, prog and folk band on their long and prosperous journey of memorable recordings and theatrical live performances. The only album recorded with original guitarist Mick Abrahams, the title reflected the group's desire to shuffle away from their blues-based sound towards a more adventurous musical landscape. However, captured here in aspic is a solid, chugging British blues band blasting a booming sound playing songs some of which remained in their live canon for years to come. Anderson's pied-piper flute blowing on A Song For Jeffrey spawned a unique signature sound that became synonymous with Tull's flute rock oeuvre. My Sunday Feeling stills rocks along with its avalanche riffs creating a big boulder of noise. The real treasures unearthed and dusted down here are the extra discs containing all the BBC radio session recordings of the album, 4 previously unreleased associated recordings, and a DVD of the original album and bonus tracks re-mixed by the ubiquitous, studio tanned Steven Wilson.
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Post by maddogfagin on Dec 11, 2018 7:14:14 GMT
www.loudersound.com/news/its-prog-magazines-xmas-box-set-guideIt's Prog Magazine's Xmas Box Set GuideBy Natascha Scharf 15 hours ago Prog The Best Prog Box Sets To Buy This Christmas... Jethro Tull – This Was (box set) Released to coincide with the band’s 50th anniversary, this four-disc, Steven Wilson mixed deluxe box comes with a hardcover book containing an extensive history of the album, Ian Anderson’s track-by-track annotations and previously unseen photographs. Add to that the bonus tracks, BBC sessions and other rarities and you’ve got a fantastic gift for the discerning Jethro Tull fan.
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Post by chriss on Sept 2, 2019 20:08:43 GMT
On p211 of the new biography of clem cattini he says he played on some tracks of this was. Doesn't say which tracks though. Anyone know more?
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Post by chriss on Sept 2, 2019 20:09:58 GMT
On p211 of the new biography of clem cattini he says he played on some tracks of this was. Doesn't say which tracks though. Anyone know more? I guess not dharma for one as it's clives showcase piece.
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Post by theothertull on Sept 3, 2019 0:47:24 GMT
On p211 of the new biography of clem cattini he says he played on some tracks of this was. Doesn't say which tracks though. Anyone know more? I guess not dharma for one as it's clives showcase piece. He play with Mick, hence the reference to TW, lazy English.
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Post by chriss on Sept 3, 2019 5:56:14 GMT
What he says is he played on the sessions for this was when it was recorded and that the drummer he was filling in for was clive bunker. This Is not a later recording of the songs as he is talking about sessions he did in 1968.
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Post by maddogfagin on Sept 3, 2019 6:23:11 GMT
What he says is he played on the sessions for this was when it was recorded and that the drummer he was filling in for was clive bunker. This Is not a later recording of the songs as he is talking about sessions he did in 1968. Welcome chriss to our corner of the universe Interesting story but exactly how true it is I don't know and unless my memory fails me, not mentioned in any other Tull book.
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Post by maddogfagin on Jan 12, 2020 7:57:05 GMT
11th January In 1969 Jethro Tull's 'This Was' album debuts. HOLY MOTHER OF TULL !!!! Feels like 1969 RIGHT NOW Can you imagine the energy used by this band for so many years ?New Musical Express 26 October 1968 Album released in the UK in October 1968 but most other countries, including the USA, had to wait until February 1969
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Post by maddogfagin on Jul 2, 2020 6:28:47 GMT
Maybe the title of this piece from Loudersound is a bit misleading and, in the case of This Was, should have been along the lines of "10 great bands whose debut album was sufficiently different in style to later releases". OK so I'm biased www.loudersound.com/10 great bands whose debut albums weren't actually greatBy Fraser Lewry, Dom Lawson, Malcolm Dome, Jon Hotten, Sleazegrinder, Stephen Hill, Rob Hughes, Dave Ling, Alec Chillingworth (Classic Rock) 2 days ago Everybody's got to start somewhere, and some of our very best bands started slowly. Here's 10 great bands whose debut albums weren't actually great --------------------------------- Jethro Tull - This WasControversial, maybe, to place the band’s first record on a list like this, but This Was merely hints at the band Jethro Tull would become. It’s a record bossed by the guitarist Mick Abrahams, a revered R&B and hard blues player who would go on to form Blodwyn Pig, and as such offers a view of the road not taken. A three-week dalliance with Tony Iommi followed, before the comforting arrival of the future and Martin Barre. link
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Post by maddogfagin on Jan 13, 2021 7:46:40 GMT
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Post by maddogfagin on Mar 31, 2021 6:35:41 GMT
altrockchick.com/2018/07/25/jethro-tull-this-was-classic-music-review/Jethro Tull – This Was – Classic Music ReviewBy altrockchick on July 25, 2018 The opening line of my review of Stand Up! (published March 5, 2013) exposes me as hypocrite who failed to follow her own rules: “It’s almost impossible to believe that Jethro Tull started out as an R&B-Blues band.” The truth is that my engagement with This Was had been of a cursory nature, and I never listened to it the requisite three times through. I formed an initial impression, stuck to it like a slug on a wall and arrived at a conclusion that would never hold up in court. I was guilty of the corollary to the Cartesian proposition: Je ne pensais pas donc je suis un idiot. I’m going to leave that opening line as is, if only to remind me of my sluggish, slimy sloppiness. However, for the purposes of reviewing Tull’s first album, I issue the following correction: Jethro Tull began life as a highly eclectic band, creating a sound that drew from and integrated a variety of musical influences, including jazz, blues, R&B, rock and the peripatetic wanderings of Ian Anderson’s brain. My reassessment of This Was came about because I got a dog. I’d always wanted a dog, but never had the right combination of living circumstances to practice responsible dog ownership. My place in Seattle didn’t have a yard, and though Paris is very dog-friendly, I knew I was only there on a temporary basis. When we moved to Nice, my partner and I abandoned our day jobs for a consulting practice and wound up spending a lot of time on the road together (and yes, we did mix business with pleasure in the privacy of our hotel rooms—a very popular employee benefit!). Most of our gigs were shared gigs where I did the strategic stuff and Alicia did the financial stuff, but over the past year, we’ve had more split assignments. Both of us thought it would be nice to have access to the unconditional love of a dog while the other was traveling, because vibrators only fill part of the gap and anyway, self-stimulation often makes you miss your squeeze all the more. Still, there are times when both of us are gone, and we needed to nail down doggy care before securing a pooch. My parents were obvious choices, but I knew they would ask for favors in return, usually in the form of music reviews. I’d done more than enough favors for my dad lately, so I thought I’d approach my dear mother first. I was not surprised by her demand that I complete my exploration of Jethro Tull. She is a passionate admirer of Ian Anderson because his self-taught approach to the flute liberated her from the heavy chains of the classical paradigm, a set of methodologies and techniques she had mastered over a dozen years of daily practice and hours of lessons under the sadistic instruction of a flute fascist. After Tull came out she cast the classical scores aside and went free-form, improvising flute parts to recorded material and jamming with local musicians. “I can do that. The hole is mid-period, so we’re talking Heavy Horses, Stormwatch, Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll . . . ” “Stop. You have forgotten the most important one.” My blonde brain couldn’t figure what album she thought was the missing piece to the jigsaw puzzle. It couldn’t be Under Wraps or Roots to Branches. “Living in the Past?” “Non.” Ah! She’d seen Tull several times, though, so I offered up Bursting Out. “Non.” “I give up.” Maman stood up, pulled This Was from the stacks and put it on the turntable. “Ecoute-le. Il ne sait pas la bonne façon, la manière conforme. Il apprend par la performance.” “Yes, I know all that, but this really isn’t Tull, is it? I mean, there’s no Martin . . .” “You cannot understand Jethro Tull without understanding This Was. It wasn’t the flute or the blues influence that made them who they were. Those were important, but the vital truth is that they began with the ethic of ‘anything is possible,’ and the belief that if you have never done a thing before, you can learn. It was that ethic that made their sound unique and allowed Ian Anderson to take their music to unexpected places.” I could see her point. While This Was isn’t one of Tull’s greatest works, it is the place where their one-of-a-kind sound was born. In the end, maman got at least four Tull reviews and I have a cuddly little friend who has already been fully trained not to scratch on the bedroom door when her mommies are making funny noises inside. When it comes to the three basic building blocks of most popular music, I’ve always considered Tull more grounded in rhythm than melody or lyrics. While their rhythms would diversify and intensify over the years, the dominant feature of Tull rhythms is syncopation, those delightful interruptions of the predicted flow that ramp up excitement and listener interest. “My Sunday Feeling,” Tull’s grand opening number, features a syncopated pattern on the main riff, serving the dual role of thematic glue and break-in-the-action. On the verses, the straight 4/4 time gives Ian Anderson a solid foundation for his vocal and the syncopated response to each line forestalls boredom. The steady foundation of the verse lines is essential, as Ian finds himself in the shaky role of man recovering from an all-night bender and needs a rail to hold onto as he tries to navigate through the fog that fills his brain. His natural conversational phrasing creates a vivid picture of a guy who had a few too many on a Saturday night, almost trembling on the lines “I really don’t remember/But with one more cigarette I think I might” and sounding just about ready to upchuck in the last verse (“Oh I don’t feel so good/Need someone to hel-el-elp me to my bed.”) In between vocals, Ian serves primarily as a foil to Mick Abraham’s more substantial guitar contributions, limiting his role to fills and the glorious ending flurry. Having only picked up the flute a couple of months before the recording, he doesn’t overplay his part, keeping things simple and tasty. Clive Bunker really breaks a sweat on this piece, with cascades of tom rolls relieved occasionally when he shifts to high-hat-only for the closing line on each verse. Glenn Cornick does a fine job tightening the rhythm while sometimes allowing himself the luxury of moving off the root note for a supportive run. Tull may just be getting started, but here they strike a rare balance of loose feel and tight playing that can elude even the most experienced band. One of the quirkier aspects of This Was is the mix of stereo and mono recordings, with the difference made even more noticeable by the “creative panning” practices of the mid-to-late 60’s. On “My Sunday Feeling,” the song opens with Mick’s guitar on one channel and Ian’s flute across the way on the opposite channel, in a call-and response pattern. When the vocals begin, we have Ian’s voice on one side, his flute on the other and Mick shoved into the background with the rest of the boys. It’s a move that clearly cries out: WARNING: YOU ARE LISTENING TO A RECORDED FACSIMILE. THIS IS NOT A LIVE PERFORMANCE. On the next track, “Some Day the Sun Won’t Shine For You,” Ian harmonizes with himself on opposite channels with no intention whatsoever of coming close to matching the melody note-for note. This is a good thing, because it’s a song with a front-porch blues feel and precision would have only spoiled it. I should note that the song bears more than a passing similarity to Big Bill Broonzy’s “Key to the Highway.” Broonzy’s original features a slightly faster tempo, but all the essentials are there to call this a DNA match with 99% confidence: chord pattern, harmonica, Delta guitar style, the works. Plagiarism aside, this is a good I’m-gonna-leave-my-baby song to sing along to when you’re drunk enough to feel the first-world pain but not drunk enough to forget to have the last word in the pointless argument. Ian’s harmonica work is straight, simple blues, and he sounds a tad more comfortable and confident with the harp than he did with the flute on “My Sunday Feeling.” Next up is our first mono recording and our first and only Abrahams-Anderson songwriting collaboration, the more Tull-like “Beggar’s Farm.” I say it’s Tull-like because of the use of the flattened fifth on the main Gm riff, a dissonant choice found in many Tull songs, most notably on the iconic guitar riff on “Aqualung.” The song itself is a pretty standard minor blues piece with an awkwardly executed rhythmic shift to an instrumental passage, but is noted as the first recorded evidence that Ian Anderson can go positively manic on the flute, integrating vocalizations while attacking the flute with gusto. In contrast to Ian’s memorable wrap-up to “Beggar’s Farm,” Mick Abraham’s “Move on Alone” is a mellower, more straightforward experience backed by horns arranged by soon-to-be longtime collaborator David Palmer. It’s a nice piece; Abrahams is a pedestrian put passable vocalist and his guitar work is spot on. What the song demonstrates more than anything else is that Mick Abrahams doesn’t belong here; the song doesn’t fit with the other material on the album and the band itself doesn’t have much to do—Palmer’s horns are the focus. Mick realized things weren’t going to work pretty quickly and moved on to Bloodwyn Pig, producing a damn solid album in Ahead Rings Out with the classic number “Dear Jill”—an album that competed fairly well with Stand Up! in the U. K. charts (despite the horrid cover). “Serenade to a Cuckoo” is a slower, late-night version of the Roland Kirk original. Ian’s version deeply offended Robert Christgau, who devoted two whole sentences to This Was in his “consumer review” for The Village Voice: “Ringleader Ian Anderson has come up with a unique concept that combines the worst of Roland Kirk, Arthur Brown, and your nearest G.O. blues band. I find his success very depressing.” More important than the track (which is really a very simple piece that any rookie flutist can master) is the first indication of irrational hostility on the part of a stable of music critics who could never get their heads around Tull—a hostility that would play an important role in Tull history. Flipping over to side two, we find the rare Anderson-Bunker composition, “Dharma for One,” Tull’s contribution to the “gotta hear it live” fan-driven genre that emerged in the 1960’s. Clive gets half-credit for the drum solo that occupies about half of the recording time. I’ll go out on a limb here and say neither the all-instrumental version here nor the amped-up organ-enhanced live version with lyrics that appears on Living in the Past fulfill the song’s potential. The chord pattern is simple but varied enough to allow for some interesting variations, but I don’t find much of interest in either version except for Ian’s calming flute in the less-intense passages. Clive’s drum solo is just a wild bash, as opposed to the almost concerto-like structure of Ginger Baker’s live version of “Toad.” We head back to traditional Chicago-style blues with “It’s Breaking Me Up,” a tightly-played number featuring Ian doing double-duty on the vocals and delivering a fairly strong harmonica performance complete with grunts, moans and other wordless expressions. Abrahams is really solid on this piece, with clever fills and an understated solo that fits the mood of the piece like a glove. It’s followed by “Cat’s Squirrel,” a staple of many a British band of the era, an all-out bash to get the crowd moving. Tull’s version flat-out rocks, bursting out from the start with nasty distortion, a blazing solo from Abrahams and a stop-time section with outstanding clarity and build, in large part due to Clive Bunker’s skills with touch and power. In contrast, Cream’s version seems rather perfunctory and wasn’t aided in the least by a pretty lousy recording. The most unusual piece on This Was is the first of a trilogy of Jeffrey songs that appear on the first three albums. By all accounts, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond was a rather quirky fellow in his youth, a man with a distinctive view of life who provided Ian Anderson with companionship and peculiarities galore that Ian captured in song. “A Song for Jeffrey” mirrors Jeffrey’s quirkiness in both the music and the lyrics. The intro features a brief syncopated passage with Ian on flute, Glenn Cornick on bass and Abrahams on guitar in the key of D, a pattern that suddenly shifts to a bouncy forward rhythm in the key of G. Ian’s vocal is heavily filtered, and the resulting sound is that of a man pinching his nostrils closed with two fingers—and when he arrives at the chorus and the band takes it down a few notches, he begins to sound like a man who has lost his teeth as well. The result is a curiously charming grumpiness also reflected in lyrics that describe Jeffrey as one stubborn SOB when it comes to how he chooses to live his life: Don’t see what I do not want to see You don’t hear what I don’t say Won’t be what I don’t want to be I continue in my way
I’ve ceased to see where I’m goin’ Ceased to see where I’m goin’ I’ve ceased to see where I’m goin’ I don’t want to
I don’t know how else to explain why I like “A Song for Jeffrey” more than any other song on the album, but I’ll tell you this: when I listen to it, the picture of the old men on the cover pops into my mind. This Was ends with a brief, loose fragment of a jam credited to the entire band and producer Terry Ellis, a piece called “Round,” which isn’t a round at all. I can’t explain why this works either, but it seems a perfect ending to an album filled with first-time experiments. While it lacks the richer diversity and depth of Stand Up! and bears only a microscopic resemblance to the band we hear on Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play, the performances on This Was demonstrate the inclination to experiment with sound and the emphasis on rhythm as a means of carrying a message that would characterize the long and often unforeseen journey of Jethro Tull.
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Post by maddogfagin on Jun 4, 2021 6:13:50 GMT
www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/m3bd/Jethro Tull This Was ReviewBBC ReviewAn overlooked but essential piece of Tull. The pace at which the music scene was changing in 1968 was, even when viewed from the luxurious hindsight of 40 years, a breath-taking explosion of creative intent that was as unpredictable as it was exciting. As the Summer of Love's psychedelic foppery gave way to something altogether harder and darker in both style and content, out of the ashes of the John Evan band, Jethro Tull emerged with their dead men's coats to heavy-up their act with a bite of blues rock and a precocious twist of jazz. In this respect they were like many of the bands with whom they shared the bill all over the UK and abroad. However, what made Tull stand out from the great-coated crowd was the high-visibility of frontman Ian Anderson's on-stage Tourette's-inspired hyper-gurning and Mick Abraham's ferocious fretwork. It's easy to forget that in its earliest incarnation Tull was not yet then Anderson's personal fiefdom, with Abrahams exercising just as much influence as his flute-playing pal. This is especially apparent on Disc One's BBC radio sessions where his blues roots are at their most pronounced. His playing throughout the record is superb though is heard to best effect on the rocking Dharma For One, and the Clapton-influenced Cat’s Squirrel. It's no surprise that when the split with Anderson forced him into a solo career with Blodwyn Pig that their debut (Ahead Rings Out) rivalled the top ten sales of Tull's 1969 follow-up, Stand Up. Anderson's presence though is of course undeniable and extensive. Though his vocals are often delivered in an idiosyncratic pastiche of a grizzled blues veteran (especially on A Song For Jeffrey), the phrasing of his nimble flute adds a busy, waspish internal commentary within the songs. Sometimes however their reach exceeds their grasp. The cover of Roland Kirk's Serenade To A Cuckoo is a kind of bluffer's jazz that would give them a momentary exotic shift of gear in a live set dominated by their tumbling rock. It's a rather stilted execution here although one can't help but admire their chutzpah in attempting it. As well the original mono version and some radio sessions, this anniversary edition is expanded to take a new stereo mix, and contemporary single A-sides (including their first single. Sunshine Day, for the MGM label where they were erroneously called Jethro Toe) and B-sides on Disc Two. Having already been given a remastering back in 2003, the new mix yields little surprises although a bit of 21st Century digital space allows a wider aural view of tracks such as Beggar's Farm, You’re Breaking Me Up, and Mick Abraham's wistful Move On Alone. Embracing the broader vocabularies of progressive and folk styles was a brave move considering the Top Ten success of this sophomore release. By the time it came out they'd already moved on. ''This is how we played then – but things change'' Anderson wrote on the original liner notes in '68. Far-sighted words as it turned out. An overlooked but essential piece of Tull.
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Post by maddogfagin on Jun 13, 2021 6:14:55 GMT
www.sputnikmusic.com/review/4368/Jethro-Tull-This-Was/Jethro Tull This WasNovember 21st, 2005Jethro Tull was formed in 1968 out of the remains of The John Evans Band. This Was is the name of the first record that Jethro Tull recorded in Chelsea, London in 1968. Back then Jethro Tull was pretty much a 12-bar blues band and also was the only record guitarist Mick Abrahams played on because he left the band that same year to be replaced by permanent guitarist Martin Barre. Ian Anderson is the vocalist, flutist, as well as many other instruments for this album and would go on to be the only original member that would stay in the band. Bassist Glenn Cornick would go on to play for the bands next two albums after this and drummer Clive Bunker went on for a few as well. As I sat down to listen to this album I found it very accessible and easy to listen to. It is generally a mellow relaxing album and starts out with one of the standout tracks on the album, My Sunday Feeling which has some groovy blues music to it and some nice flute from Ian. The entire album feels like one whole song to me most of the time and I can listen to it straight through feeling like I have only listened to one song. The guitar and bass is wonderful on here with some nice blues lines on both instruments, especially evident on Some Day the Sun Won�t Shine For You. Beggar's Farm has a classic blues guitar line as well to it, which is probably well known by many people, but no one knows who it is done by. Serenade to a Cuckoo has some very good flute playing on it that feels as if it could be played in an elevator. The six minute song mainly focuses on the playing of the flute with some music in the background most of the time. Throughout the song it hints that Ian Anderson is going to sing, but only gets out a syllable at times. The guitar starts to really rise out of the shadows half way through the song, with the flute still playing in the background. In the end the guitar and the flute really have their moments on this song and the rest of the album making them the main part of this album. Some more examples of classic flute playing is the classic A Song for Jeffery. Featuring some great drumming, flute, and 'old man' vocals from Ian. This song is just absolutely terrific and should be heard by all fans of Jethro Tull. Now I feel I must mention the drumming. Overall it is well done, particularly evident on the song Dharma For One. It is definitely the main part of that song with some fast beats and great long solos. Especially near the end where it gets really crazy and then goes into a really retro beat that makes it easy for the rest of the instruments to join in and close out the song. The bass compliments the album as a whole really well and is represented nicely on songs such as My Sunday Feeling and the wonderful It's Breaking Me Up. Overall this album is a classic that should be checked out. This album isn't a great representation of the band as they change their sound later on in other albums, but it is still something that the utmost Jethro Tull fan must own, as well as any classic rock lover. There aren't any bad songs on the entire album and each band member shows his true talent at several points all throughout. The guitar and the flute work very well together and the bass and drums are outstanding, especially the drums. Ian's singing is good as well, but overall there isn't too much from him. Sometimes his voice sounds like an old man. That is probably done on purpose because when this album was released they wanted people to think that they were old.
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Post by maddogfagin on Jul 16, 2021 5:55:24 GMT
From the book Prog Rock FAQ:
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Dead-Duck
Prentice Jack
Guess who's on the cover of PROG Magazine? Ye Oldde Ian Anderson himself!! Great photo!
Posts: 11
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Post by Dead-Duck on Feb 8, 2022 16:15:33 GMT
I'm a huge fan of there 70s albums, I've never listened to THIS WAS cept for bits&pieces of it on youtube. I took the plunge and ordered the 50th Anniversary box set! Has all these extra CDs , even a DVD! Has anyone ever had this box set?
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Post by maddogfagin on Feb 8, 2022 17:18:33 GMT
I'm a huge fan of there 70s albums, I've never listened to THIS WAS cept for bits&pieces of it on youtube. I took the plunge and ordered the 50th Anniversary box set! Has all these extra CDs , even a DVD! Has anyone ever had this box set? It's an excellent box set of an alum I first bought back in 1968. Never fails to evoke pleasant memories of a time and place and friends, some of whom have passed away. The opening riff to My Sunday Feeling is pure magic.
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