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Post by atomicsynth on May 17, 2014 2:31:30 GMT
This Was is certainly a better listen in mono although since the re-issue a few years ago I have my doubts as to whether it is the same mix as the original mono vinyl. But then my ears are not what they used to be but I just get the impression that it's either a re-mixed mono or a new one taken from the stereo tapes and mixed to mono. I'd certainly recommend a listen to an original vinyl recording of This Was in mono - a joy to behold. Welcome to the Jethro Tull Forum. Lots to see and plenty to comment on MD/GrahamThank you for the kind welcome! I also have the original vinyl of that album and quite agree with you!
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Post by maddogfagin on May 20, 2014 14:49:16 GMT
There was certainly a lot of cross pollination between the British blues groups of the late '60s, early '70s. I always preferred Mick's version of "Cat's Squirrel" (but then I'm biased) over the version that Eric used to play. Having seen both musicians play "Cat's Squirrel" in concert I always found Eric's version a bit pedestrian for my own taste but Mick's was always as if he was putting his whole heart and soul into it. Personal preference I know but Big Mick always has and will win hands down for me. Of interest, the original "Cat's Squirrel" was sung by Doctor Isiah Ross and recorded back in 1959 - it was then called "Cat Squirrel" and is a classic. Love Ross' original version of the tune, and he being a Delta bluesman moved to Detroit like John Lee Hooker, Victoria Spivey and Eddie "Guitar" Burns makes the song even more special. I prefer Clapton's version from Fresh Cream perhaps because the album in its entirety was as revelatory as The Beatles' Revolver in 1966. White guys weren't supposed to play the blues like that. As I inferred earlier, "Rollin' and Tumblin'" is one of the most spastic blues harp songs of all time. I remember playing that one in a bar for the first time (of course, with a Shure Green Bullet mic through a Fender Vibro-Champ tube amp for maximum harmonica distortion). The startled look on people's faces was priceless,. Thanks to a fellow record collector who reminded me of another slower version of Cat Squirrel by Dr Ross that was a Record Store Day and re-released in 2013 on the Sun label and most likely precedes the one originally issued on Fortune Records in 1961. Published on 17 Apr 2013 by jukeboxjamrevue
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Post by maddogfagin on Sept 11, 2014 17:41:02 GMT
BBC Review www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/m3bdAn overlooked but essential piece of Tull.Sid Smith 2008 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 nonrabbit on Apr 5, 2015 9:43:39 GMT
I've just noticed the similar theme of both album covers. i61.images obliterated by tinypic/2vhw2df.jpg[/IMG] i57.images obliterated by tinypic/xohxlc.png[/IMG] Any more stories or facts on the theme of the This Was cover other than it was devised by Ian and Terry?
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Post by maddogfagin on Apr 5, 2015 10:01:56 GMT
I've just noticed the similar theme of both album covers. Any more stories or facts on the theme of the This Was cover other than it was devised by Ian and Terry? When the album was first issued over here in the UK on the pink Island label, it was released in mono which was superceded by the more common stereo version after a short time. It was, for its time, unusual as there was no group name or album title on the front cover on the original UK version.
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Post by Tull50 on Apr 5, 2015 21:28:32 GMT
I've just noticed the similar theme of both album covers. Any more stories or facts on the theme of the This Was cover other than it was devised by Ian and Terry? And much more resemblance with this SFTW promotional photo
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Post by maddogfagin on Apr 6, 2015 8:02:00 GMT
I've just noticed the similar theme of both album covers. Any more stories or facts on the theme of the This Was cover other than it was devised by Ian and Terry? And much more resemblance with this SFTW promotional photo This SFTW tee shirt was on ebay a few years back - sadly I was out bid but kept the image on hard drive.
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Post by maddogfagin on Apr 7, 2015 8:23:50 GMT
Perfecting the IA glare, later taken over by Johnny Rotten.
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Post by celtrock on May 6, 2015 0:23:12 GMT
I was just digitizing my original Pink Eye copy of This Was to my computer tonight and decided, just for gits and shiggles, to compare it to my American Reprise release. Both are Stereo (sorry purists, I prefer my music like I like my pictures... in stereo (I have a large ViewMaster collection as well)) and I'm STUNNED at just how different the UK and American releases are. The American release is just SO flat, SO lifeless but the UK mix is SO dynamic, the instruments jump right off the turntable! What is wrong with us Americans? Okay, let's not go there. Even though my American copy is in slightly better shape I'll listen to the recording of the UK version, it is by far better despite the few extra pops that I hear. I can't wait to grab the re-master on CD so I can compare the UK vinyl with the re-master.
Anyone else have this experience?
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Post by maddogfagin on May 6, 2015 12:24:19 GMT
I was just digitizing my original Pink Eye copy of This Was to my computer tonight and decided, just for gits and shiggles, to compare it to my American Reprise release. Both are Stereo (sorry purists, I prefer my music like I like my pictures... in stereo (I have a large ViewMaster collection as well)) and I'm STUNNED at just how different the UK and American releases are. The American release is just SO flat, SO lifeless but the UK mix is SO dynamic, the instruments jump right off the turntable! What is wrong with us Americans? Okay, let's not go there. Even though my American copy is in slightly better shape I'll listen to the recording of the UK version, it is by far better despite the few extra pops that I hear. I can't wait to grab the re-master on CD so I can compare the UK vinyl with the re-master. Anyone else have this experience? I've never heard the US stereo version so I can't in all honesty comment but my Island Records mono copy, originally bought back when the album was first released in the UK, is an absolute "belter" which I played to death for many years and I only bought a stereo vinyl copy much later before the advent of the original CD release. My own opinion is that the original mono version, either vinyl or CD, is superior to the stereo version but then that's just me !
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2015 15:07:35 GMT
I was just digitizing my original Pink Eye copy of This Was to my computer tonight and decided, just for gits and shiggles, to compare it to my American Reprise release. Both are Stereo (sorry purists, I prefer my music like I like my pictures... in stereo (I have a large ViewMaster collection as well)) and I'm STUNNED at just how different the UK and American releases are. The American release is just SO flat, SO lifeless but the UK mix is SO dynamic, the instruments jump right off the turntable! What is wrong with us Americans? Okay, let's not go there. Even though my American copy is in slightly better shape I'll listen to the recording of the UK version, it is by far better despite the few extra pops that I hear. I can't wait to grab the re-master on CD so I can compare the UK vinyl with the re-master. Anyone else have this experience? I've never heard the US stereo version so I can't in all honesty comment but my Island Records mono copy, originally bought back when the album was first released in the UK, is an absolute "belter" which I played to death for many years and I only bought a stereo vinyl copy much later before the advent of the original CD release. My own opinion is that the original mono version, either vinyl or CD, is superior to the stereo version but then that's just me ! MONO RULES WITH THIS WAS. I prefer the mono CD version of This Was, except for the vocal distortion on A Song For Jeffrey. *I find the vocal effect to be torture as it was already turned up loud enough. With this CD mastering now it's driven to distortion. The all important guitars gain power in mono.
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Post by maddogfagin on May 7, 2015 8:04:35 GMT
I've never heard the US stereo version so I can't in all honesty comment but my Island Records mono copy, originally bought back when the album was first released in the UK, is an absolute "belter" which I played to death for many years and I only bought a stereo vinyl copy much later before the advent of the original CD release. My own opinion is that the original mono version, either vinyl or CD, is superior to the stereo version but then that's just me ! MONO RULES WITH THIS WAS. I prefer the mono CD version of This Was, except for the vocal distortion on A Song For Jeffrey. *I find the vocal effect to be torture as it was already turned up loud enough. With this CD mastering now it's driven to distortion. The all important guitars gain power in mono. The vocal distortion was used by quite a few bands around the time - Steamhammer were certainly a case in point - so the embryonic Tull were using a vocal effect in common use with bands of the Brit Blues type. The effect was explained to me by a rock author/journalist as being the equivalent of the distortion that sometimes happened on blues records of the 30s and 40s that were recorded "in the field" by collectors and enthusiasts. I have a recollection of PG's Fleetwood Mac using the very same effect during early concerts, most probably by Jeremy Spencer.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2015 12:06:39 GMT
MONO RULES WITH THIS WAS. I prefer the mono CD version of This Was, except for the vocal distortion on A Song For Jeffrey. *I find the vocal effect to be torture as it was already turned up loud enough. With this CD mastering now it's driven to distortion. The all important guitars gain power in mono. The vocal distortion was used by quite a few bands around the time - Steamhammer were certainly a case in point - so the embryonic Tull were using a vocal effect in common use with bands of the Brit Blues type. The effect was explained to me by a rock author/journalist as being the equivalent of the distortion that sometimes happened on blues records of the 30s and 40s that were recorded "in the field" by collectors and enthusiasts. I have a recollection of PG's Fleetwood Mac using the very same effect during early concerts, most probably by Jeremy Spencer. With A Song For Jeffrey, that vocal effect sounds best on the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Living In the Past CD to me. I prefer A Song For Jeffrey on that CD set over all others.
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Post by maddogfagin on May 7, 2015 18:07:16 GMT
The vocal distortion was used by quite a few bands around the time - Steamhammer were certainly a case in point - so the embryonic Tull were using a vocal effect in common use with bands of the Brit Blues type. The effect was explained to me by a rock author/journalist as being the equivalent of the distortion that sometimes happened on blues records of the 30s and 40s that were recorded "in the field" by collectors and enthusiasts. I have a recollection of PG's Fleetwood Mac using the very same effect during early concerts, most probably by Jeremy Spencer. With A Song For Jeffrey, that vocal effect sounds best on the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Living In the Past CD to me. I prefer A Song For Jeffrey on that CD set over all others. Haven't got the Mobile Fidelity release but I'll bow to your listening ears - mine are shot A few months ago I was listening to a blues compilation of songs and artists from the 20s through to the 40s which had been dubbed from the original 78 rpm discs and it was surprising just how much distortion there was on the vocals. Great music though and This Was will always remain one of my favourite albums - it's where I stepped onto the train for the journey
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Post by maddogfagin on May 24, 2015 9:45:06 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2015 17:03:54 GMT
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Post by steelmonkey on Sept 18, 2015 18:30:26 GMT
Is it 'Hey Santa' or 'Hey Senator' ? Santa for Xmas..I guess,.... but one of my Tull friends swears it's 'Hey, Senator'
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Post by maddogfagin on Sept 19, 2015 8:36:32 GMT
Cheers TT - good post and much appreciated by a confirmed ThisWasaholic
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2015 21:00:36 GMT
Cheers TT - good post and much appreciated by a confirmed ThisWasaholic Knew it! appreciated by a confirmed ThisWasaholic
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2015 21:05:15 GMT
Is it 'Hey Santa' or 'Hey Senator' ? Santa for Xmas..I guess,.... but one of my Tull friends swears it's 'Hey, Senator' Mine of disinformation...pleading sympathy - I see. SANTA!
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Post by maddogfagin on Nov 8, 2015 10:29:37 GMT
www.soundtechniquesmovie.com/about-the-film/www.soundtechniquesmovie.com/ian-anderson-this-was-jethro-tull-and-sound-techniques/NOVEMBER 5, 2015 / SOTECHMOVIE / PRODUCTION BLOG THIS WAS IAN ANDERSON: JETHRO TULL AND SOUND TECHNIQUESIan Anderson, multi instrumentalist and leader of Jethro Tull invited directors Neil Innes and Nick Turner to his beautiful house to chat about the band’s first record This Was… The album’s title, Anderson confessed, was a sly nod towards the fact that they would never sound like this again, but those sessions for their debut at Sound Techniques with engineer Vic Gamm would teach the band how to capture the sounds they needed to move forward. After the departure of guitarist Mick Abrahams Anderson would go on to take full control and create Stand Up, pushing the band more and more into the more progressive sound with which they are now synonymous. It’s for this reason that This Was… certainly stands out as a very different Jethro Tull album. Anderson was kind, philosophical and in good spirits remembering his time there; His interview adding yet another level to the rich and complex history of Sound Techniques and to the The Parts You Don’t Hear. Currently Anderson is touring his Rock Opera on the life of Jethro Tull, the English agricultural inventor, from whom the band borrowed their name. You can check the world tour dates over here on the official Jethro Tull site.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2015 16:11:59 GMT
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Post by maddogfagin on Apr 8, 2016 8:43:46 GMT
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Post by rockodyssey on Jun 15, 2016 16:57:59 GMT
OK. This is the first part (obviously) of my journey through JTs studio albums.
THIS WAS (1968)
I've spent the last few weeks dissecting the musical partnership of Lennon and McCartney (albeit with a level of knowledge and insight of a meat cleaver). They spent 7 glorious years developing their musical differences. Jethro Tull, however, and the partnership of Ian Anderson and Mick Abrahams, got it all sorted out over the course of their first album, after which Anderson ploughed on with the name and a brand of folk-rock, while Abrahams pursued the blues with Blodwyn Pig who fizzled out after two albums. I'm fairly confident that the musical progression that the Beatles made in their 7 years of studio recording will far outstrip Tull's development over the last 40, although I might be surprised. You can already hear the schism in this first album. Anderson's flute lends a unique sound which anglicizes the standard blues structures. Also Anderson's characteristic rolling burr of a voice is there from the start. Having heard a lot of interviews with him I would swear he was from the west country, but apparently he was born in the Kingdom of Fife and schooled in Lancashire. Of course the fact that this example of a British rock dinosaur started out as a blues band should surprise precisely no-one, since this was the approved path for anyone who was going to last into the seventies and beyond. Tull mess around with jazz as well and there is quite a lot of purely instrumental stuff on here, although the first few tracks have vocals, including Anderson grunting and groaning through his flute on 'Beggar's Farm' and Abrahams on 'Move On Alone'. Allegedly Anderson had only been playing the flute for a few months prior to this album, but his performance on 'Serenade To A Cuckoo' is pretty good. Probably his practice piece. It's a jazz standard and has the feel of Pink Panther-era Henry Mancini about it. Having no formal training means that he gets far more out of the flute than you'd expect. Things get heftier on 'Cat's Squirrel'. The Spotify version has some nice extra BBC sessions tracks. I find the cover a bit baffling, it has the feel of a renaissance painting, but Anderson assumes the form of a hobbity Noddy Holder in a canine sea. There's lots of facial hair, some odd hats and colourful weskets.
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Post by elberto on Sept 16, 2016 13:08:47 GMT
From a post on the steven wilson remixes page on facebook: www.facebook.com/swremixes/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf"Sorry folks, release dates for some of the Panegyric releases have slipped back slightly. Revised release dates as follows: Yes (official) - Tales From Topographic Oceans 3CD/Blu-Ray + 2CD/2DVDA - 6th October King Crimson 40th anniversary (80's albums) - 20th October XTC - Skylarking CD/Blu-Ray remains on schedule for 13th October. Also a reminder that my remix of Jethro Tull's "Stand Up" will be released on 18th November. I'm very much focussing on my own music these days, but will certainly keep slotting in the remix projects whenever I can. The other already completed mixes, Roxy Music's debut and Tears for Fears "Seeds of Love", remain in a holding pattern. I hope both will come out next year, but then the Roxy album has been "next year" every year since I did it in 2012! In the meantime another set of XTC tapes from the Virgin era have been found, and I certainly plan to continue with the Tull series (This Was, Songs From the Wood...etc), so look out for these in 2017. I'm still waiting for the call from Kate Bush haha!" So, there will be also a This Was Steven Wilson Remix...
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argentull
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Post by argentull on Sept 16, 2016 14:27:41 GMT
Really?
Probably Steven was joking or not conscious that This Was was recorded onto 4 tracks...
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Post by maddogfagin on Sept 17, 2016 8:23:53 GMT
Really? Probably Steven was joking or not conscious that This Was was recorded onto 4 tracks... It would be difficult to improve on the 2008 re-issue unless some out takes have somehow appeared from the vaults, including the Derek Lawrence "Candy Coloured Rain" recordings/acetates which have never been released. If it is just going to be a re-issue of the above I don't really see the point to issuing it again. Still love the mono mix of This Was
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Post by argentull on Sept 17, 2016 14:29:55 GMT
People people, carefull with the enthusiasm... First, at this point nothing is confirmed but SFTW. Second, This Was was recorded onto 4 tracks, hence, it is not possible to mix it in 5.1 I guess, and let´s keep in mind that SW is mainly involved in these reissue projects because he´s mainly iterested in the 5.1 thing Third, This Was has been remastered and remixed for the 2008 edition which is the best version available IMO and sounds really good. Not sure what else can be made to improve it further. Fourth, I doubt there are surviving outakes other than the BBC sessions and the Derek Lawrence recordings, which of course were ot recorded by the JT This Was incarnation, but as teh John Evan Smash.
Although I hardly imagine SW mentioning This Was as a forthcomming project with no apparent reason, his post (the JT part) looks rather superfluous. I would take it with a grain of salt, but hopefully anyway.
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Post by nonrabbit on Sept 17, 2016 14:53:46 GMT
People people, carefull with the enthusiasm... I would take it with a grain of salt, but hopefully anyway. Aww don't spoil the fun we like to over speculate here. And your last sentence sounds like a British outburst of pure excitement!
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