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Post by bunkerfan on Jul 1, 2012 18:41:40 GMT
Choosing guest beers (and of course drinking them) would be my dream job.
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Post by steelmonkey on Jul 1, 2012 18:44:04 GMT
NY ? I read that NYC is in a hellish heart wave....I know it's not enviable but SF is still in June Gloom (fog) and I can't talk the kid into weekend camping because it's not quite warm enough to jump in lakes and rivers.....or do you mean Neil Young....new/old movie about him released and he tours and blabs and plays as always!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2012 15:42:08 GMT
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Post by treeborn on Nov 23, 2012 16:46:40 GMT
Seeing the picture of The Brick House,reminded me there is a Brickmakers pub in Norwich,renowned as a music venue, I just wonder ?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2012 14:28:29 GMT
Carpe Weekend: 10 great albums, part one southtownstar.suntimes.com/entertainment/16537606-452/carpe-weekend-10-great-albums-part-one.html ‘Thick as a Brick’ Progressive rock artists often craft intricate songs that can stretch as long as 20 minutes. In 1972, Jethro Tull took the bombastic tendencies of prog rock to new (and some say intentionally mocking) levels by crafting a single 44-minute song. It’s the only track on “Thick as a Brick,” and it’s as melodic as it is multifaceted.
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Post by elberto on Dec 7, 2012 20:12:40 GMT
Do you think that the THICK AS A BRICK 1&2 2012/2013 live show by Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson will go on a video DVD/BLURAY ?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2013 11:45:38 GMT
All Things Reconsidered Looking Back (and Forward) on Jethro Tull's 'Thick As a Brick' By Jordan Blum 13 March 2013www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/166734-looking-back-and-foreword-on-jethro-tulls/Really do mind if you sit this one out! In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, popular music sought to break new ground as often as possible. Along with the reinvention of established artists came the emergence of an entirely new genre—progressive rock. Often categorized by its lengthy durations, incredible musicianship, and eccentric timbres, as well as the inclusion of of odd time signatures, bizarre narratives, and wildly imaginative artwork, the genre gave birth to some of the most unique bands of all time, including Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Pink Floyd, and ELP. However, perhaps no group at the time (or since, for that matter) had a more brilliant, unique, and charming mixture of catchy songwriting, complex instrumentation, poignant lyricism, idiosyncratic vocals, and sonic evolution than progressive folk pioneer, Jethro Tull. Lead by flutist/singer/songwriter/guitarist Ian Anderson (whose earthly yet embittered voice and live theatrics were a crucial part of their persona) and made even more distinctive by the impeccable techniques of guitarist Martin Barre, Jethro Tull has always been respected for its potency and purpose. Sadly, like with most artists, many people only regard the band for a handful of their songs, such as “Aqualung”, “Locomotive Breath”, and “Bungle in the Jungle”. While these tracks are certainly worthwhile, only true fans and genre aficionados grant the group proper revere for pushing boundaries and challenging conventions as thoroughly and consistently as it did. Case in point—their 1972 masterpiece, Thick As a Brick. Groundbreaking in its form, length, packaging, lyrics, and concept (more on that in a bit), the record saw Anderson’s most extravagant vision (up to that point) brought to colorful life with the help of his troupe (which, aside from Barre, included pianist John Evan, bassist Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, percussionist Barriemore Barlow, and string arranger David Palmer). Full of catchy melodies, incredible musicianship, prophetic words, and flawless segues, the work is still one of the most significant and beloved albums of its genre. First, the form of Thick As a Brick deserves attention. While many of Jethro Tull’s aforementioned contemporaries concluded their albums with a twenty-or-so minute track, Jethro Tull took it a step further by crafting a single forty-four minute piece. Not only did this bold approach allow the band room to experiment with density, arrangement, and continuity, but it set the stage for some of their latter output, including the album’s superior follow-up, A Passion Play. In an interview with Classic Rock Presents Prog earlier this year, Anderson recalls, “…it was more demanding and incessant because it was continuous music….it involved lots of repetition, lots of reiteration, lots of variation, [and] lots of development of themes in other guises.” Naturally, such a revolutionary tactic indelibly left its mark on the genre; in fact, many of today’s contemporary acts have released similarly structured songs, such as Echolyn’s Mei, Dream Theater’s Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, and Phideaux’s Snowtorch. On the surface, the album centers on a fictional schoolboy named Gerald Bostock who submitted a poem (which humorously explores the troubles of childhood) called “Thick As a Brick” to a contest. Anderson says, “The concept was a hard thing to sell… we all lived through the era of surreal British humour… The Americans found it more difficult because they found it hard to separate the fiction from reality…” Of course, that’s just the superficial story behind the album; the real motivation for Thick As a Brick was an attempt to comment on the pretention of the genre and the misguided critical assessment of the group. Anderson explains, “… [Aqualung] was, in my mind at least, unreasonably described as a concept album, which I maintain that it was not.” He goes on to say that while some songs, like “My God,” were filled with religious commentary, the album as a whole was not meant to make any substantial statement. In response to such wild allegations, Anderson admits, “ ‘Okay, then we’ll give them the mother of all concept albums next time!’ So we did the completely over-the-top spoof concept album of Thick As a Brick.”
Looking outside of his circumstance, Anderson grants that Thick As a Brick also aimed to poke a bit of fun at progressive rock as a whole. In relation to the arguably convoluted, arrogant, and nonsensical fantasies some of his peers provided, Jethro Tull was quite grounded and traditional. Although he wasn’t exactly disinterested in the scene, he discloses that a focused mockery at others’ music was definitely there. “…We did see the slightly annoying spaghetti noodling of long, drawn-out instrumental passages, and we did kind of spoof that…there are some rambling, free jazz moments… that were more of a piss-take on some of the bands that were rapidly disappearing up their own arses.” Of course, there was always mutual respect amongst the genre greats, and Anderson is eager to concede that “…although we could have a little dig at them [King Crimson and ELP], you had to extend the hats-off credit to them for being extremely inventive…” In a way, then, it’s wonderfully ironic to consider how Thick As a Brick is actually superior to much of the work it satirizes.
Outside of the music, Thick As a Brick was equally remarkable for its packaging. Essentially, the album was housed in an extensive faux newspaper entitled The St. Cleve Chronicle and & Linwell Advertiser (named after Bostock’s school). The attention to detail in terms of stories, sections, and structure is still impressive, as it exemplifies both Anderson’s dedication to making Thick As a Brick as monumental as possible and the growing artistry and ambition amongst the ancillary elements of the genre. He evokes, “I suppose it was a bit radical to do an album cover that was a newspaper… but, of course, [it] was very successful. In crude commercial terms it was a marketing dream, really.” Forty years later, it’s still ranked among the best, most elaborate album packaging ever.
Naturally, Thick As a Brick wouldn’t be nearly as worthwhile in the grand scheme of music if it didn’t pave the way for modern progressive rock. I recently spoke to a few of today’s most adored genre artists about their thoughts on the record. Guy Manning reflects, “[It’s] a brilliant album,” while Randy McStine (Lo-Fi Resistance) says, “Thick As a Brick belongs on every list of iconic progressive rock music. By poking fun at the scene around them, Jethro Tull ironically delivered one of the strongest albums to help define the genre.” In addition, Phideaux Xavier (Phideaux) claims that “this spoof is deeper and more moving lyrically and musically than the serious efforts of most bands,” and Rikard Sjöblom (Beardfish) states, “Thick As a Brick is an amazing album.” Finally, Tom Hyatt (Echolyn) recalls, “I remember the first time hearing Thick As a Brick. I was eight or nine… it was probably my earliest foray into progressive music. All the bumper car time changes and abrupt mood sings… taught me how visual an audio experience can be.” Clearly, progressive rock wouldn’t be what it is today without this record.
Recently, a special 40th Anniversary edition of the album was released, and it definitely a proper commemoration. Houses in a hardcover book, the contents include a CD of the original album (remixed) and a DVD that contains several versions of the piece, including new 5.1 DTS and stereo mixes done by modern day genre king, Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree). In addition, the book includes over 100 pages of supplementary material, which includes reprints of the entire newspaper, as well as glossy ads, pictures, interviews, and commentary. As for the music, well, it sounds better than ever. Every intense timbre and poetically poignant and playful word sounds lively and pristine; in fact, you’ll likely hear things you’ve never heard before.
Surprisingly, this special edition isn’t the only thing that emerged this year to celebrate Thick As a Brick. Far from it, actually, as this past April saw the release of its sequel, Thick As a Brick 2: Whatever Happened to Gerald Bostock?. Credited as an Anderson solo album, it connects both lyrically and musical with its predecessor in several places, including its opening and conclusion. Furthermore, the artwork of Thick As a Brick 2 is a subtle statement on technological advancement; whereas the first album was molded as a newspaper, this one sees The St. Cleve Chronicle as an online publication. In a way, one might conclude that “Thick As a Brick” is a 100-minute song that took roughly 40 years to complete.
It’s easy to see just how important Jethro Tull’s original 1972 masterwork is. By pushing just about every musical boundary, the group firmly crossed over into the realm of progressive rock. Today, it represents not only a pinnacle achievement for Jethro Tull, but also a concrete example of just how adventurous and free artists used to be. More specifically, the recently released 40th anniversary edition is a perfect way to honor the record (let’s hope that A Passion Play sees a similar treatment next year), and its sequel is a surprisingly worthy follow-up. In the end, Thick As a Brick broke the mold and established what the genre could truly be; without it, progressive rock wouldn’t be the same.
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Post by steelmonkey on Mar 13, 2013 15:57:26 GMT
Nice article...lots of very 'right in the head' observations.
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Post by maddogfagin on Mar 13, 2013 19:08:00 GMT
It’s easy to see just how important Jethro Tull’s original 1972 masterwork is. By pushing just about every musical boundary, the group firmly crossed over into the realm of progressive rock. Today, it represents not only a pinnacle achievement for Jethro Tull, but also a concrete example of just how adventurous and free artists used to be. More specifically, the recently released 40th anniversary edition is a perfect way to honor the record (let’s hope that A Passion Play sees a similar treatment next year), and its sequel is a surprisingly worthy follow-up. In the end, Thick As a Brick broke the mold and established what the genre could truly be; without it, progressive rock wouldn’t be the same. An apt summing up of TAAB in one paragraph. Wonderful stuff.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2013 12:45:15 GMT
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Post by journeyman on Aug 26, 2013 19:30:53 GMT
It’s easy to see just how important Jethro Tull’s original 1972 masterwork is. By pushing just about every musical boundary, the group firmly crossed over into the realm of progressive rock. Today, it represents not only a pinnacle achievement for Jethro Tull, but also a concrete example of just how adventurous and free artists used to be. More specifically, the recently released 40th anniversary edition is a perfect way to honor the record (let’s hope that A Passion Play sees a similar treatment next year), and its sequel is a surprisingly worthy follow-up. In the end, Thick As a Brick broke the mold and established what the genre could truly be; without it, progressive rock wouldn’t be the same. An apt summing up of TAAB in one paragraph. Wonderful stuff. Seconded. In an era that was to become crowded with very complex and bold concept albums, Thick as a Brick remains a golden--needless to say it does not bore
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Post by futureshock on Aug 27, 2013 12:52:42 GMT
Do you think that the THICK AS A BRICK 1&2 2012/2013 live show by Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson will go on a video DVD/BLURAY ? The way things go these days, I'd bet it does. I'd guess the best clips from a series of concerts gets put together, with interviews. That's the pattern!
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Post by journeyman on Aug 28, 2013 0:15:26 GMT
Do you think that the THICK AS A BRICK 1&2 2012/2013 live show by Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson will go on a video DVD/BLURAY ? The way things go these days, I'd bet it does. I'd guess the best clips from a series of concerts gets put together, with interviews. That's the pattern! I would think so too, especially considering the effort put towards theatricality. The TAAB name itself will sell copies, and it would have more than the average rock concert DVD has to offer.
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Post by elberto on Oct 15, 2013 19:45:16 GMT
I hope to see a new "Thick as a Brick" vinyl reprint, with newspaper replica, exactly as it was on 1972 vinyl record.
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Post by elberto on Sept 21, 2014 15:50:03 GMT
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Post by elberto on Jun 17, 2015 19:05:26 GMT
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Post by maddogfagin on Jun 18, 2015 7:50:44 GMT
Not sure on that one elberto. Tootull may know though
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Post by elberto on Jun 18, 2015 8:27:06 GMT
Not sure on that one elberto. Tootull may know though What do you know about this new vinyl TAAB edition, Tootull? Is it with the original 12 pages newspaper replica?
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Post by JTull 007 on Jun 18, 2015 11:23:16 GMT
This one came out in 2012 with lots of extras. Don't know if it is the same deal now. TAAB Link
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2015 11:25:27 GMT
www.roughtrade.com/albums/94366Previously only available as part of the Deluxe sets, the original album of 'Thick As A Brick' is available separately featuring the new Steven Wilson Stereo Mixes as well as 24 page booklets adapted from said Deluxe packages.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2015 11:30:59 GMT
Rolling Stone 50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time June 17, 2015 7 Jethro Tull, 'Thick as a Brick' (1972) Miffed that many critics mistook 1971's Aqualung for a concept album, Tull leader Ian Anderson decided to follow it up by parodying the entire concept-album concept. Consisting of one nearly 44-minute song stretched across a dizzying array of movements, Thick as a Brick came wrapped in a Monty Python-esque newspaper sleeve that attributed the song's lyrics to a fictional schoolboy and even "reviewed" the album within. It was a brilliant prank — one so seamlessly executed, in fact, that most people didn't get the joke. Not that they needed to in order to enjoy it. As Rolling Stone noted at the time, "Whether or not Thick as a Brick is an isolated experiment, it's nice to know that someone in rock has ambitions beyond the four- or five-minute conventional track, and has the intelligence to carry out his intentions, in all their intricacy, with considerable grace." D.E. Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
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Post by elberto on Jun 18, 2015 16:20:43 GMT
www.roughtrade.com/albums/94366Previously only available as part of the Deluxe sets, the original album of 'Thick As A Brick' is available separately featuring the new Steven Wilson Stereo Mixes as well as 24 page booklets adapted from said Deluxe packages. So, it's not an exactly replica of the original newspaper. Thanks TooTull!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2016 19:18:17 GMT
The anniversary of the album Jethro Tull «Thick as a Brick» Годовщина выхода альбома Jethro Tull « Thick as a Brick » Date: March 10, 2016 Author: Anton Rasplyuev Source: Beatles.ru Subject: Jethro Tull translated fun; March 10, 1972 released the album JETHRO TULL «Thick as a Brick» The fifth studio album by the minstrels of rock 'n' roll was a semblance of a continuous suite, consisting of two parts, each part of innovatively took an entire side of a vinyl record. Music disc ranges from folk motifs Elizabethan times to the marches and characteristic dzhetrotallovskih moves and combined hoax: it was announced that the album is based on the poem 8-year-old prodigy Gerald Bostoka "dumb like a cork." Hoaxes aggravated plate envelope in the form of newspaper (or rather, a parody of such) of a typical provincial British town, containing dom.hozyaykam tips polit.publikatsii and sensations such as bank robbery and arrest car thief. Also, the newspaper contained an article about said Gerald Bostock, who was awarded the first prize in a literary competition organized by the British newspaper among schoolchildren. However, after hundreds of protests and threats, it was decided to disqualify Bostoka: jury explained that "in spite of the ability to poetry and a high intellectual level, the young poet's mind is seriously injured, and he needs psychiatric treatment, because it incorrectly refers to the school of God, and country. " Poem Bostoka expressed hostility and even protest against the many phenomena: parents, school, church, and society as a whole. I.Anderson: "It was a time of conceptual albums. In 1972, we released their version of a concept album in the satirical spirit. We deliberately mocked the genre. So we did something bloated, slightly surreal and absurd. That's how we were fooling around and makes fun about two years - in 1972 and 1973 (LP «A Passion Play»). Genre prog rock initially earned its share of critics. He was considered very ambitious, pompous. Therefore, it is appropriate to have some fun and would sneer. I think in the «Thick as a Brick» and we were able to do both. We all played frankly and jiving, joking over the genre of thematic album, but at least 50% of students did not understand the humor - they thought it was grand and very serious work. " Today «Thick as a Brick» with its mind-boggling Diversity and melodic sound palette is classic: JETHRO TULL demonstrated that can easily compete with any monster prog rock of the era. At the same time, despite the irony, the album contains a lot of valuable thoughts as musical and philosophical, veiled in TULL style under the frivolous manner of execution.
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Post by steelmonkey on Mar 10, 2016 21:46:03 GMT
oops...I did it again...gave away my TAAB CD to someone because I am so convinced it is the best and most effective entry level Tull for a good attitude novice. Silver-lining...I guess I am forced to raid the kid's college money and send it Amazon way for the 40th anniversary CD.
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Post by maddogfagin on Mar 11, 2016 8:49:35 GMT
That Gerald Bostoka gets around a bit
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Post by rockodyssey on Jun 15, 2016 17:25:11 GMT
THICK AS A BRICK (1973)
Stung by criticism that Aqualung seemed to be about something, Anderson and company decide to make an intentional concept album as a kind of parody. In interviews he suggests that he was tapping into surreal, British humor of the Monty Python kind. If so, then rather like Shakespeare, the jokes are sometimes quite hard to spot. The underlying idea is that the lyrics are written by an 8 year old prodigy, Gerald Bostock. The album also consists of just one song, which, due to the technological constraints of the time (2 sided LPs) is split into Part 1 and Part 2. Tull's big mistake? They made it all too good. The lyrics are both fatuous and profound, the music is inventive and compelling and the production is really pretty groundbreaking. The 'concept' is so adaptable, that they don't really need to establish any real themes at all.Anderson has returned to Bostock twice in recent solo projects 'Thick As A Brick 2' and 'Homo Erraticus' (I was going to cover his solo albums as part of the whole JT canon, but there are enough to justify a separate posting) although I was surprised to hear snippet's that turned up in very similar form in 1987's Crest Of A Knave. On that album, the song 'Mountain Men' contains the line "The poacher and his daughter throw soft shadows on the water in the night" whereas TAAB contains "The poet and the painter casting shadows on the water" sung to the same melody in each. The reference in the later song must have been intentional, but it is difficult to find any discussion of why the link is there on the internet. Wikipedia constantly refers to Jethro Tull as a progressive rock band. I'm inclined to disagree, but they do give it some musical complexity here with the keyboard breaks in particular reminding me of Tony Banks in same-era Genesis. In addition, Anderson uses overlaid vocals to produce a more echoey, choral effect, and the transitions from muddy to sparkling sound clarity is sometimes startling. Of course, back in those days, album packaging ruses were all the rage. Zips, scratch n' sniff, rotating discs under the outer cover, anything went. Jethro Tull have always been quite good on packaging, particularly early on, but this took the form of a full blown newspaper,"The St Cleve Chronicle and Linwell Advertiser" wrapped around it with full coverage of Bostock and his controversial entry into a local poetry competition.
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Post by JTull 007 on Aug 1, 2016 23:42:54 GMT
Jethro Tull: the story behind Thick As A Brick Features / 4 hours ago / by Malcolm Dome TULL LINK In 1971, Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson set out with tongue-in-cheek to make “the mother of all concept albums”. With Thick As A Brick, he ended up fulfilling his ambition – and then some Monty Python. It might seem a little odd to mention the influential British comedy troupe as we begin a journey through the story of the groundbreaking album Thick As A Brick. But Jethro Tull mainman Ian Anderson believes there’s a common thread.
“Monty Python lampooned the British way of life,” says Anderson. “Yet did it in such a way that made us all laugh while celebrating it. To me, that’s what we as a band did on Thick As A Brick. We were spoofing the idea of the concept album, but in a fun way that didn’t totally mock it.”
It’s often been said that the seeds for 1972’s Thick As A Brick (the band’s fifth album) were sown when its predecessor, ’71’s Aqualung, was wrongly perceived as a fully-blown conceptual piece. Myth has it that Anderson was angry about this misconception.
“Not angry, no,” explains the man nearly four decades on. “I was actually mildly irritated and wryly amused. However much I insisted that Aqualung wasn’t a concept album, the media still persisted in treating it as such. They seemed to believe the whole record was a major religious story. The truth was that three or four songs were linked by questioning the nature of religion. But the rest were stand-alone tracks. So, after this whole scenario, I thought, ‘OK, we’ll not only now do a real concept album, but we’re going to make it the mother of all concept albums!’.”
Adding to this determination was Anderson’s belief that progressive rock had become a touch too self important, needing to be pulled down a peg or two from its Olympian pretensions.
“When progressive rock started out, it was all about bands such as ourselves moving beyond merely being influenced by American blues. We stopped trying to be the next Fleetwood Mac or Chicken Shack – in other words, derivative of Elmore James – and began to take on board so many diverse musical ideas. It was exciting and dynamic. But, by the time the 1970s had begun, bands like ELP were a little up their own arses. Everything was too serious and overblown. So, we set out with Thick As A Brick to show up this side of the genre.”
The centrepiece of the album was a poem, ostensibly written by 12-year-old Gerald Bostock. However, this is a totally fictitious character, created by Anderson himself. Despite attempts over the years to uncover the true identity of the poet, the truth is that ‘Bostock’ has no connection to anyone from Anderson’s past. However, we can revealthat the poem itself does draw from the man’s childhood.
“Yes, there’s an autobiographical element in what I wrote. As a child, I was a bit of a rebel. Most of my peers aspired to going to grammar school, getting eight O Levels and three A Levels, then becoming part of conventional society. That never appealed to me. I was the sort of child who loved spending time collecting pond life and then analysing it. I also loved science fiction stories of the era (the 1950s), because they told of a different, exciting future. So, I stood apart from others of my age, and drew on this for the character of Gerald Bostock. But he himself is a fiction.”
Having written the crucial poem that became the fulcrum for the concept, Anderson and his band – guitarist Martin Barre, bassist Jeffrey Hammond, keyboard player John Evan, string/brass arranger David Palmer and new drummer Barriemore Barlow – now had the challenge of making the musical form work.
“I suppose I have to admit that I really imposed the whole idea on the other guys,” laughs Anderson, a benign dictator in this instance. “But, for whatever reason they went along with it, and actually warmed to the task once we got stuck into the music.”
Tull elected to work out the album during two weeks of intense rehearsals using the Rolling Stones mobile studio.
"This was based in Bermondsey, a rather dreadful part of South London. The way it worked was that I’d spend the morning in my home in Hampstead – sadly, not the posh part of that North London suburb – and get three or four minutes of music down on a sheet of paper from an exercise book. Then we’d meet as a band and go through not just the new part I’d written, but everything from the beginning. So, gradually we’d build up the piece.”
Finally, in December 1971, the band entered Morgan Studios in North West London and, under the production aegis of Anderson himself, recorded the album (which is effectively just one composition, split into two movements) over a period of a fortnight, including the mixing stage.
“It’s only in recent times that I’ve appreciated how complex the music is,” admits Anderson. “I was only 24 at the time we began to put this together. Yet there are so many weird time changes and musical innovations on the album. I would never compare what we did back then to jazz rockers like Weather Report or the Mahavishnu Orchestra – they were really amazing musicians – but we were a little more sophisticated than the usual riff rockers you’d find on the scene.”
But the music was just part of the ambitious concept the band put together. Almost of equalimportance was the cover, which was in effect a 16-page newspaper called The St. Cleve Chronicle & Linwall Advertiser, which was a spoof of the sort of local newspapers prevalent around the UK at the time.
“That was a massive undertaking,” says Anderson. “Fortunately Roy Eldridge, our A&R man at the label [Chrysalis], had worked as a journalist on local papers prior to joining the company. So, we drew on his experience. We put together a lot of silly stories and also used lyrics from the album itself. We also got the road crew, label people and girlfriends to pose for photos.”
One of those names used was Derek Smalls, who emerged over a decade later as the bassist with the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap. “I was convinced that Harry Shearer (the actor who played the character in the celebrated movie) must have gotten the name from Thick As A Brick, especially as the Smalls in the film smoked a Peterson pipe – and the only three people I know in rock’n’roll who smoke such a pipe were all members of Jethro Tull! But, when I got the chance to interview Harry for a US TV show, he denied ever hearing Thick As A Brick. I find that somewhat hard to believe.”
However, the album did get some cultural recognition in the States when it was featured in an episode of The Simpsons. Not only does the character of Martin Prince sing part of the song in the episode Girls Just Want To Have Sums, but the original is used over the end credits. Perhaps this isn’t too surprising when you consider that the album reached Number One in the US when released in May 1972 (it hit Number Five in the UK).
“I must admit to being a little surprised that we got to the top of the charts over there,” says Anderson. “But everything had been building for us. Aqualung sold steadily, so either Thick As A Brick was going to take off, or we’d just sink. However, I’m not sure our American fans understood the humour behind our live performance on the subsequent tour.
“We decided to bring all the characters mentioned on the album and in the cover newspaper to life, and it was quirky, very British. We weren’t trying to be comedians, just to enhance the concept. The rest of the band got the chance to step outside of their dapper personae. It was funny because we had a laugh. But in the US… well, all I can say is that I’m none too certain they understood what we were doing. I recall a few years later when the film Monty Python And The Holy Grail was released… I’d help to finance it, and saw a preview in New York. The audience laughed in all the wrong places, which was what happened with Thick As A Brick live.”
But perhaps this comes down more to the whole premise of progressive rock rather than anything else – at least as far as Anderson is concerned.
“Progressive rock is a purely British phenomenon. And these days all of us – and I include the likes of ELP here – know that there was a sense of fun about it. Privately, we all saw the silly side, we were like John Cleese in a bowler hat lampooning the bureaucrats, while revelling in it.”
Any spoof done well enough enhances both the perpetrators and the intended victims – think of Spinal Tap and the heavy metal genre. But, surely if it’s done too well then it becomes indistinguishable from the real thing? How does Anderson react to the fact that Thick As A Brick is frequently cited as the ultimate prog rock album?
“Job done, I’d say. We set out to make the mother of all concept records, as I stated earlier, and if that’s the way people see the album after all these years, then we achieved the ambition. It is hard sometimes to differentiate between what’s serious and what’s a send-up. But, for me, that’s beauty of true prog rock – it must have both.”
Ian Anderson headlines the A New Day Festival in Faversham, Kent, on Saturday August 6
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2016 14:38:29 GMT
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Post by JTull 007 on Nov 5, 2016 15:05:32 GMT
Can anyone post the TEXT of this article ? Please ?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2016 15:27:39 GMT
Can you recall who was decided for the role of president in Jethro Tull's 'Thick as a Brick'? Or for what television commercial Ian Anderson recorded a new version of 'Thick as a Brick' specifically for? It’s quiz time. As usual it's 10 seconds per question, 10 questions per round. Remember the faster you answer, the higher your score! And if you hit the high numbers first time round, have another go. Log into TeamRock.com to check your position on our brand new quiz leaderboards. Not yet a member? Sign up today - it's completely free! Enjoy. Question: 1 / 10 Where were all the sportsmen "resting" who always pulled you through? Question: 2 / 10 "The ____ and the _________ casting shadows on the water, as the sun plays on the infantry returning from the sea." - Thick as a Brick (1972) Question: 3 / 10 Which fictional adventurer is mentioned in the song 'Thick as a Brick'? Jethro Tull Quiz: Thick As A Brick Question: 4 / 10 Ian Anderson performed 'Thick As A Brick' in its entirety in 2012. Where was the concert recorded? Question: 5 / 10 What was the name of the newspaper featured on the album artwork for 'Thick as a Brick'? Question: 6 / 10 Ian Anderson recorded a new version of 'Thick as a Brick specifically for a television commercial in 2001. What company was this for? Question: 7 / 10 What was the publishing date on 'Thick as a Brick's "newspaper" album cover? Question: 8 / 10 Thick As A Brick was supposed to be the views of a five year old fictitious character. What was his name? Question: 9 / 10 How much did "Good old Ernie" cough up on a premium bond win in Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick'? Question: 10 / 10 Who was decided for the role of president in Jethro Tull's 'Thick as a Brick'?
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