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Post by velvetgrn on Jul 10, 2014 11:15:22 GMT
I've been doing some reading about APP and the Chateau D'Isaster sessions and came across a quote from IA in which he noted that Desmond Morris' "The Naked Ape" was a favorite book of his. It seems that the book was an inspiration for the lyrics that analogized human behavior with that of other animals. (E.g. - "Law of the Bungle", "Tiger", and "Bungle in the Jungle".)
This got me wondering if any other books have provided inspiration for IA's lyrics. It seems that "Who would be a poor man, a beggarman, a thief" from "Cross-Eyed Mary" is a reference to something psychologist John B. Watson wrote in his book "Behaviorism":
"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors."
Are there any other books that have influenced IA's lyrics? Well, besides the Bible.
EDIT: I just recalled that IA was given a book on English folklore which influenced some of the lyrics on SFTW.
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Post by maddogfagin on Jul 10, 2014 16:51:51 GMT
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge may have influenced IA to read about the legend of The Flying Dutchman and hence the song on Stormwatch. The original poem was required reading when I was studying for my GCEs back in '64 and in that respect IA may have read the poem around the same time if he was on the same syllabus as I was on. www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173253Oh and by the way, I passed my English Literature GCE exam in case you were wond'ring (aloud)
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Post by nonrabbit on Dec 5, 2014 9:58:51 GMT
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. The Cat That Walked By Itself "I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me. I will not come..."A Gift Of Roses "Like the Kipling cat, I walk alone Never inviting trouble, never casting the stone..."
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Post by steelmonkey on Dec 5, 2014 19:52:53 GMT
Well spotted !
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Post by nonrabbit on Aug 5, 2015 9:26:30 GMT
According to the book Jethro Tull: A History of the Band, 1968-2001 by Scott Allen Nollen, Mother Goose was based on 'people observed' by Ian in Hampstead.
It also goes on to say that the song 'borrows' from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.
'Long John Silver' and perhaps in calling himself a 'schoolboy' it could refer to RL Stevensons books which feature 'young, male protagonists'
However as also stated in the book Ian has said that he has never read any works of 'fellow Edinburghian' Robert Louis Stevenson. I find that hard to believe in so far as Ian (Anderson) was schooled in Edinburgh and everywhere you go there is something to remind you of Stevenson's works.
In this beautifully filmed and accurately enacted video (Edinburgh and London) in the series Ian Rankin Investigates (The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) there is in my opinion links between Edinburgh, RL Stevenson, Mother Goose, Cross-Eyed Mary and the works of Ian Anderson lurking in the shadows!
Incidentally, Ian Rankin's fictional character Rebus is noted as a fan of Tull. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b007qyzv/ian-rankin-investigates-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde
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Post by nonrabbit on Aug 8, 2015 13:37:07 GMT
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Post by nonrabbit on Dec 6, 2015 10:52:36 GMT
FOULA, AULD YULE Shut the door and pass the bottle Round the circle of light. One by one let us drink to the days The sun makes ripe, And join in your riddle, Aggie Jean, in the ring Of the stove’s peat reek, While, long past midnight, the child in my lap is falling Into sleep; Into widening circles of sleep, that will carry her Who knows where. Let us drink to the fire within. We know too well The dark out there. From: 100 Island Poems, ed. James Knox Whittet* i67.images obliterated by tinypic/zx1mvp.jpg[/IMG] * James Knox Whittet was born and brought up in Islay.... His paternal grandmother came from a crofting family on the Isle of Skye. After leaving school, he trained in horticulture at Windsor Castle and then worked for a number of years as a gardener in the Highlands, including Dunrobin Castle. He then returned to full-time education, spending two years at Newbattle Abbey College before going on to read English at Cambridge University.... "This poem describes a Christmas scene on the island of Foula where, in accord with the old Julian calendar, the festival is still celebrated on 6 January" www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/books/poem-of-the-week-1-687259
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Post by tullpress on Dec 9, 2015 0:04:08 GMT
For everything in the Chateau D'Isaster songs and WarChild -- 'The Naked Ape' by Desmond Morris. Very influential at the time, and pretty much explains all that stuff. Source: www.tullpress.com/nme24mar73.htm"I'm very interested in animal psychology. Desmond Morris is one of my favourite writers. The animals in the show will have a human mind. Maybe one of the greatest disasters of today is that man is too far away from animals and nature." A
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Post by maddogfagin on Dec 9, 2015 9:08:33 GMT
For everything in the Chateau D'Isaster songs and WarChild -- 'The Naked Ape' by Desmond Morris. Very influential at the time, and pretty much explains all that stuff. Source: www.tullpress.com/nme24mar73.htm"I'm very interested in animal psychology. Desmond Morris is one of my favourite writers. The animals in the show will have a human mind. Maybe one of the greatest disasters of today is that man is too far away from animals and nature." A Many thanks Andrew. I aquired this booklet back at the end of the last century which may be of interest to members wishing to explore the subject further. I don't know of its availability 22 years later although ebay/amazon/play.com might help.
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Post by steelmonkey on Dec 9, 2015 17:42:44 GMT
The Oboe must have been Ian...if you can play sopranino sax, you can play an oboe...similar reed and fingerings.
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Post by tullpress on Dec 14, 2015 23:26:56 GMT
IA was also reading a bit of Aleister Crowley in 1970-71, possibly the Confessions.
Doubt very much he every talked to Robert Plant about it though :-)
A
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Post by Budding Stately Hero on Feb 11, 2017 17:55:24 GMT
IA was also reading a bit of Aleister Crowley in 1970-71, possibly the Confessions. Doubt very much he every talked to Robert Plant about it though :-) A To what extent was Robert Plant into Crowley?
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Post by Budding Stately Hero on Feb 11, 2017 18:02:21 GMT
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge may have influenced IA to read about the legend of The Flying Dutchman and hence the song on Stormwatch. The original poem was required reading when I was studying for my GCEs back in '64 and in that respect IA may have read the poem around the same time if he was on the same syllabus as I was on. www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173253Oh and by the way, I passed my English Literature GCE exam in case you were wond'ring (aloud) If it is not too much trouble, sir. I am interested in knowing the titles and authors of everything that was required reading when you were in school.
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Post by Budding Stately Hero on Feb 11, 2017 18:18:40 GMT
I just ordered this book. Thank you for the post. It looks very interesting.
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Post by steelmonkey on Feb 11, 2017 18:23:23 GMT
Vaguely on book topic...in about 1994 or 95, I gave Martin Allcock a copy of 'High Fidelity' and told him there would be a quiz. Never found out if he read it. Allcock was au courant on writers like Martin Amis and Will Self so it surprised me he had not heard of Hornsby.
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Post by nonrabbit on Feb 11, 2017 21:47:24 GMT
IA was also reading a bit of Aleister Crowley in 1970-71, possibly the Confessions. Doubt very much he every talked to Robert Plant about it though :-) A To what extent was Robert Plant into Crowley? I always thought that it was Jimmy Page that was into Crowley,he bought Crowley's house up in Loch Ness. I know a story of a policeman who had to visit Jimmy Page ( just routine) when he lived in and around the Windsor area of Berkshire. He said that the house was very weird what with the black walls and matching curtains - not an offence however.
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Post by Budding Stately Hero on Feb 12, 2017 1:04:17 GMT
To what extent was Robert Plant into Crowley? I always thought that it was Jimmy Page that was into Crowley,he bought Crowley's house up in Loch Ness. I know a story of a policeman who had to visit Jimmy Page ( just routine) when he lived in and around the Windsor area of Berkshire. He said that the house was very weird what with the black walls and matching curtains - not an offence however. Right, it was more Page than Plant. Plant was into Tolkien and folklore, I thought.
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Post by maddogfagin on Feb 12, 2017 9:47:48 GMT
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge may have influenced IA to read about the legend of The Flying Dutchman and hence the song on Stormwatch. The original poem was required reading when I was studying for my GCEs back in '64 and in that respect IA may have read the poem around the same time if he was on the same syllabus as I was on. www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173253Oh and by the way, I passed my English Literature GCE exam in case you were wond'ring (aloud) If it is not too much trouble, sir. I am interested in knowing the titles and authors of everything that was required reading when you were in school. From memory the UK school carriculum changed every school year. My erstwhile school colleagues and I back in '64/'65 studied George Orwell (1984 and Animal Farm), the poetry of John Betjeman, the novels and poems of Thomas Hardy and Rudyard Kipling including the Barackroom Ballads which is a book of poetry I still dip into from time to time.
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Post by Budding Stately Hero on Feb 12, 2017 14:57:36 GMT
If it is not too much trouble, sir. I am interested in knowing the titles and authors of everything that was required reading when you were in school. From memory the UK school carriculum changed every school year. My erstwhile school colleagues and I back in '64/'65 studied George Orwell (1984 and Animal Farm), the poetry of John Betjeman, the novels and poems of Thomas Hardy and Rudyard Kipling including the Barackroom Ballads which is a book of poetry I still dip into from time to time. Thank you. I am always looking to find new reads. I was an English Lit. major. So, finding something new to read, especially coming from your school years and your side of the pond, is interesting to me. I have never read Betjeman. I will look into that.
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