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This Was

Jethro Tull - This Was Audio CD

A fair review of the Jethro Tull "This Was" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Jethro Tull reviews here, or go back to the Jethro Tull tabs.

Band: Jethro Tull
Title: This Was
Rating:

Release Date: 2002-01-08
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: My Sunday Feeling 2: Some Day the Sun Won't Shine for You 3: Beggar's Farm 4: Move on Alone 5: Serenade to a Cuckoo 6: Dharma for One 7: It's Breaking Me Up 8: Cat's Squirrel 9: Song for Jeffrey 10: Round 11: One for John Gee [*] 12: Love Story [*] 13: Christmas Song [*]

This is Tull playing Rock and Blues/Jazz
Here is my take on Jethro Tull's first album "This Was":

My Sunday Feeling - Upbeat, aggressive blues song, typical of album openner's in general. My musical home base was 1982 so it took me awhile as I was exploring the pop and rock of my time to trace back through recent musical history and find the first efforts of those bands that I have come to appreciate. I enjoy the complex drums and the flute on this song about waking after a night of drinking/partying although that is not my personal thing.

Some Day The Sun Won't Shine For You - Laid back, humorous blues song. I'm not a big fan of blues per se so Jethro Tull is bringing me out beyond my usual musical territory here. The subjects (or should I say suspects?) of blues songs seem to be in trouble with someone or other most of the time.

Beggar's Farm - Slightly sinister guitar highlights this songs tale of criticism and libidinous fetters. There is a great jam at the end with Ian Anderson's aggressive flute playing wrapping up this more interesting song.

Move On Alone - Sad song with horns that, for me, add a bit of "oh woe is me" sarcasm to the mood of this blues song.

Serenade To A Cuckoo - Instrumental with jazzy flute lead. Ian Anderson moans and blows on his flute; very hip, very cool man, dig it! or whatever it is that jazz fans say when they like their jazz. Personally I'm not so much into the jazz sound.

Dharma For One - Another instrumental this time with a more aggressive flute melody that switches tone for contrast. This song is more of a rock jam as opposed to the jazzy "Serenade to a Cuckoo". While the musicianship is great throughout the album I especially appreciate the drumming on this song; the solo gives one the impression that Clive Barker, the drummer, is working some great mechanical monster. Great stuff!

It's Breaking Me Up - This song has that classic blues sound with its loping gate and sassy harmonica. The lyrics disturb me a bit because the refrain turns the metaphor around in a way that makes me wonder whether the singer isn't having violent thoughts in response to how the "woman" has treated him.

Cat's Squirrel - Rock jam instrumental.

A Song For Jeffrey - Song starts off with the flute and a sense of anticipation that is nicely answered with a kick butt harmonica and guitar line. Moving through its variations this song reflects what I find I like most in forthcoming work by Jethro Tull. Not sure what the singer is saying or what the lyrics are about but I like it! Probably an essential song for Tull fans.

Round - Another instrumental bringing in a quiet close to the album proper.

One for John Gee - Is this some form of swing? This instrumental has an interesting bass and drum solo.

Love Story - This song has interesting melodic shifts that keeps the forward leaning rhythm moving, leaning back, then moving forward again. The lyrics reflect a more hopeful, less blues oriented outlook; more like rock and roll with the folksy drum (not sure what its called) for a lighter whimsical contrast. A sign of the wonderful instrumentation in Tull songs to come.

Christmas Song - Warning, do not play at Christmas until you have listend to this first! Scathing critique of the average Xmas reveller. Here are some of the lyrics:

So how can you laugh when your own mothers hungry,
And how can you smile when the reasons for smiling are wrong?
And if I just messed up your thoughtless pleasures,
Remember, if you wish, this is just a christmas song.

That should go well with egg nog! Nice building guitar/banjo with strings coming in gives the music a sense of Christmas cheer, nonetheless.

(3 stars) Given that I am not a big fan of the blues or jazz, this album may hold less interest for me than for others. Still I think this album has a bit more merit to it than completion of a Tull fan's collection. For progressive rock fans I recommend "Beggar's Farm", "Dharma for One", "Song for Jeffrey", "Love Story" and "Christmas Song". These songs most anticipate the later Jethro Tull sound and avoid the more bluesy and jazzy songs. Add "My Sunday Feeling" as a good rock song. If your tastes are more open than mine then I think you will enjoy this album as a whole.

Wind me up on the seventh day
First my beloved Toshiba steps out into the void, now this. This isn't really a review of this album so much as a lament for a jukebox what on I used to regularly play My Sunday Feeling and Cat's Squirrel and what is more what now lies dead after an apparent heart attack on the floor of this scruffy little joint I know. On the plus side I did willingly and even happily hand over to a lovely girl named Meghan the remainder of my rolled-up Johnny Cash. For those of you who don't know, that's Cockney rhyming slang for country music. Tull totally rule I needn't add, and not just on This Was either, Songs from the Wood is right tasty too so it is, to say nothing of the mighty Aqualung. And did you ever actually sit down and really listen to the whole length of Thick as a Brick? A sensational non-stop album that one plus you've got here in the cover photograph that saucy and smokingly overbold babe in the mini skirt sitting down next to the ostracized child prodigy Gerald Bostock--lucky little bleeder is that Little Milton. Lord love a duck I used to exclaim in any case when this record was shaped like an LP and folded out what's more into a 12-page local newspaper called The St. Cleve Chronicle. .

A Blues/Rock Classic
They were always electrifying in their stage presence and playing. I had the privilege of seeing this group as it was here and then several times after Mick Abrahams was replaced by Martin Barre. 'THIS WAS' is not your typical Tull album but more the roots from which the band grew. The 'Bluesiness' of such pieces as 'Someday The Sun Won't Shine For You', 'My Sunday Feeling', 'Begger's Farm' and the traditional 'Cat Squirrel' show their tight blues delivery equal to any band at that time. Mick goes off on a real tear during his soloing on Cat's Squirrel and makes the album worthwhile for that performance alone. They get into some hard rock on 'Dharma For One' ( Clive Bunker made a name for himself with this classic recording) and they competently show their jazz influences on 'Serenade For A Cuckoo' and 'Round'. Great stuff!
This is for all purposes a recording to own if for no other reason to have one of the great baseline recordings that made rock what it is today. Personally, it is my second favorite Tull album while being quite different from what they soon grew into as a rock band. .

This was a rawer, darker Jethro Tull

Listening to "This Was" recently, I keep focusing on Mick Abrahams' guitar, straining to hear what he is up to even when Ian Anderson is in the forefront and wailing as on the Roland Kirk cover "Serenade to a Cuckoo. I understand that many Jethro Tull die-hards consider "This Was" as the pinnacle of the band's work, and while that sentiment is open to debate, the music forged by the classic line up of Mick Abrahams, Glenn Cornick, Clive Bunker, and Ian Anderson is closer to the heady blues churned out by the original Fleetwood Mac than the later Ian Anderson-centric Tull recordings. " Hearing the two work together on "Beggar's Farm" shows what could have been had these two been able to find more common ground.

The rawer, darker sound of "This Was" keeps this recording in rotation, as opposed to much of the later Jethro Tull catalog which has either been played to death (Aqualung) or thankfully largely ignored (e. g. , "Roots" and "J-Tull Dot Com").
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great early Tull
Early Tull is great, but I like benefit and Stand Up better. a must have for any Tull addict.

You can see a complete list of all Jethro Tull discography, or go back to the Jethro Tull tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.