Jethro Tull is the kind of group that has so many albums that
\nare undiscovered classics that it’s not funny. I mean, for a group
\nthat enjoyed such popularity in the early- to mid-’70s, there are
\nalbums they released over their career that, today, most people
\nprobably haven’t heard of. (One of these albums, their debut
\nrelease
\nThis Was<\/i>, we reviewed some time ago.)<\/p>\n
Their follow-up album, 1969’s
\nStand Up<\/i>, also falls into this category — so much so, in
\nfact, that I don’t believe the album is presently on the shelves.
\n(At least CDNow didn’t have a listing for this CD.) This album
\nrepresented a major turning point for the band. Gone was guitarist
\nMick Abrahams, and in was newcomer Martin Barre — who would become
\nthe second-longest running member of Jethro Tull next to founder
\nIan Anderson. Gone also was the blues that seemed to surround their
\nfirst effort.
\nStand Up<\/i> would dare to be more jazz-oriented than anything,
\nand would even pull some foreign influences into the music.<\/p>\n
Did Jethro Tull succeed? Two words: damn straight. While there
\nis a little weakness thanks to the transition — something that
\ncould have been anticipated, in truth –
\nStand Up<\/i> remains an album that you’ve probably heard
\nsomething from, but have never really heard.<\/p>\n
First, a word about Barre’s style. If you know
\nThis Was<\/i> and Abrahams’s guitar sound, you’ll notice a
\ndifference almost immediately on
\nStand Up<\/i>. Barre was not quite as confident with his tone as
\nAbrahams, but he seemed to have more control of the guitar, and his
\njazz licks were impeccable. I don’t want to slander Abrahams or his
\ncontributions to Jethro Tull, but moving to Barre at this point in
\ntheir career seemed to be the right decision. Within one album, it
\nwould be like Barre had always been there.<\/p>\n
Now, then. Chances are, if you’re into classic rock, you’ve
\nheard at least one of the four singles from this album. “A New Day
\nYesterday,” the opening track, seems to merge the worlds of blues
\nand jazz, allowing for a smoother transition into the next phase of
\nwhat Jethro Tull was to become. It’s an interesting combination,
\nand the individual performances of Anderson, Barre, bassist Glenn
\nCornick and drummer Clive Bunker all seal the deal.<\/p>\n
Singles number two and three, “Nothing Is Easy” and “Fat Man,”
\nare the ones you’ll probably hear the most. “Nothing Is Easy” has a
\nvery solid rock ‘n’ roll core to it, possibly the first real
\nattempt that Tull had made towards rock in their young career.
\nSuffice to say, it works. “Fat Man” brings almost a Middle Eastern
\nflavor to it, with Anderson slyly enjoying the benefits of being
\nrail-thin. (Yeah, thanks a lot, Ian, for rubbing it in.)<\/p>\n
The highlight of this album, for me, has always been Anderson’s
\nworking of Bach, “Bouree”. The interweaving of the flute, light
\njazz guitar and Cornick’s killer bass work (I have yet to figure
\nout everything he was playing) is simply magical, and does not
\ncheapen the original work. If anything, “Bouree” makes classical
\nmusic come alive again for the modern-day listener — and this
\nremains one of my favorite Tull songs of all time.<\/p>\n
Of course, there are six other tracks on
\nStand Up<\/i> that aren’t readily heard, unless you own a copy of
\nthe album. Some of them, like “Look Into The Sun” and “Back To The
\nFamily,” are such strong performances that I have to wonder why
\nthey’re not more well-known. “Back To The Family” is an especially
\nsatisfying track, while “Look To The Sun” always makes me feel good
\nanytime I hear it.<\/p>\n
The only drawback — and I use that term loosely — to this
\nalbum is that one or two tracks seem to get lost in the shuffle.
\nThese songs, “Reasons For Waiting” and “For A Thousand Mothers,”
\naren’t bad in any fashion, but after hearing stellar performance
\nafter stellar performance, it’s almost like these just don’t have
\nthe power to shine as brightly. Chances are, on another album, they
\nwould have been standouts.<\/p>\n
\nStand Up<\/i> is another album that is waiting for you to
\ndiscover it, as well as another part of Jethro Tull’s history.
\nHopefully, this won’t be a secret much longer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5643],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-36252","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jethro-tull","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36252"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36252"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}