Jethro Tull were becoming bigger, and were invited to perform at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. Unlike the earlier invitation to play Woodstock, which Ian Anderson declined, they accepted the invitation to play at the Isle of Wight Festival, their largest audience yet. Another U.S. tour followed, and it was during this time that the growing rift between bassist Glenn Cornick and the rest of the band became apparent. While most of the band was fairly reclusive during the tour, Cornick preferred to "socialize". He was eventually invited to leave the band by their management. Cornick says he was fired. Semantics.
Anderson called upon another of his friends from the old John Evan Band, Jeffrey Hammond, to play bass. Jeffrey's parents, prior to getting married, both had the surname Hammond, so the ever-whimsical Anderson, following the British tradition of using both parents' surnames, dubbed him Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond.
Aqualung (1971)
Ian Anderson - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Flute
Martin Barre - Electric Guitar, Descant Recorder
Clive Bunker - Drums
John Evan - Keyboards
Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond - Bass, Alto Recorder, Backing Vocals
Dee Palmer - Orchestral Arrangments
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Side One: Aqualung
Aqualung
6:34Cross-Eyed Mary
4:06Cheap Day Return
1:21Mother Goose
3:51Wond'ring Aloud
1:53Up to Me
3:15Side Two: My God
My God
7:08Hymn 43
3:14Slipstream
1:13Locomotive Breath
4:23Wind-Up
6:01----------
First things first. Many consider this to be Jethro Tull's first concept album. Ian Anderson is adamant that this is not the case. He does say that there are some recurring themes in the lyrics, which makes sense because he tends to write about whatever is on his mind at the time. Anderson's family and friends figure into many lyrics, and he had been thinking about God and organized religion. Also, his wife Jennie was a photography student, and she had recently taken several pictures of homeless people. All of these themes are present in the lyrics. For no reason other than that he thought it would be kinda cool to do, he subtitled Side One "Aqualung" and Side Two "My God", after the first song on each side, and he arranged the song order to more or less fit into one theme or the other. But according to Anderson, that doesn't make it a concept album, as there is no overarching concept or story.
Jennie Franks ("Jenny Anderson" on this album) has lyric credits on the song "Aqualung", otherwise all music and lyrics are by Ian Anderson. One particular photo of a homeless man inspired Ian and Jennie to come up with a backstory for him. Ian came up with the idea that the old man had some kind of pulmonary disease which made him wheeze, resulting in the "deep sea-diver sounds" which are his labored breathing, thus the name "Aqualung". Ian similarly came up with the backstory for "Cross-Eyed Mary".
Anderson thought that a painting would make a better album cover, so he commissioned American artist
Burton Silverman to do the painting. Anderson recalls posing for the painting, although Silverman has said that it is a self-portrait. Later, Anderson admitted that the original photo by Jennie would probably have been a better choice for the cover.
Jeffrey Hammond had not actually played the bass since the breakup of The John Evan Band years earlier. He'd been focusing on his studies as an art student. Anderson wasn't worried about that; he wanted Hammond (or "Hammond-Hammond" as he called him) because he was a better fit for the band in terms of personality.
Aqualung has several tracks which contrast lighter, acoustic sections with heavier sections where the drums, bass, and electric guitars come in. Yet Jethro Tull still seemed to not go "full prog" with extended musical interludes and instrumental wankery. Some of the songs are a bit longer, but it always feels organic, that the song is longer simply because there is more to say.
The only other thing I can think of to add for now (because I'm on lunch break and also anxious to get to the discussion) is a personal note. When people find out that I play the flute, the first thing they ask me is "Do you guys do any Jethro Tull?" I'm proud to say that I performed "Locomotive Breath" a few times with the guys back in Michigan. It's only possible because there's piano at the beginning, which drops out once the guitars, bass and drums come in, and that frees me up to take the flute solo. Then the piano comes back for the jam at the end. Great song, and great fun to play.
Aqualung was and still is Jethro Tull's most successful album in terms of sales. It sold seven million copies upon initial release and reached #4 on the U.K. Album Chart, and #7 on the Billboard North American Pop Album chart. When it was released on CD in 1996, it sold enough to re-enter the U.K. Album Chart and peak at #52.
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Ian says:"That's the singer/songwriter side of things, where a lot of the music did come out of me strumming an acoustic guitar with a view to keeping it that way, as opposed to writing that way and turning it electric. That big title track riff came out of an acoustic jam – you've just got to have that imagination to hear that. You have to know that you can make it sing. It went on to sell and sell across the world. It's the album that broke us in countries beyond the UK and US."
From
Every Jethro Tull album in Ian Anderson's own words
Topic: The Jethro Tull/Ian Anderson Discography (Read 37613 times)
