Jethro Tull – This Was

February 11th, 2009

This Was is the 1968 debut album by the mighty Jethro Tull, the legendary prog unit led by the charismatic and Catweazle-like Ian Anderson, who like Roy Wood remains a largely unsung and forgotten hero of the songwriting fraternity. Unfortunately it is also their weakest album. Well, the weakest up until the atrocities they saw fit to unleash throughout the musically bereft 80s.

this was - jethro tull album cover

It’s safe to say that Jethro Tull have been through many a line-up, right up until the present day which still sees them touring albeit in a very different guise to when this album was recorded. However, throughout these changes there has been the one constant factor: the aforementioned Ian Anderson. Anchor, flautist, harmonica-monkey and most importantly, the singer-songwriter -- the other stalwart, Martin Barre, wouldn’t join until the following album, Stand Up, their first stone-cold classic. But why didn’t This Was make the grade?

Well, it would be unfair to assume the fact songwriting duties on This Was were shared with the then guitarist Mick Abrahams -- who’d soon after leave to form Blodwyn Pig -- played a factor in the album’s overall lack of lustre when compared to future efforts, because the blame clearly lies at the door of the over-reliance on instrumental tracks. Unecessary additions such as the boring flute-fest ‘Serenade To A Cuckoo’ or the desperately dull ‘Dharma For One’. But amidst these voiceless jams that make their unwelcome presence felt throughout, there are some real gems on offer.

Abrahams influence gives the album the bluesy feel that had been so en vogue a couple of years earlier (after all, even the great Rolling Stones kicked off as a rhythm and blues cover band) and it’s one that permeates throughout. Of course, his imminent departure would see the blues cast aside in favour of the more folky, soon-to-be prog rock sound for which the Tull would become internationally known.

But it’s the blues sound that throws up some rare old treats such as ‘Some Day the SunWon’t Shine for You’, ‘Beggar’s Farm’ and the exquisite, foot-stomping ‘A Song for Jeffrey’. Of course, even at this early stage in Jethro Tull’s musical career you could say that they were tickling the boundaries of progressive rock. Where else would you find a lead singer injecting his songs with, of all things, the flute? Prog-blues, maybe?

Of course, it was this flute that gave the group, and Ian Anderson, their – to steal an acronym from the sickening world of marketing -- USP, setting them apart from what had gone previously in the Brit-blues explosion. One that, once they’d embraced the calling of the progressive movement, would see Jethro Tull tower to the heights that produced excursions such as the lengthy concept workouts of Thick as a Brick and The Passion Play, Heavy Horses and, of course, the legendary Aqualung.

A timid beginning to a recording career but one that sowed the seeds for the greatness that was to come.

This Was has recently been released as a 2CD deluxe, collectors edition, expanding upon the three bonus tracks of the previous re-mastered CD release with a mono and stereo mixes of the original album, plus some live John Peel sessions at the BBC.

This is the aforementioned ‘Song for Jeffrey’, recorded for French TV.