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Cover of “Up to Me” from Aqualung out on streaming services this morning. Fairly straightforward reading it seems to me, love the typical MP lo-fi esthetics. It’ll be interesting to see who the flautist is.
Presumably related to the Aqualung/Best of JT Redux project.Bent has written this text about his relationship with JT and the process of covering the song:
“Jethro Tull is a band that made a niche of their own. And pretty much stayed there. They caused a rash of flautists to take up space on stage with more heavy folk-rock bands than you could shake a stick at around 1972, before permanently going out of fashion a couple of years later. Huge in influence for a brief time and much loved by some, they were equally derided and scorned by others. Wonderfully original musical iconoclasts, like The Dead, Rush and a select few other True Legends of 70s rock, Jethro Tull’s orneriness and sense of self-sufficient control rang as true as Fugazi’s 20 years later, and have been as great an inspiration to Motorpsycho over the years.
My personal Tull window pretty much shuts after A Passion Play. Not because there is a big change in the music, more because the ambition and self-confidence seemed to receede and diminish around that time. Along with the hair (someone should do something on Ian Anderson as a modern day Samson. Now, there’s a concept album!). A lead vocalist seemingly perpetually in selfdefense mode isn’t really sexy, much less cool, and from the mid-70s on, they somehow just seemed like bitter and serious men in search of some kind of validation, no matter how humorous and light they tried to appear.
But from 69 to 74 their roll was immaculate. If you ask me for favourite albums, I am torn between Stand Up and Thick as a Brick, but there’s a freshness and a humour in all this early stuff that is all really smart and really good.
It’s a pity they stayed curmudgeons when they first went down that road, and never eased off to became jolly old men instead, like they should’ve. They deserved to, because generations of weirdos love their strangely delightful music and that’s the best validation you can ever hope for in this business. Everything else you can buy, but a fan’s love is pure and true. And if that in itself isn’t enough, you’re in the wrong business, mate. Is there maybe more truth and self-awareness in the Aqualong character than we thought after all?
‘Up to me’ is a quirky acoustic number on Aqualung, and for me one of many highlights on a great album. We first tried to play it like we thought an electric Tull might’ve done it in 1971, but it just sounded respectful and flat – their decision to do it acoustically seemed a better one than ever before to us after trying for ourselves – but fooling around with a drum-machine and doing a less Geezer Butlery bass line than Cornick or Hammond-Hammond would’ve seemed to solve the issue. We eventually ended up with this frantic take that manages to blend our first impulse to something far more modern, and hopefully avoids becoming retro-for-the-sake-of-it and ‘too true to the original’ like many covers tend to do when you love the original too much.
So in the spirit of the original J.T. – at least it’s different!” – Bent Sæther/Motorpsycho
Eh, come on, Tull didn’t end in ’73. Sure, they released some subpar stuff, but Minstrel and especially Heavy Horses are great.
I can’t let that go! If there isn’t ambition, self-confidence, freshness and humour in 1977’s outstanding Songs from the Wood, then you haven’t been listening properly. Go back and do your homework, Bent!
I will concede that after that wonderful album, and only after that, Bent’s characterisation of the band rings truer, and there were some duller moments before that album too. However, no lover of fine music could listen to Songs from the Wood right through – there isn’t a weak moment – and not find it thrilling, beautiful, witty, intelligent and entrancing – with some brilliant playing. They really smashed it live touring that album too.
I’ll sit down now.
Agreed, my personal favorite from the “folk trilogy” is Heavy Horses, which has imho some of their most memorable melodies, but I think your description applies to all three of those albums (Woods-Horses-Stormwatch). I also really like their introduction to the 80’s, “A”: I feel it still has a sense of adventure in the way it mixes classic Tull sound with the keyboards of that era. It’s not Rush, but it’s not bad either. After that they weren’t really relevant anymore, but the same could be said for so many 70’s bands, and I’ll still pick Crest of a Knave over any “Pop Genesis” album.
Perhaps Bent is focusing too much on the only two real “bumps in the road” for 70’s Tull, War Child and Too Old To Rock’n’Roll. Also, his characterization seems to consider only Ian Anderson, who in his old age has indeed become a little insufferable. However, I saw the Martin Barre Band a few years ago and it was all fun and smiles (and solid r’n’r renditions of Tull classics, though sadly with no flute). I would describe Martin precisely as the “jolly old man” Bent wants them to be.What an amazing version!!!
I’d also love to hear a cover of My God… or of Reasons for Waiting from the STand Up album. But (or because) this one is so brilliant.
I also find Tull after A Passion Play (which is my personal favourite) not quite as interesting anymore. Songs From the Wood is very good, though and there are the occasional greats later on, too. Even in the 80s, the Broadsword album for example. But I’m more the Stand Up/Benefit/Aqualung/A Passion Play guy. Thick as a Brick I find a tad too long, drags a bit in the second half. I’m happy with the ’78ish condensed live versions as found on that live album there. But I have the original vinyl newspaper edition. Heavy Horses I just can’t get into, something off with its production, can’t really tell.
If there’s to be a cover of “My God”, I do have to apply indeed. Qualified as an expert air flute player at my last Anderson/Tull concert in 2012 (by chance, at Herzberg festival), but really studied the fucking solo since I began playing flute. I’ll leave the grunting and spitting to someone else though ;-)
Just listened to MP’s version. Not overwhelmed though – but surely interesting. They should’ve left out the flute though – a little lame imho as an expert dilettante flutist. But they manage to capture the classic post-heyday feeling of latter-day Tull quite good ;-). The humour here lies in the Non-Tullisms of this version, i.e. rather unhumourous vibe of the piece, interesting instrumentation (flute exempt) and arrangement. Vocals rather identical though – but really good match, Bent! Missing the vital drive of early Tull performances/recordings – that take-no-prisoners approach of the Lemmy Kilmister of folk rock. (There’d probably be no fluting Ian A. without Lemmy K. and his old guitar, but that’s another story.) Hey – having a slow melodic Cello solo on “1916” – that was really something! (But I digress again). Anyway – in the spirit of the latter I plead for a re-recording with whistling instead of flute – earnestly! Better listen to the winds of change than smelling old farts ;-)
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