Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull

First a disclaimer… in the video below I said it is Wednesday the 8th. It’s actually the 9th.

Anyway, I’m focusing on 1972 for the next couple of days. My senior year in high school. I definitely spent more time listening to music than studying in that spring semester. This record was right at the top of my list. It was released in March of ‘72 and I no doubt bought it immediately, as it was right on the heels of “Aqualung” which we listened to endlessly throughout the latter half of ‘71.

“Tull” started out as a British blues rock band in the late ‘60’s. I know Mike brought home their 2nd album “Stand Up” (which I have on CD), then somehow “Benefit” made it into our collection. Those two were surely blues influenced with Benefit bringing heavy guitar riffs to the front. Then along comes Aqualung, and I’m hopelessly hooked. That record mixed all of Ian Anderson’s influence into an absolute classic; folk, blues, hard rock and everything else that permeated rock music at the time.

Jethro Tull were all outstanding musicians and Ian Anderson a superb songwriter. Their natural progression to Progressive Rock resulted in Thick as a Brick. Subsequent albums couldn’t live up in my opinion and I lost interest in the follow up efforts. Ultimately they went back to their roots of folk, blues and rock, but by then I had moved on. However, when I listen to this record today it sounds so very familiar.

“Spin me back down the years and the days of my youth. Draw the lace and black curtains and shut out the whole truth. Spin me down the long ages, let them sing the song”.