Jethro Tull - Stand Up

Released - August 1969

Genre - Folk Rock

Producer - Ian Anderson & Terry Ellis

Selected Personnel - Ian Anderson (Vocals/Flute/Guitar/Harmonica/Piano/Organ); Martin Barre (Guitar/Flute); Glenn Cornick (Bass); Clive Bunker (Drums/Percussion); David Palmer (Orchestral Arrangements)

Standout Track - Bourée

Anyone familiar with the brief history of Jethro Tull up until this point, and with the internal politics that had resulted in the departure of guitarist and co-songwriter Mick Abrahams in 1968, could be forgiven for being confused by the opening of their follow-up album, 1969's Stand Up. After Abrahams's insistence on sticking to traditional blues rock had failed to gel with Ian Anderson's desire to move into more unusual musical territories, it seems odd to kick off the next album with another fairly traditional blues rock number, with the same homespun, rustic charm as anything off This Was, only briefly rendered faintly different to the norm by Anderson's flute solo. But, as Tull's more traditional bluesy numbers go, "A New Day Yesterday" is certainly one of their very best, with new guitarist Martin Barre (who would go on to become the only Tull mainstay besides Anderson himself, and the only other defining feature of their sound) more than acquitting himself with the infectious blues riff of that opener.

The mood of this sophomore effort, then, is fairly similar to their debut, mining a similar pastoral folk-blues vein for inspiration. But there's certainly less of a sense of a band pulling in different directions, with Anderson very much in charge of calling the shots here, as he would remain throughout the rest of the band's career. And it certainly is beginning to move in a more innovative, dare I say it, progressive direction. Anderson's flute is given much more prominence than before, nowhere more so than on the jazzy rearrangement of Bach's "Bourée in E Minor," where there are clear signs that his ability on the instrument has come on a long way from the more tentative playing on This Was. "Bourée" is one of the massive standouts on the album, developing into a frenzied jam between Anderson's flute and Barre's tastefully restrained guitar, and remains a popular mainstay of the band's live performances to this day. The other big showcase for Barre is the brilliant "We Used To Know," featuring the first truly great guitar solo he would contribute to the band's work.

Elsewhere, as well as borrowing from classical music, the songs lean increasingly towards folk influences, presumably more than the blues-minded Abrahams would have approved of - the lovely "Look Into The Sun" and "Reasons For Waiting" are both songs that have a certain feel of traditional English folk music about them, with the latter enriched by David Palmer's stirring string arrangements, while the acoustic percussive jumble of "Fat Man" feels a long way from Cream-influenced blues rock. It's also well worth trying to find the bonus tracks on the CD reissue, which includes the brilliant "17," one of the best early Tull songs.

Ultimately, then, it's a slight retread of This Was, but pushes the envelope enough to hint at the more ground-breaking work that was to come, and it also significantly shifts the balance more under the exclusive control of the charismatic Anderson. It's close to being the first truly essential Tull album, though there's nothing that quite leaps out and grabs you to the same extent as most of the material on 1971's Aqualung. But it's one significant step closer to greatness.

Track Listing:

All songs written by Ian Anderson except where noted.

1. A New Day Yesterday

2. Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square

3. Bourée (Johann Sebastian Bach, Arranged by Ian Anderson)

4. Back To The Family

5. Look Into The Sun

6. Nothing Is Easy

7. Fat Man

8. We Used To Know

9. Reasons For Waiting

10. For A Thousand Mothers