Ironcladd's Full Review: Stand Up [Remaster] by Jethro Tull
Stand Up: Jethro Tull’s Second Album.
“Stand Up” is the second of Jethro Tull’s releases, and it came in 1969. “Stand Up” saw the first personnel changes to Tull, with the departure of Mick Abrahams, who left to form his own group, called “Blodwyn Pig”, and the arrival of his replacement, Martin Barre, who has been with Jethro Tull ever since. These two guitarists had different styles, but both were basically blues oriented guitar players. However, Martin Barre seemed to be a bit more flexible and open to new styles, and perhaps Ian Anderson recognized this when he hired him as guitar replacement. In any event, the style of Jethro Tull began to change, and take shape and grow. “Stand Up” still retains a blues feel to it, but there are new elements thrown in, from classical music, to some jazz, and certainly more rock, all fused at times with the blues, but more adventurous. What follows is a table of information on “Stand Up”, followed by a review of what I consider to be its highlights.
Information on Jethro Tull “Stand Up”.
Record Label: Chrysalis Records
Original Release Date: 1969
Personnel:
Ian Anderson—vocals, flute, piano, harmonica, mandolin, acoustic guitar, balalaika, and Hammond organ.
Martin Barre—electric guitars, and flute on “Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square”, and “”Reason for Waiting”.
Glen Cornick—bass guitar
Clive Bunker—drums and “all manner of percussion”.
David Palmer—arranged strings on “Reason for Waiting”.
Track List:
1. A New Day Yesterday
2. Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square
3. Bouree
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
Cost: $8-12
Listening format: CD
Produced by: Terry Ellis and Ian Anderson.
Highlights/Review.
First of all, I love the original album cover, that’s right, album cover. The original “Standup” had a nice little cutout of the group in the middle, and when you opened it, just like in a kid’s popup book, they band would “stand up”. Of course, this was not the case in the re-release on vinyl, and definitely not on the two CD releases (the first and the second “digitally remastered” version). Alas, the sacrifices we make for technology!
“A New Day Yesterday”. Running time: 4 minutes and 8 seconds.
Composed by: Ian Anderson
“A New Day Yesterday” is a classic Jethro Tull song from this era and album, and has become a mainstay in concerts. It is in a blues tempo, and has the classic elements of a blues tune, with Ian Anderson singing in a deeper voice than usual. “A New Day Yesterday” is a great song, full of lament and power, with a heavier, almost “early metal”, sound added to it, with some fine drumming by Clive Bunker. Martin Barre plays his first guitar solo for Jethro Tull in the middle of this one, and he does a fine job (although it could just as well have been Mick Abrahams doing it). Ian switches from harmonica to flute, and plays a solo that will be such a distinctive aspect of Jethro Tull music in years to come. The lyrics are good:
“My first and last time with you,
And we had some fun,
When walking through the tree there,
And I kissed you once.
I want to see you soon,
But I wonder how,
It was a new day yesterday,
But it’s an old day now.
Spent a long time looking,
For a game to play,
My luck should be so bad now,
To turn out this way.
I had to leave today,
Just when I thought I’d found you,
It was a new day yesterday,
It’s and old day now”.
“Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square”. Running Time: 2 minutes and 3 seconds. Composed by: Ian Anderson.
This track is a funny little tune, but it warrants a listen or three. I think it is one of the best on the CD, and is one of the “little tunes” that Jethro Tull do now and then that are quirky and short enough to use to fill up that two minutes left at the very tail end of a tape or CD-R. It has fun lyrics that don’t seem to mean anything in particular, but are fun to sing to, and it’s a little bit of trivia to know that guitarist Barre plays flute on this one (I always thought Ian Anderson played flute on this track, he must have taught Barre). I also love the bass lines in this tune as well. Bunker plays bongos too, which is a fun switch. The reference to “Jeffrey” is Tull compadre’, and later bass player, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, who is a “mate of the band, and makes bombs and things”(reference, “This Was” LP).
“Bouree.” Running Time: 3 minutes and 45 seconds.
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach. Arranged by: Ian Anderson.
“Bouree” is an instrumental track, written by Bach, and arranged by Ian Anderson. It has lost its original baroque quality, and Anderson plays the flute, with voice over soundings, in a jazzy/blues adaptation. He has a great time soloing on flute, with wonderful improvisation, and shows his quality as a flautist (the “One Legged Pop Flautist”, as it were). Glenn Cornick has a chance to do a solo on his bass guitar, and does so in the middle here, which is pretty cool. He displays nice “walking bass” lines in the latter half of the track. “Bouree” is a wonderful instrumental tune, and it kind of points to what Tull will be capable of in future recordings.
“Back to the Family”. Running Time: 3 minutes and 45 seconds.
Composed by: Ian Anderson.
This is the “cool song” of the album. I am sure that this one was composed with the intent to be “radio material”. I don’t know how much radio time it had, but it should have had some, as it is a worthy tune. Of course, good tunes like this don’t always make it on the air. Again, it is a blues based track, with rock overtones, and Anderson jamming out on the flute throughout, applying counterpoint, and the rest of the band doing their parts adequately. It’s a good song.
“Nothing is Easy”. Running Time: 4 minutes and 20 seconds.
Composed by: Ian Anderson.
“Nothing is Easy” is a monster of a song! All of the group’s energy is displayed here in this “showcase piece”. I saw Tull in concert in 1989, and Anderson announced that “here’s a tune we haven’t played in Chicago for 20 years”, and they brought down the house with it! It starts out with Anderson on flute, with dramatic counterpoints by the rest of the band, building up and leading right into the main theme and vocals:
”Nothing is Easy,
The time that you worry,
My friend,
It’s ok
Just take your life easy,
And Stop all that hurrying,
And be happy my way,
When tension starts mounting,
And you’ve lost count,
Of all the pennies you’ve missed,
Just try hard and see,
Not worry me, the last on my list,
Nothing’s Easy!”
All throughout, there are powerful and energetic and cool guitar licks, bass harmonies, drum and percussion jamming, and flute improvisations. Again, jazz, blues, and rock all fuse together nicely here, with more instrumental music than singing, and a wonderful and stupendous instrumental finish, which is also great for concerts! It is one of my favorite songs on this release.
“Fat Man”. Running Time: 2 minutes and 48 seconds.
Composed by: Ian Anderson.
“Fat Man” is another of my favorites, and is another of those “quirky” Tull tunes that really merits a seventeenth listen! It has the comedic element in it, the tongue in cheek comedy feel of Monty Python that even manifests itself on stage. For example, I’ve seen this one played in three Tull concerts, and they make it different each time, almost like a theatrical second city skit. “Fat Man” has Clive playing bongos, Ian Anderson playing the Balalaika (a Russian version of the Bouzouki), and sings. The lyrics are wonderful:
“Don’t want to be a fat man,
People will think that I was just good fun,
Would rather be a thin man,
I am so glad to go on, being one.
Too much to carry around with you,
No chance of finding a woman who,
Will love you in the morning and
All the night time too. Hoo!
Don’t want to be a fat man,
Have not the patience to ignore all of that,
Hate to admit to myself,
I’ve had my problems from being fat,
Won't waste my time feeling sorry for him,
I’ve seen the other side to being thin,
Well, let’s roll him down the mountain,
And I’m sure the fat man will win!”
I especially love how Ian Anderson sings this one, with such sarcasm and irony in his voice, particularly when he accentuates and extends the word “man”, as in “fat ma’haa’aaaaa’aaaaan”. It’s cool, and he sings this one totally in a different style than the rest of the album. He uses this style later, on “Thick as a Brick” and on the song “Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day”, on the “Warchild” CD.
Jethro Tull is clearly one of my favorite groups. I have each and every one of their albums/CD’s, including “best ofs” and “anniversary collections”, and concerts on tape or DVD. “Stand Up” is one of my all-time favorites, and is very charming in its own right. Any Jethro Tull fan will be impressed by it, even though it is “Jethro Tull in its infancy”, as it were. It’s pretty cool to see where it leads to, however.
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