Jethro Tull
This Was

Year 1968. In the music firmament, a new star was born, destined to become one of the most luminous.

This was the year when the legendary Jethro Tull released "This Was," their first work. Coming from the John Evan Band, Ian Anderson together with Mick Abrahams (guitar), Clive Bunker (drums), and Glenn Cornick (bass) created this band. To realize this work, the father of manager Terry Ellis secured a loan of 1200 dollars from a bank. Money very well spent!

In some ways, I would dare to call it a slightly "anomalous" record, in the sense that Ian does not have the role he would have later, that is, the dominant leader of the group, and shares the leadership with Abrahams. However, we know two wolves cannot stay in the same den, and thus the guitarist, annoyed by the imposing presence of the flautist, left after this album. He would be replaced, after a very brief period with Tony Iommi, the future guitarist of Black Sabbath, by the excellent Martin Barre, who established a great friendship with Anderson, and would become the only other member of the Tull, aside from the leader, to always be part of the lineup. Another reason for the breakup with Abrahams was Anderson's intention to experiment with new musical genres, while the guitarist was a great lover of blues.

Here, the dominant style is exactly blues, although some traces of other genres already indicate the great versatility that would become a peculiar characteristic of the band. From an instrumental point of view, besides the presence of the flute, a very unusual feature that would forever be one of Tull's trademarks, there is significant use of the harmonica, a fundamental blues component. Practically absent are the acoustic guitar and keyboards, elements that would play a leading role in the future.

The start is entrusted to "My Sunday Feeling," an excellent rock-blues that will become one of the most famous songs in their repertoire. "Some Day The Sun Won't Shine For You" shows us a more laid-back blues, with the harmonica as the protagonist. There are many interesting live versions of this piece. "Beggar's Farm," co-produced with Abrahams, presents an excellent final crescendo, with great flute virtuosity. The following "Move On Alone" is entirely written and sung by Abrahams. It features a trumpet arrangement, performed by David (Dee) Palmer. Here, the atmosphere strongly evokes the '50s. "Serenade To A Cuckoo" is undoubtedly one of the album's key pieces. It's a long and peaceful instrumental, written by jazz musician Roland Kirk. Ian said it was the first thing he learned to play on the flute. "Dharma For One" is another instrumental, but much more intense. It is perhaps the song where the early seeds of progressive most prominently emerge. Quite peculiar is the long drum solo, written by Bunker. I also recommend the live versions of this track, often superior to the original, as in the legendary Isle of Wight concert (1970). After the blues of "It's Breaking Me Up," we arrive at "Cat's Squirrel," a track arranged by Abrahams that decisively leans towards hard-rock. The guitar part is truly remarkable. In a rare occurrence, Anderson is absent! The ninth track, "A Song For Jeffrey," is surely the most well-known song from the work, and it is another blues piece that features a flute-harmonica duo and a unique vocal effect. In conclusion, we find the very short "Round," written by all the group members plus Ellis, which sees Anderson trying his hand for a few moments at the piano.

The remastered CD I own also contains three interesting bonus tracks. The first, "One For John Gee" is a blues instrumental, the second is the rock-infused "Love Story," which marked Abrahams' departure, (Barre would debut with the epic "Living In The Past") and the third is the acoustic "Christmas Song," a song that would be re-evaluated more recently.

All things considered, we can speak of a good debut. For obvious reasons, it lacks a bit of maturity, and so it certainly can't be compared to some of the subsequent masterpieces, but it is still very respectable.