Jethro Tull, Locomotive Breath - A Classical Musician’s First Listen and Reaction
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- Опубликовано: 12 окт 2022
- I definitely never heard anything quite like this band, or at least like this song. I really enjoyed the experience and you will be able to see it, not only by the length of this video, but also by my reactions! Some of them, I have to admit, are quite unique for me.
Here’s the link to the original song by Jethro Tull:
• Locomotive Breath (200...
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Amy Shafer, LRSM, FRSM, RYC, is a classical harpist, pianist, and music teacher, Director of Piano Studies and Assistant Director of Harp Studies for The Harp School, Inc., holds multiple degrees in harp and piano performance and teaching, and is active as a solo and collaborative performer. With nearly two decades of teaching experience, she teaches privately, presents masterclasses and coaching sessions, and has performed and taught in Europe and USA.
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Credits: Music written and performed by Jethro Tull
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Leave your questions ONLY here, please!
Are there any classical pieces of music, even modern day, that capture locomotive/ train themes?
Will you be sitting in a more comfortable chair while experiencing The Wall?
Oh there are sooooo many far more interesting and deep compositions by Jethro Tull. Anything from Sounds from the wood, Thick as a Brick, Living in the Past, Life's a long song, so many FAR more interesting tracks. They often have a folksy almost medieval sound to their music. Locomotive Breath and Aqualung, are a couple of pop tracks that got lots of radio play but are really simple compositions.
Living in the Past would have been a much better first experience. The live version of Thick as a Brick, performed live in London in 1977 is available here on youtube and quite a treat to watch. Ian Anderson was quite the animated character.
Dear young Lady, when you were a kid did you like any kind of 'popular' music? Did you like ONLY classical?
Please do the Light my Fire by The Doors! It is magnificent musicianship, and I would be super interested to hear your views on it. I love your insights and the fact that you really don't know much about rock, but you feel the music, it is both funny in a touching way and seriously educational.
Entire album is a masterpiece.
Agree
Absolutely
Aqualung is on my all time top 20 album list. Back in 1973, my military husband and I had to drive from west Texas to Virginia's east coast. We had two albums with us to listen to on the trip - Aqualung and the Doors. On eight track, no less. I don't know how many times we played it, and to this day we still love it.
Amen.
Great memories.
You need to see him play this live. He is like a Court Jester. My generation, In my opinion, Took music to a whole new level of experimentation using technology as an art form unrivaled to this day. Rock ON.
@bob bobber as a late boomer.. I'm conflicted on whether gen x needs a cranial relocation.. or a free ticket to Russia.
Totally agree. I too am a (very) late boomer and the current music scene sounds like most of the artists drank too much Pepto while laying down the tracks... Bland and derivative of the last artist on the last song...
I completely agree with you. We have the best generation of music ever created.
Ian Anderson is totally NUTS onstage but highly entertaining!
Such a simple stage best show I ever saw then Pink Floyd's. The best was in person very extended play so nice.
EVERYTHING from Aqualung is a work of rock art, but THIS is an unparalleled masterpiece. So much going on with melody, different tempoes and instrument textures, truly draws you into the song along the way. Ian on the flute is fantastic, above and beyond what the instrument should be able to do.
In my top5 all-time
Everything you say is true, but I'm still bitter about the 'Best Heavy Metal Album' award.
@@tactless8671 Ya, that was a farce?
@@tactless8671 Same. I never watched the Grammys again.
@@tactless8671 ahh memories to warm the cockles of an almost boomer's cold heart.
I had one of my favorite moments in music thanks to Jethro Tull. I was a young soldier serving in Germany and attended one of the "Monsters of Rock" concerts that included JT as one of the headliners. This was held in the Nuremburg Sportsplatz and there were around 80k people attending. When JT came on, Ian Anderson walked out, went up to the microphone and when he lifted his flute to his mouth, 80k wild rock fans went dead silent...I could see him grin...and he didn't just milk the moment, he cast it in bronze and let the people gape in awe at it's wonder. Suddenly, he ripped into a solo and the band joined in bringing thunder and we lost our collective minds with joy.
Thank you for your response to his music. It's a song I've done on stage as a singer and for karaoke. It's always well received as it's both a driving, well phrased bit of music and it has evocative, passionate lyrics. One of my favorite bits of music is something you touched on near the start of the song where the keys and guitar are doing this funky counter-point mirror imaging with ascending and descending riffs...brilliantly done. It's so much fun watching a professional musician from another genre encountering the music that I love to listen to and perform!
One thing you didn't catch that adds so much to Ian's vocals is the little primal, guttural vocalizations that he incorporates into both his flute and singing that add so much to the "feel" of his performances.
*its
@@RobJazzful It's a contraction of "It is", therefore "it's" is correct. "Its" would be a possessive
The guttural sounds show the influence of the great jazz woodwind player Rahsaan Roland Kirk. He was a wild man and a genius.
Well said!
I feel so privileged to have lived in this time period and enjoyed the excellence of all the artists!
for sure
We were so lucky. Much less creativity now.
Me too, grew up and lived in privileged times…
@@timjohnson1199 Church of the Cosmic Skull, Ghost people are still making the same genre. People are just sleeping on them.
Remember first spin and being blow away
They don’t make bands like this anymore. So great .
it's a shame that today's music has no vision
It's the breakdown of Western Civilization. That's why.
Reuben, you're absolutely right!
Amen, brother.
Amen,brother.
That's the talent of Martin Barre on guitar. I met Martin in Asbury Park, and he's still going strong. An amazing musician.
Listening to JT is one thing. Watching them perform live is quite another.
staging on this one live on the Aqualung tour was wonderful. Dark stage, single spot on the piano at the beginning with Evans pushing the piano across the stage as he played the intro. Ethereal guitar from the darkness.. and then THE CHORD with all the dynamic range of "turned up to 11" amps! Best.Concert.Ever ! :D
Ian Anderson is a legendary performer - and still at it!
Saw then three times. Each was a great show.
Ian can't do the one leg thing any more - knees!
@@TheHookahSmokingCaterpillar Nor can I. Football cartilage & ankle injuries catching up with me. 🧎♂
@@colingoode3702 Comes to us all, unfortunately.
Jethro Tull was the ultimate in Progressive rock. Ian Anderson was a musical genius and Martin Barre far underrated as a guitarist
you're totally right!
They're both still alive.
Jethro Tull were and are great, but it was KING CRIMSON that gave prog it's genre-name!
tull still (or at least recently) tours almost annually. for a while around '07-'10 I was catching them twice a year. once as tull and once as ian anderson.
IMO, anyone who can find 'the ultimate' progressive rock band doesn't understand progressive rock. Progressive rock is the bottle rocket of rock and roll and despite that you never know where it will take you, you know it will be brilliant.
I think all of us Jethro Tull fans wish this went on for longer! Cheers
Best part is we can repeat it till we've had enuff the live versions seem longer this gals sweet but she's full of beans.
Why ? She is not a fan
It does in my house
She could watch the live versions, particularly the 1978 concert. The song goes on longer live.
Amen
I have to tell you, I’ve listened to this song, hundreds if not a thousand times, and I’ve never imagined images, passing landscapes etc. that is until now, you have given me a new way to re-listen to old songs in a different way, thank you!
One has see Jethro Tull live.
The entire performance will reflect a dimension,that can be never experienced by just listening only. Ian Anderson is a "mad" genius.He explodes with passion,energy and musical mastery !
Tull's take on Bach's Bouree is an absolute must listen!
I second the motion! 👍
Me2!
Yep
I was going to recommend that one, too. It may be a little more relatable to a classically trained musician.
I grew up listening to that in the 70s. My sister introduced me to that tune and I was instantly addicted.
Ian Anderson (composer, vocals, flute, acoustic guitar) is self taught on flute. He certainly change rock music. The pianist is longtime Tull member, John Evan. Electric guitar is by the hugely underrated Martin Barre. Interesting facts. Ian doesn't read music and after his daughter started on the flute he realized he'd been playing it all wrong and completely relearned the instrument.
As a father of daughters she wouldve pointed out where he wasnt doing it properly
Iirc, he has something wrong with one of his fingers that makes it difficult to use. I think he just worked around it when he initially started playing.
I'd certainly recommend 'Jethro Tull - Life Is A Long Song (Living With The Past)' on YT. An ensemble piece, probably as small as you could realistically use, played live almost in a drawing room setting. Only three minutes or so, but quite remarkable to my ears as a long term Tull fan.
Probably the most talented front man in rock history. JT invented dark/heavy.
@@terencejay8845 yeah, that´s a beautiful song
It is a steam train and it is not just chugging down the track. It is moving very fast with all the the energy of Satan himself. This is a song about a man whose life has spun completely out of control and who is heading at breakneck speed toward a metaphorical cliff. I saw Tull perform this song onstage back in 1978. It was an experience I will never forget.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Anderson explained the meaning behind the “Locomotive Breath” title: “It's all about the runaway train of population growth and capitalism, how everything expands and explodes, like a locomotive that you can't stop.”
@@strphenz Thank you.
"Old Charlie stole the handle..." They used to 'lock' steam engines by removing the handle on the throttle, so no one could move the train. If the train is going at full speed, and someone steals the throttle handle - you are screwed. It's stuck there with no way to slow down.
Me too 78 Nassau coliseum
They couldn’t have picked a better Tull song for her introduction. Marvellous.
Like what? Songs from the Wood or Thick as a Brick? What songs are you thinking of?
Personally I like all of their music. They were one of a kind. Tull, Led Zeppelin, and Rush, all one of a kind.
@@Old_Sailor85you misunderstood. Steve Robinson is saying this song is the best choice.
The term "Locomotive Breathe" ..... itself is EPIC ... You don't even have to hear the song you just expect it to be something else.... Who agrees?
I knew what was meant by locomotive breath before I ever heard the song way back when, my dad had that problem at times. 🤣 she’s very into the melody I wonder if she gets the context, I’d like to get this lady a little tipsy and engage in a little flirty banter oh yeah 👍
!
You know it’s not about a steam engine on rails but unstoppable world of consumerism
… an unstoppable government. Always consolidating power, controlling in every sense of the word, picking the winners and Losers while a small elite have all the fun.
@@HarrisonCountyStudio No, Ian Anderson is not one of you right wing paranoid guys
As an engineer and producer i instantly noticed the panning when it shifts from the piano-jazzy intro to the main song/theme ... the whole piece gets out of the stereo field just into the right channel and then opens up the stereo field again ... this creates an interesting feel, the shift in tonality is accompanied by this somehow technical shift as well. This is not only a masterpiece musically, but also it is really well produced
They were a musical unicorn
The Doppler Effect as the RELENTLESS express tears through the station of life . ... ...
"Time is a train, makes the future the past; you're standing in the station - your face pressed up against the glass .... ."
@@dancarter482 exactly! And the fade at the end -- there is no ending to the "train's engine" -- it just fades as it leaves us behind.
@@matthewpeters7766 THIS^ is why we love the internet!
I agree!!
Martin Barre on the guitar his guitar work in the studio version of “aqualung“ is absolutely unreal. One of the most underrated guitar players ever.
I definitely agree 100% and that solo you speak of is till playing in my head over 50 years after first hearing it. Martin Barre was a guitar monster. Some of the sweetest I've ever heard.
@savagemako17 Aqualang comes on the radio, It's air guitar time for me buddy. Lol
Locomotive Breath goes by like a speeding train. Before you know it, it’s come and gone. All part of the intensity and movement of the song.
if you haven't already you should watch a live version of this song. Ian Anderson is so expressive (if that's the right word) in gestures and facial expressions.
I totally agree, but I believe everyone should listen to the studio version.
He’s a phreak in the best way possible!
"gestures and facial expressions"
... don't make good music.
Especially live from the Madison Square Garden 1978 is really magnificent. Not just this song, but the whole concert.
...impressive cod piece as well.
You want longer? Hopefully you get a chance to check out Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick". It's over 42 minutes long and split into part 1 and 2 so you can flip the album over in the middle. 😀
This song is and always has been genius in both composition and arrangement. The classical-stylings of the piano intro and the room ambiance and mic placement of the piano’s recording, then next the wailing guitar deep in the rear of the sound field with an incredibly tuned small hall reverb always makes me weep with emotion. It connects so viscerally. And the first section then terminates with the guitar compressor releasing to keep the level constant while the tone changes as the strings mute. That, combined with simultaneously increasing the guitar distortion was a real jolting transition that was gorgeous. That aural transition from airy, to painful expression of guitar, still airy and then that transition to a very compressed vocal and guitar is nothing short of oppressing, matching the lyric. Mr. Anderson was a master of subliminally manipulating emotion in this piece. The term for the treatment you were struggling for with the interplay between vocal and guitar in the verse is called “call and response” which is heavily used in slave era gospel music, from which it was adopted by the blues and in-turn became a huge influence in rock.
Thank you. Even fast moving trains have that compression release, but a runaway train? And still I would ride it over and over in a heartbeat!
Jethro Tull put on a great show. Saw them live in the 70's. Awesome group and really great musicians.
Jethro Tull started out as a blues band during the blues revival in England in the late 1960s. They had various names prior to settling on Jethro Tull because, as Ian Anderson puts it "It was the name we were using when someone gave us a repeat booking".
This song, from the 1971 album Aqualung, is a sort of Frankenstein's Monster as it was more or less assembled in disparate parts in the studio. The band had tried to record the piece as a unit in the studio, but no one could quite find the rhythm Anderson was after. So, he spent some time alone playing hi-hat and bass drum to create a sort of early click track. The bass guitar, toms and cymbals were recorded next, then rhythm guitar, then vocals, then lead guitar and flute parts and finally the piano and guitar piece that opens the song were recorded last by John Evan (piano) and Martin Barre (guitar). And then they went on to play it live on stage for decades, often as the show closer.
Anderson's technique of singing while playing the flute was influenced by jazz multi-instrumentalist Rashaan Roland Kirk, who often performed with multiple instruments hung around his neck for ease of access during a performance.
You've picked up on a staple of blues and rock music in the call and response by-play between Anderson's vocal and Barre's lead guitar. (The bass guitar, here played by Jeffery Hammond) is the lower, pulsing sound that sits just below where the drums are sonically.)
Call and response itself evolved from the field hollers and songs of black laborers and slaves in the 17 and 1800s in America. A person would call out or sing a line, and the rest of the people would respond with the following line. If you start listening to old bluesmen like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King, or John Lee Hooker, you'll hear a lot of this style of playing as the singer sings a line, the guitar basically repeats the line and the singer either sings the same line in a different way or sings another line that advances the song, followed by the guitar's response.
Very Very good!!!👏👏
To my ears, that old Blues stuff is tuneless and that includes the field working stuff with call out and so forth. Blues has always been lacking in melody and that is my main problem with it.
Locomotive Breath is a genuinely heavy song. Ian Anderson is a genius. This analysis is fantastic. Hats off to you.
Ian Anderson is self taught. He did not read music and never played the exact thing each time in concert. Yet he could play many of the classics by ear. To get a better idea of his methods and contributions to his bands music, you MUST see some of his concert performances on RUclips.
I love your takes on this song and it’s many parts, basically crammed into a short timeframe.
Anderson said that when he signed his daughter up for flute lessons she promptly informed him that he’d been holding the flute wrong his entire career. Love this guy.
Seeing Jethro Tull live is freaking epic. Mind blowing live
Warning! Warning! Danger ahead! Amy is starting to catch the bug. I see her head bobbing and body swaying. The end of civilization is upon us.😀
My same thoughts Lee! She will be cutting a rug before long.
Run for the hills !!!!
lol
She’s getting awfully close to liking it, maybe we should go back to Metal.
@@Hartlor_Tayley Maybe some Manowar Hail and Kill to send her running?
I've been a Tull fan for over 45 years now, and I am so glad for you to experience them for yourself! Your perspective and classically trained ear make for such a wonderful analysis of musical features that the ordinary listener takes for granted. Thank you for taking us along on the journey!
One of the all time great rock songs from Jethro Tull!
Your impression that this ended just as the listener is expecting more is right on and took myself back to the first time I heard this song.
Jethro Tull was one my first concerts as a 13 yr old kid back in the 70s. I stood at the very front of the stage right below Ian Anderson. It had a huge impact on me and made me want to play music the rest of my life. You really need to watch them live to appreciate how incredible they are and in particular Ian Anderson. There are many videos on youtube.
Unfortunately, the only time I got to see Jethro Tull was at the Concord Pavillion, in the '90s, when their show was much smaller and more stripped back than it was in their heyday. But they still brought it, and delivered a show that was "tight as a gnat's ass" as we used to say. At one point Ian Anderson instantly brought the whole band to a stop with a gesture, so he could tell off some idiot in the audience who was playing with a laser pointer on the keyboard player's head. Then, with another gesture, they all started up again, right where they left off. This was a band that was absolutely, perfectly, practiced and in sync. I was impressed.
My first concert was at the kinetic playground in Chicago, Led Zep, Savoy Brown, Jethro Tull, I was 13, 14 as well, it was right when Zeppelins 2nd album came out Jethro Tull was by far the best band that nite
Like any of the greats (how is Jethro Tull not in the rock and roll HOF?) they are even better live. Ian Anderson is a very interesting and energetic performer.
Ian Anderson has some good solo albums as well, such as a Christmas album that would make Amy feel more at home with pieces like Bouree' and some semi-orchestral pieces.
Mine too. Detroit MI, October 73, I was 16. Passion Play.
A unique showman. His live performances are great.
The crowd was epic, nicest folks ever, small venue in Albany NY. Mostly bikers if I recall.
saw Ian A. later when he wasn't as gritty and he was still of the charts!!!!!!!
Absolutely. When I saw him he was pushing retirement age and somehow still cavorting around like a lunatic on speed while playing fantastically. At half his age I’d be knackered after 10 minutes of that, never mind still having the breath control to play a flute. Quite a show.
One of the most underrated and under appreciated bands of all time
They were never underrated!
Nor unappreciated.
Jethro Tull are not underrated...They are not a hidden gem or something.
True they are incredible and have many achievements but I was just saying for how good they are, they aren’t as popular as say, steely Dan, jethro Tull is one of a kind
They were never underrated they filled stadiums.
I love that you have an open ear to this. I was 10 years old when this song was being played on the radio which was an amazing difference to other music I was listening to. This song has a very strong gravity/movement/drive in many ways to me. I often visualize music as portraits or scenes in a snippet of time. The intro of this song takes me to a carefree atmosphere or setting. It's colorful, cheerful. These tones only highlight what is to come which heighten the contrast to that which will be introduced. Like in a painting, one may want to use many dark shades to introduce a very bright object... a way to amplify a subject. The first lyric is: "In the shuffling madness" This, to me, is amazing coming off of that idyllic setting the intro painted and now we are in a different world of reality (perhaps). Life is full of both colorful and darkness. My daughter plays the flute and I have played this to purposely let her hear there are many ways to interpret an instrument. A violin may be played tucked under the chin with a 90 degree elbow or it may be played tucked to the shoulder in a blue-grass, country, jazz setting.... It is the expression we are after and which I wish to hear, feel and "see". I absolutely love that you give your experience and trained musical mind to listen to such. On another note, I love the flute in this piece, ruclips.net/video/-DlyhabvWSc/видео.html, to which I play endlessly in the house and my daughter walks around playing it. I feel like she is telling me she loves me when I hear her play it. So Bravo to you for your love of music :)
I've been listening to this song for 35 years now and dammit, "passing scenery" is just the best metaphor for the flute solo. Love hearing through other people's ears!
Yes
I think that she is not grasping the drama of the song at all. Aqualung, the man is the train. People left his life one by one, his woman betrayed him, and he's on a final bender and ends up in the gutter where the rest of the album finds him and plays out the tragic opera. Passing scenery?
@@deaddocreallydeaddoc5244 It’s not connected. Ian was so pissed people were calling Aqualung a concept album that he made Thick as a Brick (~42 min song, entire album)
Off the beaten path of this album you’ll find a composition called, My God. This is the flute track that is the true diamond among the gems. The two shortest tracks on the album are worthy of more than a look as well. They are, Wondering Aloud and Mother Goose. Anderson and Tull have always been in a lane of their own making. The album, Minstrel In The Gallery is another example of their prowess in the construction of concept album themes. Regards
You're right, Wondering Aloud is amazing. And also Martin's guitar solo in My God.
For me, this song is all about the experience of being really angry but having to keep trudging forward as everything around you falls apart. It’s a really visceral song.
Yes, agree
Yep. Sometimes recently it feels like I'm literally on fire and burning away to ash just trying to keep it together. This is always one of the tracks I listen to in that mood.
Maybe it's not ANGRY, but it's ANGST. After all, he's being run down by a train! It's a metaphor for our climate, earth destruction !!
Wowh ... what a joy to follow you ... I grew up with classical piano, organ, operas, jazz, rock jazz in the 70s ... and to see a harpist touching this genre and Jethro first time in 21st century gave me goosebumps. I have always listed music analytically. You doing so well ... tovgive beginners time to follow u ... and you took me off my chair when u started reading the sheet. Pls keep going, in my understanding u can be an excellent bridge and mediator for the younger generation. Warm greetings from Netherlands.
I can't thank you enough for always listening to the album versions of these songs. So many RUclipsrs start with live versions and miss all the important studio details.
As a Classical Musician, I think you'd really enjoy Thick as a Brick. It's a full length composition and a unique story told in chapters. I've seen Tull 3 times, Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play tours.
I totally agree! Certainly TAAB is a classic in the progressive rock world
The Benefit Album much better to my taste.
I love Classical Music with the touch of Rock.
@@alexanderroussos9509 A much under rated album.
Tull was and is one of the greatest rock bands of all time.
Joe Bonamassa uses this intro and then segues into a fantastic blues song. An homage to JT and truly impressive to see for those of us who grew up with JT.
Any idea where I could hear that? I enjoy Bonamassa, but don't know enough about him to know where I'd find that...... If you are willing.
As many people will point out the song on the album is really part of a whole. When you describe it could have been longer, that is what it developed into as a live piece.
Ian Anderson would disagree, sats the album is just a collection of songs. So he wrote Thick as a Brick to kind of show us what a concept album sounds like.
That said, I think Aqualung is a concept album too!!!
Came to say this also, this is the core song. Live it leaves a lot of openings for long solo's and can for a while.
That sound you heard was Ian Anderson vocalizing into his flute while he's playing. He's very famous for that, and a very flamboyant character on stage. Check out a live version of this, or, my personal fav, "My God", live from the Isle of Wight from 1970. He is amazing on the flute (and acoustic guitar) on that one. -Edit: Listening again, you may also be hearing a tambourine in the background, as well as his vocalizing.
Yeah, I hear what sounds like tambourine shaking way down in the mix behind the vocal/blowing in parts. It could be some jangly cymbal - Ian is credited with playing hi-hats on the album.
Ian said that his playing and vocalizing through the flute was taken right from Raasahn Roland Kirk. Check HIM out!
As a musician it's wonderful to see you exposed to a song I've known my whole life, it's feel
Liked and subscribed. It is so intriguing to see an educated classical musician's reaction to popular music. You are truly listening to the music, and letting it affect you emotionally. Plus, you can wrap your head around a lot of the musical concepts other people can't. I've always believed the most important thing a musician can do is continue to grow. And every time you do an analysis, I know that you are learning a lot! Would love to see you go through the song first with no interruptions, then break it down afterwards. Don't care if the video is an hour long. Also, please take care to make the audio of the song on the user end as high quality as possible. It enhances the entire experience. Thank you, and I look forward to watching more of your videos.
This one takes me way back. Right after high school my favorite bands were (in order) Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
You must be in your mid-sixties - same as me!
The added percussion you thought you heard during the flute playing is Ian breathing, go watch some of his live performances, they do not disappoint.
I think there is some tambourine shaking or sizzly cymbal stuff going on down in the mix at points behind Ian's blowing/breathing. Ian is credited with playing hi-hats on the album.
@@kindablue1959 I agree definitely. It sounds like a very light cymbal.
There might be tambourine or chimes or something, but the flute-singing shit Ian does was what I was also thinking.
@@donfette5301 Yes, her face flinched in bewilderment when he took that purposely loud breath. Just masterfully powerful technique. I need to start listening to Tull again, I forgot how wonderful it is.
@@kindablue1959 Literally Ian playing bass drum and hi-hat through the entire track.
I love how she listens to every note right to the end.
I am so privileged to have lived through this musical period !
That’s how I feel too!
I am so thrilled you're listening to Jethro Tull. I suggested them back at the beginning of your channel. They are my all-time favorite band.
There are so many different bands to recommend. The Eagles, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Joe Walsh, Cream, Bon Jovi, AD/DC, The Moody Blues, and so many others.
@@Lonewolfmike ...the list is practically endless...
The whole entire album is genius.
I love that flute! It's fast, furious, and frenetic !! ... and in his frenzied, fevered grasping of the notes he even audibly gasps and gasps again for breath as he goes!!!
I love your analysis of these rock tunes. To watch your face as you listen is telling of your own musical depth. I'm envious because your hearing this great music for the first time.
Would have loved to have witnessed an early Jethro Tull concert. They were infamous for just extending a concert well beyond the scheduled time. They were having so much fun with the crowd they just didn't stop, they jammed and jammed sometimes for an extra hour or even two.
I've been to a couple of those!
I saw them on the Thick as a Brick tour in 1972 …they played the entire album and I thought that would be the end of the concert …then Anderson said, “ for our second number ….”
@@jayedwards4787 I don't think I've ever heard of a Tull concert anywhere near that short 🤣 more like 2 hours or more.
That's true I saw them in 71 and they kept on playing . One of the best concerts that I've ever seen .at the Midsouth Coliseum
Remember them at the Grande. I was always more impressed by the guitarist than by Ian's
stork impressions.
Thank you for that. Very interesting analysis. Something I am sure you know is that many of these 70s albums were assembled with great care. The songs work together, almost as movements in a larger piece. Ian Anderson denied that this was a concept album, but the tracks of the album do, very much, talk to one another. I know this set of songs so well, that when the train disappears, in my mind's ear I hear the next piece "Windup" beginning, a more reflective piece which closes the album. This would be one reason to keep the piece shorter, because it is just a part of a larger whole, and works in a broader context. I am not suggesting that you would analyse a whole album (although that would be fantastic!), but keep in mind that many albums of that era were not just collections of songs, but curated rather thoughtfully.
Once again, thank you. It gives me a new appreciation of something I already love!
The word I would use to describe the second transition is "bombastic".
1. Laid back romantic classical
2. Decadent but indolent smoky jazz
3. Bombastic, building rock
I see it as standing by the tracks. You first hear just a faint, inoffensive noise of the approaching train. Then it picks up just a bit. Suddenly, it's on top of you, all power, fury, and rumble- making you lean away from it so it won't suck you into it. Then, just as quickly, it begins to fade, and it's gone.
The train is, of course, the trainwreck of the protagonist's life. At no point are you on that train. You're just a passive viewer as it careens by, amazed that it hasn't yet flown off the tracks.
Who or what was the protagonist an allegory for? Who is Charlie, and why did he steal the handle?
Ian Anderson has given a few different answers to that, but most recently he has said that it's all about overpopulation. And I suppose that whoever Charlie is (God, Satan, Charles Darwin), he stole the handle used to apply the brakes, so the disastrous train can never "slow down".
Interesting comment. I've read the most recent interview, too, in which Ian Anderson said this song is about overpopulation. I remember a different interpretation told to me by a friend who had heard Ian Anderson say he had spent a lot of time thinking about God and the Big Bang. This interpretation seems to me to fit better with the lyrics. God, who had the whole universe and lost it by setting off the Big Bang is "the all time loser," but he also had all of time (there was no time before the universe began) and lost it, another way of interpreting "all time loser." Having this song be about God works with "catches angels (Satan) as they fall," "sees his children jumping off (dying) at stations one by one" while his woman (Mary) and his best friend (Joseph) "are in bed and having fun" (carefully not saying they are having sex.) Ironically, God himself "picks up Gideon's Bible" and finds out that he stole the handle (unleashed the Big Bang, perhaps doing something he wasn't supposed to?) and now can't stop it. As our Virgin Rock lady says, we don't see the train stopping, since we don't know what the ending of the universe will be. Anyway, this interpretation has always seemed to make sense to me.
@@metalgator8083 Could just as easily be. I understand how rock artists either refuse to share their own thoughts about the meaning of a composition, or change it from one telling to the next. It keeps that sense of wonder about the song. So it's to THEIR advantage.
Saying that the song, released way back in the distant 1971, is about overpopulation, would make Ian quite prescient.
Maybe he DID write it about that subject. Maybe...
But then again, some times it's infuriating for anybody else interested.
Who was Old Charlie, and why did he steal the handle? Think of the schizophrenic bum in the alleyway: there is no why. The lyric main character has tried to make a sensible life, and now it has been taken from him for no reason that anyone can name.
I would love to relive the first time that I heard Jethro Tull. It was the Stand Up album. Two weeks later I went to a concert that Jethro Tull opened for and that was the first time,then again 16 years later. I was in heaven.
That is a guitar you are hearing responding to the voice. One clue is in your score. The bass guitar, if properly notated, will show up in the Bass Clef section. You are hearing the bass strings on the guitar, which will be an octave higher than the equivalent strings on the bass.
This is what needs to happen: harp as a signature instrument for a rock band. Make it happen!
Dude, thats a green screen. Not a single bird has passed the window
Check out Elton John "60 years on" live at the Royal London Opera House. Harp in a rock song. Beautiful.
I think it needs to go by so quickly because that's the theme of the song; things coming at you so fast it's hard to process it all, and then it's gone.
Like some people of my generation, I had the joy of seeing Jethro Tull live on a show. The flute always goes longer in the shows. It is an amazing band, and Ian Anderson is a GENIUS! I recommend you listen to "Living in the Past", a double record, and Bouree is my fav.
The way it ends feels like the train has passed us by. I love his little vocalizations during his flute solos. As always, your observations are wonderful.
And, those vocalizations are louder in teh live performances. Combined with his facial expressions, it's something else.
No body can growl into a flute like Ian Anderson.
I think we have a new Tull fan !
Love the way this piece got you fired up and animated.
How can a lover of music NOT get you fired up over this?
This is the first song I play with every new piece of stereo equipment. I've done this for the last 50 years. Tradition! I enjoyed your review.
Jethro Tull is a very visual experience. Their album music is almost clinical. Please watch the live versions.
Not just visual....visceral too!
Yes, this song in particular feels like a sketch compared to the best live versions.
2 quick things:
1. Watching you enjoy this song was an absolute delight!
2. I may have to start a new religion based on your honesty and integrity. It is, simply put, amazing!
Cheers to you and Vlad!
Thoroughly enjoyed your video thank you. Jethro Tull were massive, however are massively underrated. Ian Anderson is an absolute musical genius. I just hope that he will get the credit he deserves from not only his fans. I got into Tull as a teenager in the 1980's, I put them down - and thankfully picked them up again in my Fifties. Stand Up was and still is one of favourite albums by anyone. They're a fantastic group.
Jethro Tull at Red Rocks amphitheater “71” was the 1st rock concert I attended. Wild! The whole crowd was tear gassed by the police. I temporarily lost track of my girlfriend in the crush of the crowd. My friends and myself were all tripping on yellow sunshine. Rioting, two Denver police cars burnt to the ground. Jethro Tull was ushered off stage at one point. In the midst of all the chaos, tear gas and fighting with police, Ian Anderson came back out on stage and started playing his flute sole. Single handedly calmed the whole place down and the concert continued. What a great time and show! That was the last rock concert allowed at Red Rocks for quite a few years.
I really enjoy your insights and first time impressions of many of my favorite songs! Describing the flute solo as the sights passing by window in the train was brilliant! I also loved your impressions of Zappa's Peaches En Regalia when you described the composer's playfulness with sound. Being a long time Zappa listener I was delighted you captured the essence of Zappa as a composer immediately!
I saw Jethro Tull for the first time time in 1973 and saw them three times since. I love watching Ian as well as listening to him play the flute. He twirls it like a baton and stands on one foot when he really gets going. He's a genius.
I saw Jethro Tull, my first concert, when I was twelve in 1976! Ian Anderson, the lead singer and flutist is a Jester type of entertainer. He is British and that drives the energy as he wears tights and twirls the flute. I love Classic Rock and most kinds of music because of this musical genius!
One of my favourite moments in all rock music is in 'Money' by Pink Floyd, where the sax solo transitions into a guitar solo.
Absolutely! Those guys had some genius shit going on.
I never cared for Money, but that moment in it gives me goose bumps.
The lyrics are about the world racing to become a train wreck, 'no way to slow down'.
Over 2,000 people have already told you that "Thick as a Brick" is quite a bit longer and well worth commenting on.
For great sax: Jerry Rafferty's "Baker Street", and Hazel O'Connor's "Will You?"
I particularly like your enthusiasm when speaking and the restraint with which you do so where we notice that sometimes you forget to breathe such is the effort you make to convey your personal opinion on the analyzed musical themes which in this case has everything to do with the breathing of this Jethro Tull locomotive .
You might want to give a listen to Jethro Tull's "Songs From the Wood." More Celtic/English folk song like.
Agreed. I hope she listens to Tull's more folk music inspired songs too.
Ian WAS the conductor of this band. A bit of a mad man, hugely talented and from my understanding, self taught on the flute.
I love the reactions of classical musicians when they hear Tull for the first time. Enjoying your first listen as much or maybe more than my first listen!
He was self taught. I read his daughter took professional lessons on the flute and told Ian he wasn't using his fingers properly.
The transition you speak of in the intro, from a classical feel to a more jazzy feel is because at that precise moment both the guitar and piano introduce the "blue note", changing the mode from Em to Em blues (with a stretched A to a Bb, the blue note in E). The overall feeling of the intro, to me, is a smoky piano bar, a lounge singer, ala "One For My Baby and One More for the Road" that churning, notes played in a rush then drawn out of a solo pianist/vocalist in a small club late at night. The rest is pure hard rock, but in the solo you may not be aware of the influence of Rahsaan Roland Kirk (an interesting guy who could play 3 saxes at once, in harmony). In this song it's limited, but in other songs more pronounced, Ian Anderson's vocalizing scats in between flute notes is lifted directly from Kirk. The jazzy syncopation of the flute juxtaposed with the very straight 4 to the bar rock beat and bass line is probably what gives you jazz feel there, along with the fact Anderson plays some bebop chops in his soloing. JT started out as a purely blues band with some jazz pretentions, so this is their roots, this is the rare album where they displayed a lot of hard rock.
Those spicy chords on the 4th measure
Darn you, you're reviews are so adorable. I look forward to all your videos, thank you!
ian anderson is something special. i'm so happy that i'm going to see Jethro Tull live one month from now.
Where?
@@SteveJones379 Ostend, Belgium
@@muylae Lucky! I'm in the states, won't be able to go. Enjoy!! ☮
I hope that you take the time to watch a live version of this. You would really enjoy seeing what an amazing performer Ian Anderson is. He still is today, although he leaps around a bit less, and he no longer sports that full head of hair.
When you say that you think that the lyrics could have been something different, I think it is important to note that the song was built around the lyrics rather than the lyrics being written around the composition. It expresses the ideas that Ian Anderson wanted to convey. The essential idea (which I am sure you will get before doing the in-depth part) is that we are all on a seemingly unstoppable train that is moving towards a bleak future, with constant population growth, destruction, and all the negative trends in society.
I saw JT do the Thick as a Brick concert back in the early 70's Was totally blown away! Saw Ian Anderson again performing in a relatively small venue in NJ in the mid 2000's His voice wasn't what it once was, but his flute playing was beyond reproach
I watched this video when you first posted just for enjoyment and watched it again today. You asked about the flute solo and how it feels to the listener. It sounds like breathless desperation to me. He is drowning in the moment and clawing for the surface.
Tull plays much longer versions of Loco Breath in live performances
Has been closing live shows with this song since I can remember.
Watching you climb into some of my favourite songs is an unalloyed joy. And I LOVE the in depth section.
I love this! And I’ve never grown tired of this song!
You may be interested to learn that Jethro Tull began as a "blues-rock" style band. Aqualung is their first album which manifests their characteristic "progressive-rock" style. In addition to blues and jazz, classical and Celtic folk influences can be heard in their music. Ian Anderson has even composed and recorded modern classical music as a solo artist.
The singer is also the flautist. Seeing him do that live is quite something
I love your channel Amy. You remind me of a music teacher I had at school... but never listened to because I didn't have the patience to appreciate theory at that time. Btw... I'm now 60, so I have more patience but relatively less time.
Great song choice... classical into jazz into rock combined with other elements. Truly Progressive, as much now as then.
Jethro Tull is one of my most favorite bands. I remember being a young teen just dipping my toes into the hard rock scene and Jethro Tull was my absolute favorite. I play flute so it was so inspiring to me.
Locomotive breath is a beautiful classical mix of jazz, & rock, on a reckless roller coaster ride down the tracks of it's melody. The introduction draws you into it's explosive transitions
As the train moves on. Although it's a short song it lingers on, long after the journey's over. In my youth, locomotive breath was one of my favorites songs to sing, I consider Ian Anderson a theatrical performer who delivered powerful vocals while expressing his epic talents on the flute! Happy to say I saw Jethro Tull live at the Boston Garden, 1975. I was 17 then. Lend your ear to these others: Cross-eyed Mary, Aqualung & Thick as a brick. 😜👍
Interesting that you pick up on the guitar sounding like a saxophone - Martin Barre's first professional gig was as a saxophonist & he's a self taught guitarist. Massively underrated because he doesn't seem to have an ego that's visible from space, unlike other notable long lasting Jethro Tull members I could mention...
The flute solo gives me the sense of the main character frenetically crawling in terror trying to catch his breath and thinking about his pending demise.
Ian Anderson, singer-songwriter and flautist, IS Jethro Tull. Band members have come and gone since the 1970s but Ian is still at it. I hope this experience has inspired you to watch him on RUclips, both in the 1970s and now, in his 70s. He brings a feeling of a court jester with wardrobe and playing his flute on while on one leg. The song is about unstoppable human population growth.
Jethro Tull is best savored live ...Ian's facial jesters are priceless and the music is supreme!
I am thrilled with the reciprocal nature of your channel Amy. Whilst you are learning about a music genre, you teach us how to reconsider these loved pieces of music. The knowledge that you share is a gift to all of us.
I love her perspective, her musical analysis.
I'm hooked on your videos! Love you and love to see you enjoying this experience in such variety!