The Jethro Tull Christmas Album

The Jethro Tull Christmas Album
Studio album by Jethro Tull
Publication (s)	2003
admission	2003/2008
Label (s)	Fuel 2000, RandM
Format (s)	LP , CD
Genre (s)	Progressive rock , folk rock , Christmas
Title (number)	16 + 17
running time	62:16 (CD) 126: 29 (together with Christmas at St Bride's 2008)
occupation	Ian Anderson - vocals , flute , piccolo , acoustic guitar , mandolin , percussion Martin Barre - electric guitar , acoustic guitar Jonathan Noyce - electric bass Andrew Giddings - keyboards , accordion , keyboard bass Doane Perry - drums , percussion
production	Ian Anderson
chronology J-Tull Dot Com (studio album 1999) The Jethro Tull Christmas Album -

The Jethro Tull Christmas Album is the twenty-first and final studio album by the progressive rock band Jethro Tull .

history

The Jethro Tull Christmas Album was released on September 30, 2003.

album

The album is a mixture of new, re-recordings of Tull's own material to match the theme and arrangements of traditional Christian music.

Ian Anderson explained: “I am neither a staunch Christian nor do I think that our 'Christmas Album' has anything to do with the rubbish that some semi-silly artists try to throw at the end of the year. No, what we want to achieve with it: Record a record that captures the very special, contemplative atmosphere that prevails around Christmas time, at least in our latitudes. Christmas lives a lot from rituals, which I give credit to this season. And in confused times like ours, we need rituals, symbols and our own identity more than ever. The CD was created with this in mind. "

When asked about his favorite Jethro Tull song , Ian Anderson names A Christmas Song . This has been available as a single since 1969, first on an album in 1972 Living in the Past and later on other albums in name variants with "a", "the" or without an article. Another Christmas Song , the next track on the album, is one of the three The Dressing Room Tapes that were first recorded on October 13, 1989 in Zurich in an artist's dressing room in the Hallenstadion . Drums were not used. The song was later added as one of the bonus tracks on the 2006 Rock Island remastered CD .

Ian Anderson says of the song Birthday Card at Christmas : “My daughter Gael, like millions of other unfortunate people, celebrates her birthday just before Christmas. In the shadow of the big event, such birthdays can pass flat, superficial, fleeting and uneventful. The discouraging party and festive celebration of the Christian calendar also overshadows, some may argue, the humble birthday of a Mr. J. Christ. Funny old December 25th ... "

What is very unusual for Jethro Tull is the large number of pieces that were not composed by Ian Anderson, including adapted classical pieces such as the Pavane by Gabriel Fauré , the Bourrée by JS Bach and Traditionals . In addition, equally unusual for Jethro Tull, the high proportion of Christian music is significant, especially in the concert recording of Christmas at St Bride's 2008 .

The instrumental A Winter Snowscape by Martin Lancelot Barre forms the end. Until then, he was rarely mentioned as a composer by Jethro Tull, only mentioned once as a co-composer.

Extra title

In 2009 the live album Christmas at St Bride's 2008 was added to the original album and the whole thing was released as a double CD.

Track list

Pieces CD1

1. Birthday Card at Christmas (Ian Anderson) - 3:37
2. Holly Herald (instrumental medley, edited by Anderson) - 4:16
3. A Christmas Song (Anderson) - 2:47
4. Another Christmas Song (Anderson) - 3:31
5. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (traditional instrumental, arranged by Anderson) - 4:35
6. Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow (Anderson) - 3:37
7. Last Man at the Party (Anderson) - 4:48
8. Weathercock (Anderson) - 4:17
9. Pavane (instrumental, Gabriel Fauré , arranged by Anderson) - 4:19
10. First Snow on Brooklyn (Anderson) - 4:57
11. Greensleeved (traditional instrumental based on Greensleeves arranged by Anderson) - 2:39
12. Fire at Midnight (Anderson) - 2:26
13. We Five Kings (Instrumental We Three Kings , Rev. J. Hopkins, edited by Anderson) - 3:16
14. Ring Out Solstice Bells (Anderson) - 4:04
15. Bourée (instrumental by JS Bach , arranged by Anderson) - 4:25
16. A Winter Snowscape (Instrumental, Martin Barre) - 4:57

Tracks 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, and 15 are new recordings of pieces that have already been published. Bourée , however, changed significantly in the musical design.

Pieces CD2

Christmas at St Bride's 2008 concert recording at St Bride's Church

1. Weathercock (Ian Anderson) - 4:41
2. Introduction: Rev. George Pitcher / Choir: What Cheer ( William Walton ) - 3:32
3. A Christmas Song (Anderson) - 3:19
4. Living in These Hard Times (Anderson) - 3:44
5. Choir: Silent Night (Traditional) - 3:06
6. Reading: Ian Anderson, Marmion ( Sir Walter Scott ) - 2:17
7. Jack in the Green (Anderson) - 2:33
8. Another Christmas Song (Anderson) - 3:56
9. Reading: Gavin Esler, God's Grandeur ( Gerard Manley Hopkins ) - 1:50
10. Choir: Oh, Come All Ye Faithful (Traditional) - 3:50
11. Reading: Mark Billingham, The Ballad of The Breadman (Charles Causley) - 3:33
12. A Winter Snowscape ( Martin Barre ) - 3:39
13. Reading: Andrew Lincoln, Christmas (Sir John Betjeman) - 3:12
14. Fire at Midnight (Anderson) - 3:38
15. We Five Kings (Instrumental We Three Kings , Rev. J. Hopkins, edited by Anderson) - 3:19
16. Choir: Gaudete (traditionally, edited by Anderson) - 3:39
17. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen / Thick as a Brick (traditionally, edited by Anderson / Anderson) - 10:25

occupation

additional musicians

• James Duncan - drums
• Dave Pegg - bass, mandolin

• The Sturcz string quartet:

• Gábor Csonka - first violin
• Péter Szilágyi - second violin
• Gyula Benkő - viola
• András Sturcz - cello (conductor)

reception

Eclipsed employee Stefan Oswald, who approached the review skeptically, was won over by the relaxed, kitsch-free character of the album.

Web links

• The Jethro Tull Christmas Album 2003 on Allmusic (English)
• The Jethro Tull Christmas Album 2004 (bonus DVD) on Allmusic (English)
• Official site for the album (English)
• BABY BLUE PAGES Review
• Progressive Archives (English)
• DPRP CD Review
• Rolling Stone Review
• Detailed information about the individual versions of the sound carriers at musik-sammler.de
• Lyrics at cupofwonder.com (archive version )
• Information about the lyrics at cupofwonder.com (English, archive version )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael Fuchs-Gamböck: Jethro Tull. The slightly different Santa Claus . In: Eclipsed . Rock magazine. No. 57 , November 2003, p. 38 .
2. ↑ Tull main man chooses his top ten Tull (English), accessed on 22 March 2016
3. ↑ Description Living in the Past at allmusic.com (English), accessed on April 9, 2016
4. ↑ Description Another Christmas Song at allmusic.com (English), accessed on March 22, 2016
5. ↑ DPRP CD Review , accessed on September 5, 2019
6. ^ Stefan Oswald: Jethro Tull. "The Christmas Album" . In: Eclipsed . Rock magazine. No. 57 , November 2003, CD Reviews, p. 44 .