Benefit
"Benefit" became Tull's first million-seller,
barely missing the Top Ten charts in the U.S.
The album features a "harder, slightly darker feel" (Ian's words)
than Tull's earlier works and clear hints of cynicism cresting with
the following album: "Aqualung."
Group leader Ian Anderson begin
experimenting with production techniques, including the famed "backwards-played"
flute on "With You 
There to Help Me" which would become a concert joke as
Ian turned his back to the audience to play the opening notes.
This track, and others, reflect Ian's budding romance with a Chrysalis secretary
who
would
become
Ian's first
wife.
The experimentation,
however, gives the album a very late 60's/early 70's feel which may sound
dated and unapproachable to the modern rock ear. Yet, many Tull fans consider
it among the band's greatest works. Elsewhere, "Son"
continues
Ian's parental relations theme from "Stand
Up."
Mostly recorded in December 1969 and January 1970, "Benefit" was
the band’s first album to feature keyboards – played by the band’s
old school chum John
Evan. Evan completed the third Tull line-up
when he joined Anderson, Barre, Bunker,
and Cornick.
John Evan joined on a temporary basis for an eight month tour and stayed
for over 10 years! John's
classical
training and stage presence would be central to Tull's 1970's personna.
During the "Benefit" tour, Tull headlined
some of the biggest concert halls in the U.S. However, the musicians' diverse
personalities and harsh schedules were not meshing. After the tour finished
in December 1970,
Glenn Cornick left to start his own band, 'Wild Turkey."
Three
songs became noteworthy, not necessarily for their quality. "To
Cry You a Song," with the lyrics "flying so high" helped fuel
the myth that Anderson was a serious druggie. In reality, Anderson never
did drugs and some critics
felt his music developed a bitterness towards the prevailing youth culture.
"Teacher," became a fan favorite in the
U.S. though the band felt it was a throwaway song and Ian wrote it as a B-side.
Ian, to date, professes distaste for this tune reflecting disillusionment
with formal education, a theme arising in future songwriting as well.
The U.K.
version on the remastered copy is a very different arrangement with far less
flute. The flute was added to the U.S. release as the record company felt
Tull needed
a pop
single
featuring
the flute.
"Play in Time" was a direct message to critics
and supporters preferring Tull's earlier, abandoned blues-orientated approach
("blues were my favourite colour until I looked 'round and found another
song that I felt like singing") and would be the first in a series of tunes
over
the
years
expressing
Ian's indifference to critical opinion.
