Stand Up
Tull's initial musical approach was torn between Mick Abrahams’ blues vision and Ian Anderson’s more unique approach. When Abrahams left, his replacement Martin Barre became the key player in Tull’s move towards a more progressive style.
The recording sessions for this album started
in April ’69. One month later, the band scored their first U.K.
hit with "Living In The Past," which charted at #3 (included in
the remastered release).. Starting with "Stand Up," the band’s
use of dynamics, Celtic Folk, and classically-oriented tonal structures,
along with Ian Anderson’s flute playing and songwriting, became Jethro
Tull’s
signature.
Simply put, "Stand Up" was the genesis of Tull's sound and, not surprisingly,
is one of Anderson's favorite Tull records.
Reflecting back, "Stand Up" seems an obvious career turn but at its release,
the reality was Tull risked a great deal. The turn from the blue-orientated
approach displeased important Tull radio and promoter connections.
"A New Day Yesterday" is almost a holdover from "This Was" with its blues-stylings
while "Nothing is Easy," common in concert sets, is a blues-jazz fusion.
"Bouree," a "cocktail jazz" (Ian's words) rework of a
J.S. Bach classical piece, would become a Tull classic and an almost must
for
any concert set. Many Tull fans presume Far
Eastern influences on the band's music begin with Anderson's
solo album
"Divinities."
Yet, traces
can
be found
in
"Fat
Man" (sometimes considered a jab at departed guitarist Mick Abrahams) and
"Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square," one of three Tull songs devoted to
Ian's boyhood friend Jeffrey
Hammond who would later join the band.
While hardly a "concept" album, lyrically the album devotes a lot to Anderson's
relationship with his parents (a subject continued on "Benefit") and coping
with new found
pop
stardom.
This was the first album to be filled with songs
written and arranged by Ian Anderson, the band’s first album to chart
in the U.S. top 20, and their first album to hit #1 in the U.K. It hit
#1 two days after its release and stayed there for eight weeks!
