Jethro Tull- Aqualung 55th Anniversary- Ian Anderson
Every real rock music fan has a shortlist of essential albums which were more than mere entertainment, and mine includes Jethro Tull’s March 1971 fourth album, Aqualung. Since then, I’ve never thought the same way about religion, homelessness, or one-legged flute players in tights. Fifty-five years later, Ian Anderson’s lyrical subject matter of sectarian religious wars (“My God”, “Locomotive Breath”), cruel shallowness of male predation (“Cross-Eyed Mary”), and cold indifference to society’s needy (“Aqualung”) keeps the album Aqualung remarkably evergreen in its relevancy on its double nickel anniversary. But, sadly, it doesn’t say much for human nature.
Ian Anderson’s house is haunted. Or at least the Jethro Tull leader has good reason to believe that it’s haunted. Sitting in the dining room of the very old but modern-updated “Bucks” home in the English countryside for my interview regarding March 1971’s Aqualung album, we shared in common the fact that we both live and record on working farms just outside major cities, Anderson’s less than an hour west of London. The current house was built more than three centuries ago on the ruins of a nunnery plundered by Oliver Cromwell during the mid-17th century English military/political leader’s genocidal campaign against Catholics. In my classic rock interview, Ian told me that there are historical accounts of the nuns being raped before they were murdered by Cromwell’s troops, which could explain the curious reactions of certain visitors to Anderson’s isolated home over the years.
It seems that without any knowledge of the home’s history, one popular British comedian became convinced during a visit that intensely strong paranormal vibrations were emanating from beneath the house, while on another separate occasion a female guest stayed but a minute before running from the house in hysterics. Anderson’s lovely wife claims on occasion, in broad daylight, to see a white horse running up the stairs, which one would surmise could present a problem getting good domestic help. And while Ian himself has never witnessed that specter, once he did glance up into a wall-mounted mirror, the angle of which allowed him to see into their downstairs laundry room. There he observed clearly the back of a dark-haired young woman dressed in an ancient gray robe. Thinking it was his wife, Anderson called out to her but received no response. When he entered to peer into the laundry room, no one was there.
The moral of this story? Don’t expect anyone to volunteer to help you with laundry in the next world, either.
Meanwhile, few albums from any time in the Rock Era continue to satisfy quite so well as Jethro Tull’s masterpiece Aqualung. Ian Anderson smartly wrote songs for all seasons for a superb band, including the timeless rockers “Aqualung”,”Cross-Eyed Mary”,”Locomotive Breath,” and “Hymn #43”, but perfectly paced the album with tasty acoustic classics like “Wond’ring Aloud”and “Mother Goose”. And the Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) remix and 21st Century remastering results in a stunning listening experience even fifty-five years later.
Ian Anderson is my guest In the Studio with insights and revelations in this classic rock interview concerning Jethro Tull and Aqualung. -Redbeard
