MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: JETHRO TULL - THIS WAS 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Jethro Tull, blues band? You mean that flute-wielding, tights-wearing, concept album-making, prog band? And lets not forget, winner of the first-ever Grammy for hard rock/metal album (chortle). But yes, dear reader, this was 1968, and every respectable new band in England was in blues, whether it was Fleetwood Mac or the New Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin. So you had Mr. Anderson and crew appearing on the BBC covering Sonny and Brownie, singing "My baby left me, my mule got lame/Lost all my money in a poker game." Plus, he was playing blues harp.

The thing is, they were a very good blues band, and Anderson did take out the flute and make it sound pretty good in that style. About half the songs on this debut album are instrumental, and the fledgling band had a smooth jazz/blues style, which hinted at interesting things in the future. Vocal numbers such as My Sunday Feeling were more modern and melancholy. Others, including Beggar's Farm, had a Mose Allison-meets-Aqualung mix, and allowed for lots of riffing, from both our favourite flautist and the guitar stylings of Mick Abrahams.

This 50th anniversary edition is actually being used to bring This Was in line with the other reissue boxes in the Tull catalogue. When it was first expanded, it was a smaller package, but over the last few years all the '70's records have come out in these excellent small box packages, with several discs and an excellent on-going book treatment, featuring very comprehensive notes and interviews, including most group members and the ever-pithy Anderson. Fans cried for this one to join the club too, and it's an excellent effort, adding even more bonus material. It's now a three-CD, one-DVD set, with plenty of previously unreleased out-takes, versions and BBC sessions, different mono and singles mixes, and a stereo remix by Steven Wilson, whose work has been featured on all the Tull reissues. The DVD has all the digital sound, except that it's only a 4.1 mix rather than 5.1, which bothers some people, but hey, there were only four musicians playing anyway. And purists get the original stereo and mono album mixes too. Interesting, that Anderson was one heck of a good harp player.  But I'd hate to have had him stick to that course, and miss out on Thick As A Brick.