The 500 - #337 - The 500 - Aqualung - Jethro Tull

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 337

Album Title: Aqualung

Artist: Jethro Tull

Genre: Progressive Rock, Folk Rock, Blues, Jazz

Recorded: Island & Morgan Studios, London, UK

Released: March, 1971

My age at release: 6

How familiar was I with it before this week: Very

Is it on the 2020 list? No

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Hymn 43

Aqualung Album Cover (1971)

In the fall of 1981, at 16, I found my "tribe" – the important group of friends who ballast the often turbulent high school experience. It was my second year living in London, Ontario, and attending a new school. My first year was okay. I'd made a few friends, joining local recreation leagues for soccer, water-polo and hockey. They were nice enough chums, but we didn't quite fit -- friends destined to become casual acquaintances.

Saunders Secondary School (my alma mater 1980-1984)

My “tribe” emerged later. As is often the case in teenage circles, the path to friendship was circuitous. A conversation in history class leads to an introduction in the cafeteria which leads to an invitation to someone's house after school. One day, the path was opened by an ebullient, blonde-haired teen named Steve Mackison.  

Steve is on the left (circa 1984) The other friends are
Stacy, plus Terry & Heather
(who are now married and remain dear friends)

As we walked from the school's football field through the neighbourhood to his townhome, about a kilometre away, he spoke at great length about his love of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and music.

After a quick stop in his kitchen for snacks (Pop Tarts?), we went up to any teen’s sanctuary -- the bedroom. His walls were covered with fantasy posters, his stereo was impressive and he even had a home computer system (a rarity in 1981).

A Commodore Vic 20 much like Steve's

As we sipped tea, played video games and talked. Steve put on some of his favourite albums. It was there where I was introduced to the music of Jethro Tull.

I had heard of Jethro Tull and, no doubt like many before and after me, thought that was the name of the performer. It isn't. The band took its name from an 18th Century British agriculturalist.

Agriculturalist Jethro Tull (1674 - 1741)

The story behind the name began with the formation of a group comprising Ian Anderson (guitar, flute, vocals), Glen Cornick (bass), Clive Bunker (drums) and Mick Abrahams (guitar and backing vocals). They changed their band’s name frequently to get work on the London club circuit in 1967.

Originally a British blues act, their temporary monikers included "Navy Blue", "Bag Of Nails”and "Candy Coloured Rain" to secure gigs. Some names were provided by the booking agent. One booker was a fan of history who humorously christened them “Jethro Tull” for a show. It was the first time a club owner acknowledged their performance and they were invited back. The name stuck.

Jethro Tull (1969) (l-r) Cornick, Bunker, Anderson, Abrahams

It wasn't this week's record, Aqualung (1971), that Steve played for me. It was Tull's third release, Thick As A Brick (1972). Within seconds of hearing it, I was engrossed by both the music (an odd mix of blues rock, medieval folk and jazz fusion) and the lyrics (a supposed epic poem by child genius Gerald Bostock. In reality, it was all a put on.)

The album cover was equally fascinating. A spoof of a small-town British newspaper called The St. Cleve Chronicle & Linwell Advertiser, it was a delightful parody, "intended to mock the typically parochial and amateurish journalism of the rural English press." (Songfacts website) It was Monty Python in its absurdity -- and I was immediately a fan.

I clicked with Steve at once – a kind, intelligent friend, who liked fantasy literature and progressive, clever music outside the mainstream, with a Pythonesque bent. A pal who enjoyed computers and was even intrigued by the role playing game I loved, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D).

In the weeks that followed, my friendship with Steve grew and our circle of like-minded friends joined and expanded. We remained friends throughout high school, partying on weekends and playing D&D every Sunday afternoon. Steve and I stayed close friends through university and even moved in together in 1993.

My 1993 room mates Don (left) and Steve in our townhouse kitchen

Unfortunately, twenty-something circumstances led to a parting of our ways, for which I accept blame. But, I am pleased Steve found another path. He is now the Reverend Canon Steven Mackison, Incumbent at The Church Of The Redeemer in Toronto, Ontario. I'll remember him fondly for much more than introducing me to Jethro Tull. I'll remember him best for making me feel like I belonged during those tricky high school years…and helping me find my first tribe.

Rev. Canon Steven Mackison today

Aqualung Facts

• The Spotify version of the record includes and interview with Ian Anderson who shares some interesting facts.
• The album was recorded at the newly built, Island Studios, formerly a church. 
• Tull were given the larger room on the main floor but the cavernous space made for challenging recording acoustics. 
• Led Zeppelin were recording their fourth record, Zeppelin IV,  in the smaller, more intimate (and better sounding) studio below.
• Zeppelin and Tull had just finished touring together in 1970, with Tull as the supporting act.
• Aqualung became Tull's best selling record and made them launched them as a major arena act in the early 70s.
• The album cover was commissioned from American artist Burton Silverman who was paid a flat fee of $1500 without a written contract.
• Silverman insists that the fee was for the album only and later sought renumeration for the money it generated in merchandise. The parties settled out of court.
• The lyrics to the title song are also credited to Anderson's first wife, playwright and filmmaker Jenny Franks.
• She based them on a photograph of a homeless man she had taken as a college student.