Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Jethro Tull
Label: Eagle Records
Released: 2002
Rating: 4.5/5
“Living With The Past” is not a sequel to “Living In The Past” (1972), the compilation album so beloved among the band’s followers, but Jethro Tull’s third official live album, released ten years after their previous, acoustic-leaning live recording “A Little Light Music” (1992). In the meantime there had been two new studio albums as well as two new Ian solo albums, and the band had a new keyboardist and bassist again, so it was just the right time to show off this latest incarnation of the group live. The fresh blood that keyboardist Andy Giddings and bassist Jonathan Noyce brought into the band surely gave the two old wolves, the merry flute-wielding troubadour and guitarist Martin Barre, a new jolt of energy (as the later years showed, it was mostly a live-stage jolt). The performances were picked from various European venues, while some of the recordings come from appearances for local European radio and TV stations. Besides the different venues and years the recordings come from, the album also features three different versions of the band. Standing out among them are a few special guests and returnees who rejoined Ian for a handful of symbolic appearances, such as members of the original 1968 lineup and longtime bassist David Pegg (Fairport Convention), who also turns up on some of the recordings. The selection of most of the performances is very well chosen and balanced this time around, since it contains classics as well as newer pieces that don’t exactly turn up in their live set every day, along with two very good pieces from Ian’s solo career.
The first part comprises ten performances recorded in 2001 during a show at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. After a short flute intro from Ian comes an excellent rendition of “My Sunday Feeling” (This Was, 1968), a track I usually just call “backwoods” blues rock. After this revisiting of the roots comes a “newer” piece, the ethno/folk prog treat “Roots To Branches” (from the album of the same name), which Ian first takes care to tell the audience was written long before September 11. Next Ian picks up the acoustic guitar and we get an excellent version of the folk prog rock romantic forest fairy tale “Jack In The Green”, generally their most beloved acoustic track. Then comes one of Ian’s solo pieces, “The Habanero Reel” from “Secret Language Of Birds” (2000), first-rate folk rock with a French ethno flavor, thanks mostly to Giddings’ accordion, and in my opinion also the best piece on that album. Martin Barre once again gives his fingers a proper workout on the strings through a great version of the hard rock classic “Sweet Dream”, where the band shows just how hard they can still hit when it’s called for. Next up is the excellent instrumental “In the Grip of Stronger Stuff” from Ian’s second solo album “Divinities (Twelve Dances With God)” (1995), where Ian and his crew deliver a convincing take on this blend of ethnic and classical music. Of course, the recording wouldn’t be complete without room for both of their best-known classics, namely “Aqualung” (which, by the way, was missing from the previous live album) and “Locomotive Breath”. Their most beloved single, “Living In The Past”, is also an indispensable part of the live repertoire that can’t be missing from any live release. This time they played a version that, through the use of percussion, has more ethnic elements and symphonic keyboard arrangements. A much bigger surprise comes with the instrumental “Protect And Survive” from “A” (1980), an album that has been remembered pretty rarely in recent years.
The live compilation continues with another hard rock classic, “Nothing Is Easy”, recorded in Paris in 1999. It’s followed by the acoustic classics “Wond’ring Aloud” and “Life Is a Long Song”, recorded during a radio station appearance in 2002. There are also three recordings for a Swiss radio station in Zürich in 1989, namely “A Christmas Song”, “Cheap Day Return” and “Mother Goose”, where you can still hear Ian’s vocals, which back then sounded more like Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) than like himself. These three recordings now also appear as bonus tracks on the latest reissue of the album “Rock Island” (1989). Then there are two recordings for Dutch TV from 1999, the folk rocker with a pop aftertaste “Dot Com” (J-Tull Dot Com, 1999) and the ancient humorous blues/hard rocker “Fat Man”, where before the performance Ian embarrasses the giant drummer Doane Perry with the words “I don’t want to be a fat man…I’m not looking at you Doane, we both have the same problem”. Next comes a big treat for all the sworn nostalgics, namely the reunion of the original 1968 Tull lineup. They serve up a great version of their ancient blues classic “Some Day The Sun Won’t Shine For You”, with Ian and original guitarist Mick Abrahams trading off on lead vocals. While Ian has fun on the harmonica, Mick picks out his “drunken” bluesy passages on both electric and acoustic guitar. The rhythm section is, of course, made up of old buddies Glenn Cornick on bass and Clive Bunker on drums (both currently with Wild Turkey). A touch of nostalgia that will surely thrill all the longtime fans of the band, especially those who followed their very first steps. As expected, it all wraps up with “Cheerio”, their classic stage farewell, recorded during the show at Hammersmith.
“Living With The Past” is an excellent live collection that will delight old and newer fans of the band alike, and thanks to the thoroughly polished production you can hardly tell at times that not all the recordings were made at the same venue, although you can clearly hear the difference between Ian’s vocals from 1989 and those from later on. Ian really put in the effort when picking the recordings and put together a thoroughly convincing set of live performances for the album, both electric and acoustic. The album’s biggest highlight is without a doubt the reunion of the original lineup, even if it’s for just one track. After the unsurpassed classic “Bursting Out” (1978), this is without a doubt the band’s best live album, both in terms of the quality of the performances and the variety of the selection.
Line-up
Ian Anderson (vocals, flute, bamboo flute, acoustic guitar, harmonica, mandolin) plays on all tracks
Martin Barre (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, flute on 19) plays on tracks 1 – 14, 18 – 19 and 21
Jonathan Noyce (bass guitar) plays on tracks 1 – 14, 18 – 19 and 21
Andy Giddings (keyboards, accordion) plays on tracks 1 – 14, 18 – 19 and 21
Doane Perry (drums, percussion) plays on tracks 1 – 14, 18 – 19 and 21
Dave Pegg (bass guitar, mandolin) plays on tracks 15 – 17
Mick Abrahams (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals) plays on 20
Glenn Cornick (bass guitar) plays on 20
Clive Bunker (drums) plays on 20
GUEST MUSICIANS:
James Duncan – drums on 14
Brian Thomas – violin on 13 – 14
Justine Tomlinson – violin on 13 – 14
Malcolm Henderson – viola on 13 – 14
Juliet Tomlinson – cello on 13 – 14
Production
Ian Anderson
Track List
1. Intro (0:22)
2. My Sunday Feeling (4:00)
3. Roots To Branches (5:34)
4. Jack-In-The-Green (2:40)
5. The Habanero Reel (4:03)
6. Sweet Dream (4:54)
7. In The Grip Of Stronger Stuff (2:57)
8. Aqualung (8:20)
9. Locomotive Breath (5:26)
10. Living In The Past (3:27)
11. Protect And Survive (1:01)
12. Nothing Is Easy (5:16)
13. Wond’Ring Aloud (1:54)
14. Life Is A Long Song (3:32)
15. A Christmas Song (3:05)
16. Cheap Day Return (1:12)
17. Mother Goose (1:57)
18. Dot Com (4:28)
19. Fat Man (5:06)
20. Some Day The Sun Won’t Shine For You (4:13)
21. Cheerio (1:36)
Album length: 75:03
