“Christmas – an aspirin for the soul or cold-turkey celebration of the birth and life of Christ! It has to be a measured bit of both, doesn’t it? And if you can cope with it, a Happy New Year.”
Ian Anderson’s quintessentially English wit in the closing remarks of the liner notes for “The Jethro Tull Christmas Album”, first released in 2003, when it was first released, reflects the iconic musician’s intent to balance, both personally and creatively, the significance of this great Christian celebration.
This is also evident in the way he commented on the album’s opening track, “Birthday Card at Christmas”:
“My daughter Gael, like millions of other unfortunates, celebrates her birthday within a gnat’s whisker of Christmas. Overshadowed by the Great Occasion, such birthdays can be flat, perfunctory and fleetingly token in their uneventful passing. The daunting party and festive celebration of the Christian calendar overshadows too, some might argue, the humble birthday of one Mr. J. Christ. Funny old 25ths, Decembers…”
“The Jethro Tull Christmas Album” is the 21st studio album by JETHRO TULL and the last to feature longtime member Martin Barre on guitars with the band – it took 19 years for their next album to emerge. Also featured on the album were keyboard and accordion player Andrew Giddings, bassist Jonathan Noyce and drummers Doane Perry and James Duncan. And of course, the one and only, Jack of all trades and master of them all too, Ian Anderson himself!
It was much praised, with Rolling Stone noting admiringly: “The originals simmer with eccentric, eclectic, folky energy, rocking ditties threaded through with Celtic stylings, jazzy undercurrents, Ian Anderson’s distinctive flute and wry humour.“
Essentially, it’s a collection of reworked older Tull songs, new compositions, and additions of traditional Christmas carols, church hymns, and classical pieces. The thread that ties this musical narrative together is its common theme: oh yes, the Spirit of Christmas is alive here!
After all, who can argue that tracks like “Fire at Midnight” and “Ring Out Solstice Bells” from 1977, “Weathercock” from 1978, the remarkable rendition of J.S. Bach’s “Bourée”, or Gabriel Fauré’s “Pavane” aren’t perfectly suited for a Christmas-themed folk-rock collection?
“Some of the tracks are not necessarily Christmas songs; they’re more seasonal so that gives a broader window”, says Anderson. “And then there are a couple of them that I quite often play in the middle of summer and say, ‘It’ll soon be Christmas – it’s in the diary. So let’s kick it off now.’ And that’s part of what I’ve done over the years since October of 1968 when I went into record “A Christmas Song”. So, yes – it goes back a long way.“
In my humble opinion, with “Christmas Song” alone, JETHRO TULL more than earn the right to sing about the great winter celebration of Christianity, turning it into what it truly is – a celebration for all humanity.
“Once in Royal David’s City stood a lonely cattle shed,
where a mother held her baby.
You’d do well to remember the things He later said.
When you’re stuffing yourselves at the Christmas parties,
you’ll just laugh when I tell you to take a running jump.
You’re missing the point I’m sure does not need making
that Christmas spirit is not what you drink.
So how can you laugh when your own mother’s hungry,
and how can you smile when the reasons for smiling are wrong?
And if I just messed up your thoughtless pleasures,
remember, if you wish, this is just a Christmas song.”
In 2009, EMI re-released the album, including a recording of a live charity performance for the homeless by the band at St Bride’s Church on Fleet Street, London, during Christmas 2008. It was simply titled, “Christmas at St Bride’s 2008”.
After fifteen years, both albums have been newly remixed from the original tapes by Bruce Soord (THE PINNEAPPLE THIEF), and will be available as a Limited Edition Bookset. Featuring the brand-new mixes, as well as the original ones, the set also features over 40 minutes of unreleased recordings from a previous performance at St Brides in 2006 by the IAN ANDERSON BAND.
JETHRO TULL’s only remaining original member, the band’s mastermind and legendary frontman, comments: “Part of the joy of redoing those things, is that you can, not necessarily recreate, but you can keep all the essential elements of the song and maybe declutter it a little bit and give it a fresh look, but essentially still staying faithful to the original arrangements.”
The remix work is truly excellent, significantly revitalizing the sound, and arriving at just the right time to bring us a sweet sense of anticipation, hope, and faith in a better future; well, it seems that is true:
“Maybe it’s always time for another Christmas song.”
“The Jethro Tull Christmas Album – Fresh Snow At Christmas” will be released on December 6th by Inside Out, as the aforementioned Deluxe Box Set containing four CDs plus one Blue Ray Disc, and for the first time on vinyl, on a double LP edition.
Check the discussion about the album in our forum pages.
You can pre-order both the Deluxe CD Bookset and DLP here.
