NOTHING IS EASY: LIVE AT THE ISLE OF WIGHT 1970

'Nothing Is Easy: Live At The Isle Of Wight 1970' is the sixth live album of Jethro Tull and was released in 2004. The line up on the album is Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, John Evan, Glenn Cornick and Clive Bunker.

In the summer of 1970 held The Isle Of Wight Festival for five days, between 26 and 30 August, at East Afton Farm, in the Isle Of Wight, a small island of the south coast of England. It was the last of three consecutive festivals to take place on the island between 1968 and 1970. It was widely acknowledged as the biggest musical event of its time, bigger than Woodstock. Possibly, 600.000 or 700.000 people attended. It soon became known as the English Woodstock. Jethro Tull performed in the fifth and last day of the Festival. They were second, between The Moody Blues and Jimi Hendrix.

The preceding two Festivals had already gained excellent reputations, featuring performances of Jefferson Airplane, T. Rex, Pretty Things, Joe Cocker and Bob Dylan. In the 1970 festival, following Woodstock in the previous year, took part names like Kris Kristofferson, Supertramp, Gilberto Gil, Kaleidoscope/Fairfield Parlour, Chicago, Family, Procol Harum, Shawn Phillips, Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, Ten Years After, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Doors, The Who, Melanie, Donovan, Pentangle, The Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen and Richie Evans.

This Isle Of Wight Festival of 1970, represents also a sad mark to the rock music. It marked the last UK appearance of Jimi Hendrix. Unfortunately, three weeks later he was dead. So, it was due to that sad fact that Ian Anderson decided to dedicate this record to the memory of one of the greatest musicians and gifted guitarists of all time. RIP hard Jimi.

This live album of Jethro Tull shows the recording sessions of their live performance on that musical event. Some other bands did the same thing. For instance, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and The Who released live albums, both with the same name too. Curiously, all the three recordings waited many years to be released. Emerson, Lake & Palmer's album was released 28 years later, in 1998, The Who's album was only released 26 years later, in 1996, and Jethro Tull's album was released 34 years later, in 2004. It's worth asking, what did take so long for these albums saw the light of the day.

When Jethro Tull participated in the Festival, the band hadn't yet an extensive repertoire to perform live. At the time, they had only released their first three studio albums. Those albums correspond to their first musical period, which isn't properly their best and where their music can't be considered totally progressive. Another thing, for instance John Evan only joins the band at the Isle Of Wight Festival, and the set reaches back into Jethro Tull's first album.

The concert opens with 'My Sunday Feeling', showing the band rocking and rolling from the start. Heavy instrumentals include stinging guitar work and entrancing flute. Anderson's vocals are distinctive and his deliver is powerful. This is a truly charismatic live performance. The music comes alive with blending blues, jazz and rock. 'My God' has some ambivalence about religion. You can hear the early roots here of the more conceptual progressive rock that was to come for them. 'With You There To Help Me', shows that Anderson is an impassioned rock minstrel leading a jamming band that travels through a classical piano interlude into flute encircled, jazz-influenced riffs. 'To Cry You A Song' plays with a swirling jazz rock abandon. It's interesting to hear the band before the mega selling albums 'Aqualung' and 'Thick As A Brick' that would soon follow. 'Bour'e' is a classic instantly recognizable by its bass line. I always loved band's effort at jazzing up the blues riffs. The live rendition doesn't deviate too much from the studio versions. 'Dharma For One' quickly builds to a fever pitch. While at moments band's performance seems a bit uneven, there is an appealing innocence here as well as a sense of true blues and jazz rock innovation. 'Nothing Is Easy' is the highlight of the set. The band is in synch, charging on all cylinders with hypnotic organ and powerhouse drumming. The focus nevertheless remains Anderson, a spirited and dancing figure using his flute as both instrument and mystical weapon. 'We Used To Know/For A Thousand Mothers' is a medley that closes the album. This is really a nice inclusion. There's a little impromptu jam separating the two tunes. It's raw and rough and Martin shows off his skills very well.

Conclusion: This is a great historical live document of the beginning of the band, when their music was more rock directed and simple and has a heavier sound. The energy of the music on this album is incredible, and reflects and improves the quality of their music making it a really classic album. All the live performances are excellent, including 'My Sunday Feeling' which isn't one of my favourite songs of this period. My favourite tracks are 'My God', 'With You There To Help Me', 'To Cry You A Song', 'Dharma For One' and especially the medley, which has a brilliant and unforgettable performance. For me the album holds a significant nostalgic appeal. So, this is an album that shouldn't be missed by anyone who is used to love great music. And it can't be missed by all fans of the band and of that era, too.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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