THIS WAS

It was in October of 1968 when Jethro Tull released their debut studio album, the very laid-back, may I say, 'This Was', quite certainly the cheapest Jethro Tull album recorded. Emerging in a musical scene dominated by the psychedelic and the borderline-hard rock, Tull started doing their own thing from the very beginning, releasing a gnarly good bag of great tunes, presenting a very atypical for a band like Tull sound of bluesy, almost R&B at moments songs, with tints of jazz and definitely folk.

This very first line-up of Tull included, of course, the irreplaceable Ian Anderson, Glenn Cornick on bass, Clive Bunker on drums, and Mick Abrahams on guitars (this is his only studio album with the band). As the 'chieftain' of the troop, Anderson wrote most of this album but the man who really influenced it was Mr Abrahams - or the guy who carried the blues sensibility; In fact, most of the songs are based on blues progressions, which resulted in a very digestible sound, really recognizable but not necessarily groundbreaking.

Some really cracking good songs here include 'My Sunday Feeling', 'Beggar's Farm', 'Serenade to a Cuckoo', 'Dharma for One' and 'Cat's Squirrel', alongside 'One for John Gee' and 'Love Story' that appear on the 2001 remastered edition. Almost half-instrumental, Jethro Tull managed to create an album that for me has a really cinematic atmosphere - the strange recording quality, the vocal effects they used, the flutes and the harmonicas all add up for an enjoyable listening experience, and as much as this album is far from Tull's best, it is undoubtedly a well-written one, a severely promising debut, and always a welcome little listen when one seeks a different kind of Tull.

All this makes 'This Was' one of the unique albums in the prog folk legends' oeuvre; Not the behemoth band from the 70s yet, but the elements of it are already in the making on their very first album. One can only imagine what could have become of this band had Mick Abrahams stayed in the band a little longer?