STORMWATCH

"Elegy Written at the Apex of Spring" was once how I entered this territory, the awareness of death. Today, I would like to access this area again. I enter this review of Jethro Tull's "Stormwatch" recognizing the depth of the piece, "Elegy." Originally composed by David Palmer soon after the death of his father, "Elegy" focuses my mind on two exceedingly poignant times of my life, the early deaths of my Father and of a dear friend.

The dear friend, H. Eldon Wood, highly recommended "Stormwatch" to me via a long distance call in the Spring of 1980 from New Orleans, LA, to Notre Dame, IN. Previously, on two occasions, I have brought Eldon, 1959-2019, to the attention of the ProgArchives community: firstly, in my 12/24/23 review of Jon Anderson's "Olias of Sunhillow," and, secondly, on 11/13/24, through the kindness and generosity of cstack3, Forum Senior Member, who placed a photograph on ProgArchives.com of Jon Anderson and Eldon, in 2016, at a club in Austin, TX.

My Dad, Captain Kenneth H. Scarbrough, was a Crescent River Port Pilot in New Orleans, who, on April 6, 1969, at the age of 39, died in a collision on the Mississippi River between a tug pushing a string of barges containing oil and the vessel he was piloting, the "Union Faith." Contemporaneous radio transmissions on the river described my Dad, leaving the wheelhouse of the "Union Faith" to travel to the bow of the ship. According to the crew of the British freighter "Rialto" in the Port of New Orleans for repairs and direct witnesses of the collision and its aftermath, my Dad reached the bow of the "Union Faith" and succeeded in releasing her anchors, thereby preventing the fiery ship from drifting downstream in collision with nearby wharves and the French Quarter. Most likely, my Dad perished on the "Union Faith's" forecastle in the resulting conflagration.

On 4/6/1979, the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans dedicated a monument at the foot of Canal Street describing my Dad's actions on that fateful night of 4/6/1969. Further, on 7/16/2009, the Port of New Orleans commissioned a new harbor police vessel, the "Captain Kenneth H. Scarbrough." My sister, Kimberly, and her son, my nephew, Colin christened the new boat.

Thus, "Stormwatch" holds a critical position in my hierarchy of favorite albums.

"Orion, let's sip the heaven's heady wine." Among my memories of my Dad are his references to what I would later recognize as celestial navigation. The song "Orion"is basically an apostrophe by Ian Anderson and his colleagues to the constellation, which has endured in the perception of humanity. It is also an essentially British narrative, one in which I have come to learn that "fag packets" are packs of cigarettes.

"Something's on the Move" immediately grabbed my attention in 1980. Possessing highly descriptive, anthropomorphic, and meteorological lyrics, the song intrinsically appealed to my heritage as a native of southeast Louisiana. At the age of six in September of 1965, I remember my Dad moving our family furniture from the first floor of our house to its second level in anticipation of the approaching Hurricane Betsy. He was fearful the levee containing the Seventeenth Street Canal behind our home would break. Ironically, my Dad was right, only forty years in advance: indeed, in 2005, the levee did break . . . during Hurricane Katrina.

Lyrically, "Stormwatch"coalesces around "Dun Ringill." Shamanistic and incantational, Ian Anderson's lyrics transport us to a communion with the forces of nature:

We'll wait in stone circles/til the force comes through. /Lines joint in faint discord/and the Stormwatch brews/a concert of kings/as the white sea snaps/at the heels of a soft prayer whispered.

"Flying Dutchman" is, perhaps, the heart of this album. Here, Anderson resurrects the enduring image of an aimlessly drifting vessel, haunted by the spirits of its deceased crew. Most appropriately, though, these ghosts are manifested in the form of boat people basically ignored by the "lovers of the good life." Here, we have a globally conscientious social ethic. 1979 or 2024, the Human Condition remains the same.

In the Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Tradition, at times of burial, we pray to be made "deeply sensible of the shortness and uncertainty of life [.]" It is entirely appropriate that the 1979 version of "Stormwatch" concludes with "Elegy.." Very concretely, Jethro Tull's bassist, from 1976-1979, John Glascock, only performs on "Orion," "Flying Dutchman," and "Elegy" with Ian Anderson performing the bass on the balance of the original issue of "Stormwatch." Glascock would die of congenital heart disease at the age of 28 in 1979.

Musically, "Stormwatch" is a late 1970's representation of the musical prowess of Jethro Tull. Undergirded by the orchestral arrangements of David (now Dee) Palmer, the "showcase" lead instruments are the lead guitar work of Martin Barre and the ubiquitous flute of Ian Anderson. Just as one studying the guitar does not look to the performances of Jimi Hendrix for lessons in technique, Ian Anderson's approach to the flute displays an almost profligate lack of concern for instrumental exactitude.

John Evan, at the piano and organ, delivers solid work, especially on "Flying Dutchman." Barrie "Barrymore" Barlow's drums and percussion are fine representations of performances one expects from a percussionist of his milieu.

Surely, Jethro Tull's place in the canon of progressive rock originates in the albums "Aqualung," "Thick as a Brick," and, perhaps, "A Passion Play." Yet, in albums like "Songs from the Wood" and "Stormwatch," the members of Jethro Tull have expanded their "vocabulary."

I would like to submit that an authentic expansion of human awareness contains perception of our finitude.

Share this JETHRO TULL review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to ken_scrbrgh
• Report this review (#3125171)
• Buy JETHRO TULL music online with PA partners
• Show all JETHRO TULL MP3/Stream
• Go to JETHRO TULL page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Stormwatch page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for JETHRO TULL related discussions