Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play

Tim Smolko

Description

Winner, 2014 Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research in Recorded Rock Music

Read an excerpt from the book.

Since the 1960s, British progressive rock band Jethro Tull has pushed the technical and compositional boundaries of rock music by infusing its musical output with traditions drawn from classical, folk, jazz, and world music. The release of Thick as a Brick (1972) and A Passion Play (1973) won the group legions of new followers and topped the Billboard charts in the United States, among the most unusual albums ever to do so. Tim Smolko explores the large-scale form, expansive instrumentation, and complex arrangements that characterize these two albums, each composed of one continuous song. Featuring insights from Ian Anderson and in-depth musical analysis, Smolko discusses the band's influence on popular culture and why many consider Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play to be two of the greatest concept albums in rock history.

Preface
Acknowledgements
1: Providing a Context for Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play
2: Galliards and Lute Songs: The Influence of Early Music in Jethro Tull
3: Geared Toward the Exceptional Rather than the Average: The Album Cover and Lyrics of Thick as a Brick
4: The Music of Thick as a Brick: Form and Thematic Development
5: The Music of Thick as a Brick: Other Features
6: The Château d'Isaster Tapes and the Album Cover and Lyrics of A Passion Play
7: The Music of A Passion Play
8: Monty Python, Reception, and Live Versions
Conclusions
Epilogue: Whatever Happened to Gerald Bostock?
Appendix 1: The Complete Lyrics to Thick as a Brick
Appendix 2: The Complete Lyrics to A Passion Play
Appendix 3: Analysis of the Instrumental Passages
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Musique
• Histoire de la musique
• Styles
• Genres
• MUSIC
• Popular music
• Multiple signal classification
• Music of the United Kingdom
• Cultural Studies
• Rock

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 07 octobre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 13
• EAN13: 9780253010384
• Langue: English

Extrait

Jethro Tull s Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play
PROFILES IN POPULAR MUSIC
Jeffrey Magee and Felicia Miyakawa, editors
Unlocking the Groove: Rhythm,
Meter, and Musical Design in
Electronic Dance Music
Mark J. Butler
Neil Young and the Poetics of Energy
William Echard
Johnny Cash and the Paradox of American Identity
Leigh H. Edwards
Jazzwomen: Conversations with
Twenty-One Musicians
Wayne Enstice and Janis Stockhouse
Choro: A Social History of a
Brazilian Popular Music
Tamara Elena Livingston-Isenhour and Thomas George Caracas Garcia
Rush, Rock Music, and the Middle Class
Chris McDonald
Five Percenter Rap: God Hop s Music,
Message, and Black Muslim Mission
Felicia M. Miyakawa
The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers:
A Legacy in Country Music
Jocelyn R. Neal
The Megamusical
Jessica Sternfeld
Radiohead and the Resistant
Concept Album
Marianne Tatom Letts
Jethro Tull s
THICK AS A BRICK and A PASSION PLAY
INSIDE TWO LONG SONGS
TIM SMOLKO
FOREWORD BY ADRIAN STONE-MASON
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS Bloomington Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
2013 by Timothy J. Smolko
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo-copying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z 39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smolko, Tim, author.
Jethro Tull s Thick as a brick and A passion play : inside two long songs / Tim Smolko.
pages cm. - (Profiles in popular music)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-01026-1 (cloth : alkaline paper) - ISBN 978-0-253-01031-5 (paperback : alkaline paper) - ISBN 978-0-253-01038-4 (ebook) 1. Jethro Tull (Musical group) 2. Rock music - England - 1971-1980 - History and criticism. 3. Progressive rock music. I. Title. II. Series: Profiles in popular music.
ML 421.J5 S 66 2013
782.42166092 2 - dc23
2013010486
1 2 3 4 5 18 17 16 15 14 13
Contents

List of Illustrations
Foreword by Adrian Stone-Mason
Preface
Acknowledgments

1 Life Is a Long Song: Providing a Context for Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play
2 Galliards and Lute Songs: The Influence of Early Music in Jethro Tull
3 Geared toward the Exceptional Rather than the Average: The Album Cover and Lyrics of Thick as a Brick
4 The Music of Thick as a Brick: Form and Thematic Development
5 The Music of Thick as a Brick: Other Features
6 The Ch teau d Isaster Tapes and the Album Cover and Lyrics of A Passion Play
7 The Music of A Passion Play
8 Monty Python , Reception, and Live Versions

Conclusions
Epilogue: Whatever Happened to Gerald Bostock?
Appendix 1. The Complete Lyrics to Thick as a Brick
Appendix 2. The Complete Lyrics to A Passion Play
Appendix 3. Analysis of the Instrumental Passages
Notes
Bibliography
Discography
Videography
Index
Illustrations
FIGURES
3.1.
Cover of Thick as a Brick
3.2.
Comic on p. 7 of the St. Cleve Chronicle
3.3.
Article on p. 8 of the St. Cleve Chronicle
3.4.
Lyrics to Thick as a Brick from the St. Cleve Chronicle
6.1.
Front cover of A Passion Play
6.2.
Back cover of A Passion Play
6.3.
Inside gatefold of A Passion Play
6.4.
Inside gatefold of A Passion Play with mock theater program
MUSICAL EXAMPLES
Example 4.1
Thick as a Brick , melody in first A section of Vocal 1, 0:11 side 1
Example 4.2
Thick as a Brick , melody in second A section of Vocal 1, 1:00 side 1
Example 4.3
Thick as a Brick , Motive 1
Example 4.4
Thick as a Brick , Motive 2
Example 4.5
Thick as a Brick , Motive 2 in meter, 0:48 side 2
Example 4.6
Thick as a Brick , Motive 2 fortspinnung passage, 18:42 side 2
Example 4.7
Thick as a Brick , Motive 3
Example 4.8
Thick as a Brick , Motive 3 on organ, 17:31 side 1
Example 4.9
Thick as a Brick , Motive 4, 11:23 side 1
Example 4.10
Thick as a Brick , Motive 2 interrupted by Motive 4, 19:46 side 2
Example 4.11
Thick as a Brick , Motive 5, 16:35 side 1
Example 4.12
Thick as a Brick , Motive 6
Example 4.13
Thick as a Brick , Motive 6 layered onto Motive 2, 20:04 side 2
Example 4.14
Thick as a Brick , Motive 7
Example 7.1
A Passion Play , Overture Theme 1
Example 7.2
A Passion Play , Overture Theme 2
Example 7.3
Johann Sebastian Bach, French Suite in E major BWV 815 , Gigue
Example 7.4
Hector Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique , Dream of a Witches Sabbath, mm 21-25
Example 7.5
Neapolitan Tarantella, Traditional
Example 7.6
A Passion Play , Motive 1: Heartbeat
Example 7.7
A Passion Play , Motive 2
Example 7.8
A Passion Play , Motive 3
Example 7.9
A Passion Play , Motive 4
Example 7.10
A Passion Play , Motives 4 and 3 combined, 17:41-17:58, side 1
Example 7.11
A Passion Play , Motive 5
Example 7.12
A Passion Play , Story Theme 1
Example 7.13
A Passion Play , Story Theme 2
TABLES
Table 4.1
Song forms in Thick as a Brick
Table 4.2
Large-scale form of Thick as a Brick
Table 4.3
Multiple climaxes in Thick as a Brick
Table 4.4
Vocal sections of Thick as a Brick with local repetition
Table 4.5
Appearances of Thick as a Brick Motive 1
Table 4.6
Metrical progression from 16:18-17:41, side 1
Table 4.7
Appearances of Thick as a Brick Motive 2
Table 4.8
Appearances of Thick as a Brick Motive 3
Table 4.9
Appearances of Thick as a Brick Motive 6
Table 4.10
Appearances of all Thick as a Brick Motives throughout side 1
Table 4.11
Appearances of all Thick as a Brick Motives throughout side 2
Table 5.1
Instrumentation of Thick as a Brick
Table 5.2
Instrumentation legend of Thick as a Brick
Table 5.3
Flute paired with other instruments in Thick as a Brick
Table 5.4
Chord progressions in the first eleven minutes of Thick as a Brick
Table 6.1
Lyrics about the parallels between human and animal behavior
Table 6.2
Lyrics about the theater as a conceit for human life
Table 6.3
Settings of the four acts of A Passion Play
Table 6.4
Subtitles on the MFSL Gold CD release of A Passion Play
Table 7.1
Musical events in the Overture to A Passion Play
Table 7.2
Song forms in A Passion Play
Table 7.3
Large-scale form of A Passion Play
Table 7.4
Multiple climaxes in A Passion Play
Table 7.5
Appearances of A Passion Play Motive 1
Table 7.6
Appearances of A Passion Play Motive 2
Table 7.7
Appearances of A Passion Play Motive 3
Table 7.8
Appearances of A Passion Play Motive 4
Table 7.9
Appearances of A Passion Play Motive 5
Table 7.10
Appearances of the phrase Passion Play
Table 7.11
Appearances of all A Passion Play motives throughout side 1
Table 7.12
Appearances of all A Passion Play motives throughout side 2
Table 7.13
Instrumentation of A Passion Play
Table 7.14
Instrumentation legend of A Passion Play
Table 7.15
Appearances of the two themes in The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles
Table 8.1
Form of Flying Circus episode: How to Recognize Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away
Table 8.2
Form of Thick as a Brick , Live at Madison Square Garden 1978 version
Table 8.3
Form of Thick as a Brick , live Out in the Green Festival version (1986)
Table 8.4
Form of Thick as a Brick , 25th Anniversary Box Set studio version (1992)
Foreword by Adrian Stone-Mason, BA (Hons), FRICS, RIBA
(with a little helpful encouragement from Mr. Ian Anderson)
Tim smolko s book on the subjects of thick as a brick, A Passion Play , and The Chateau D Isaster Tapes makes for a scholarly but vigorous insight into the sometimes wacky but always considered and adventurous world of Ian Anderson s rather extreme musical meanderings of the early 70s.
Exploring the background to the advent of progressive rock and the often uneasy parallels with many of Anderson s musical contemporaries, Smolko keeps this rounded, grounded, well-founded, and contextual picture of Jethro Tull s record album excesses continually entertaining for the reader.
Doubtless Anderson himself would take issue with some of the analysis and historical detail, but the level of research and cross-referencing in the preparation of this book makes for convincing factual evidence to support the musicology.
But what is the point, we might ask, of such painstaking and, perhaps, even obsessive attention to the minutiae of detailed reference? The point must be, surely, that when an even half-keen listener next sits down to listen to these big rock albums, there is now an educated companion potentially at his or her side. A step-by-step guide to the flora and fauna of Anderson s jungle creation. A road map for the exquisite journey on the back roads. A recipe book to explain the banquet feast of musical delights.
So don t be put off by the seriousness of this book or reject its good intentions. It is a vivid insight into the Anderson creative force and the efforts of his often-changing band of merrie men.
From codpiece to coda, from flutter-tongue to fugue, from B-flat to, er, D-sharp Tim Smolko covers the ground, dots the i s, and crosses the bridges when he comes to them.
Prepare for the journey. Take reading glasses, smelling salts, and a wee dram of something smoky from the peat bogs of the Western Isles. Take a friend. If y