Monday August 9, 2021 "Locomotive Breath” Jethro Tull
Back in August of 1803 London began its first public railway so to mark that occasion this week we are going to be riding some musical trains and we will start with Jethro Tull’s “Locomotive Breath”.
Co-founded and led by wildman/flutist/guitarist/singer/songwriter Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull had a unique mix of hard rock, folk melodies, blues licks, dense lyrics, and overall profundity which defied easy analysis, but which didn't stop them from scoring eleven gold and five platinum albums. Before they hit their stride as an opening act though Tull cut their teeth opening for the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.
Anderson is one of the very few rock stars who managed to remain relatively stable and he put his musical riches to good purpose purchasing and running a salmon farm in Scotland, which at its peak employed 400 people and was the largest independent producer of smoked salmon in the UK.
So as you listen to the song and follow the lyrical content about the ‘all time loser’ with his woman and his best friend in bed and having fun and the all time winner who has him by the balls, understand that this is a song about overpopulation according to songwriter Ian Anderson. That follows, right?
Stay safe and well...and who is Jethro Tull, aside from the theatrical rock band featured today? He was an eighteenth century lawyer, inventor and agronomist who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution.