JETHRO TULL – CREST OF A KNAVE LP – Nr MINT 1987  PROG

Jethro Tull – Crest Of A Knave
(Chrysalis Records  1987  8328291)

Sleeve in Nr MINT condition
Inner Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some light surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

Jethro Tull are a British rock band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire, in 1967. Initially playing blues rock and jazz fusion, the band later developed their sound to incorporate elements of hard rock and folk to forge a progressive rock signature. The band is led by vocalist/flautist/guitarist Ian Anderson, and has featured a revolving door of lineups through the years including significant members such as guitarists Mick Abrahams and Martin Barre, keyboardists John Evan and Dee Palmer, drummers Clive Bunker, Barriemore Barlow, and Doane Perry, and bassists Glenn Cornick, Jeffrey Hammond, John Glascock, and Dave Pegg.

The group first achieved commercial success in 1969, with the folk-tinged electric blues album Stand Up, which reached No. 1 in the UK, and they toured regularly in the UK and the US. Their musical style shifted in the direction of progressive rock with the albums Aqualung (1971), Thick as a Brick (1972) and A Passion Play (1973), and shifted again to hard rock mixed with folk rock with Songs from the Wood (1977) and Heavy Horses (1978). After an excursion into electronic rock in the early-to-mid 1980s, the band won its sole Grammy Award with the 1987 album Crest of a Knave. Jethro Tull have sold an estimated 60 million albums worldwide, with 11 gold and five platinum albums among them.^[5] They have been described by Rolling Stone as “one of the most commercially successful and eccentric progressive rock bands”.

The last works as a group to contain new material were released in 2003, though the band continued to tour until 2011. Anderson said Jethro Tull were finished in 2014; however, in September 2017 he announced plans for a tour to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the band’s first album This Was. The compilation 50 for 50 was released in 2018.

The reformed group—now billed as “Ian Anderson and the Jethro Tull band”—still performs live, and has announced tour dates into 2021. The current band line-up includes musicians who have been members of Anderson’s solo band since 2012.

Crest of a Knave is the sixteenth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1987. The album was recorded after a hiatus of three years occasioned by a throat infection of vocalist Ian Anderson. After the unsuccessful Under Wraps, the band returned to a more heavy blended electric with acoustic style of sound, one of the top characteristics of Jethro Tull. The album was their most successful since the 70’s, and the band enjoyed a resurgence on radio broadcasts, appearances in MTV specials, and recording music videos. The album was supported by the “The Not Quite the World, More the Here and There Tour”.

Track listing

Vinyl

All songs written and composed by Ian Anderson.

Personnel

Jethro Tull

• Ian Anderson – vocals, flute, acoustic and electric guitars, percussion, keyboards, Synclavier, drum programming on tracks 1, 5 & 9
• Martin Barre – electric and acoustic guitars
• Dave Pegg – bass guitar, acoustic bass on track 4

Additional Musicians

• Doane Perry – drums on tracks 2 & 7
• Gerry Conway – drums on tracks 3, 4, 6 & 8
• Ric Sanders – violin on track 6

Additional Personnel

• Robin Black – Engineer
• Andrew Jamieson – Artwork, Calligraphy
• Tim Matyear – Engineer
• John Pasche – Art Direction
• Stephen W. Tayler – Engineer, Remixing