JETHRO TULL – THIS WAS LP – Nr MINT- UK MONO 1968 ISLAND ORIGINAL  PROG

Jethro Tull – This Was
(Island Records  1968  ILP985  Mono)
UK Pressing – Pink Island Label with circle eye – First Pressing

Flipback Gatefold Sleeve in Nr MINT condition
– stereo cover

Vinyl in Nr MINT- condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from the odd light pop/crackle – small mark at very end of Dharma For One that gives 3 or 4 light clicks)

Jethro Tull were a British rock group, formed in Luton, Bedfordshire, on December 20, 1967. Initially playing blues rock, the band soon developed its sound to incorporate elements of British folk music and hard rock to forge a progressive rock signature. The band was led by vocalist/flautist/guitarist Ian Anderson, and featured a revolving door of lineups through the years including significant members such as longtime guitarist Martin Barre, keyboardist John Evan, drummers Clive Bunker, Barriemore Barlow, and Doane Perry, and bassists Glenn Cornick, Jeffrey Hammond, and Dave Pegg.

The group first achieved commercial success in 1969, with the folk-tinged blues album Stand Up, which reached No. 1 in the UK charts, 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). Jethro Tull have sold over 60 million albums worldwide, with 11 gold and five platinum albums among them. 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. In April 2014, as he was concentrating on his solo career, Anderson said that Jethro Tull were finished. However, in March 2017, Anderson released Jethro Tull – The String Quartets, an album of reimagined Tull songs, recorded with The Carducci String Quartet.

This Was is the debut album by the rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1968. Recorded at a cost of only £1200 GBP, the album received generally favourable reviews and sold well upon its release. In the documentary film of the Woodstock Festival, portions of the songs “Beggar’s Farm” and “Serenade to a Cuckoo” may be heard on the PA system, indicating the level of notice the album achieved in the United States. The album reached number 10 on the UK Album Chart and number 62 on the Billboard 200.

Track listing

Credits

• Ian Anderson – vocals, flute, mouth organ, harmonica, “claghorn”,^[7] piano
• Mick Abrahams – vocals, guitar, nine-string guitar
• Glenn Cornick – bass guitar
• Clive Bunker – drums
• David Palmer – French horn and orchestral arrangements