I believe Steven Wilson’s work on a remix doesn’t take too long. He just needs an appropriate time window.
Yes...but a prize we've already got. That first, summer BBC session may be as close as we ever get to a live set from the original lineup. Haven't listened in a little while, but those performances seemed to have little if any overdubs ~ compared to the later session, where they're clearly heard on My Sunday Feeling (simultaneous flute & vocals), and maybe on Love Story. I really love that first session, Cat's Squirrel might just top the album version even though it's shorter. Bunker is so aggressive on that stuff
The blurb in the tour book doesn't say the new This Was will include live material, just "previously unissued recordings." Considering what Wilson has already unearthed from the 1970s, I'm inclined to believe that the 50th anniversary edition will include additional tapes from 1968 (or before), rather than, say, a performance of "So Much Trouble" from the 1993 tour.
Since the original was recorded on a 4-track, they are advertising the release as a 4.0 or 4.1, whatever, then I believe there will be not much of "mixing" involved (I guess they could try to go for 5.1 by applying some sort of fake stereo to the drums tracks, putting vocals in the middle and the remaining tracks in the back; in fact SW has already done something similar: they couldn't find all the multitracks for GG's Octopus and KC's Starless And Bible Black, and still they've released whole albums in 5.1 by faking it here and there). Instead, they may be aiming at simply releasing the 4-track as it is, maybe with some level and EQ adjustments here and there. If so, I'm pretty sure there might be some extra stuff on that tape; probably not a new song, but maybe an alternative take, or some false starts, some studio banter, or a string going 'bdoining', stuff like that. In fact it would probably be the first time ever an original multitrack tape is officially released to the public if they went for it.
I suppose this might include the John Evan Smash (sic?) live recording from 1966 - which has been previously issued, albeit only by a fan club record label. It's an interesting artefact: hearing Ian singing Hold On I'm Coming is just bizarre.
I've been buying all the deluxe editions for the last couple of weeks, only missing TAAB and Songs From The Wood...
I'm wondering if I should get the current This Was, given the new Stand Up didn't include all of the old Stand Up. And what to do about Benefit (which I haven't got) although I know there are no known current plans to upgrade it?
I don't doubt that but, given the upgrades we have had, you can't be sure what's coming down the track - particularly if Benefit is left as the only early album that's not available in the book format.
The 2010 Stand Up was something of an anomaly, because the Carnegie Hall show wasn't from the Stand Up era. The 2008 This Was didn't include any anachronistic content, so I would expect all of it to be there on the new edition. (If a book-format Benefit ever shows up, I would expect Carnegie Hall there. If that doesn't happen, they should keep the concert in print by issuing it as a standalone with the RSD vinyl cover art.)
To cull my OCD, I would buy the Benefit book even if it had nothing new. However, I would have to “pass” if it was a scratch-n-sniff.
I would grab the Benefit Deluxe SW set now as one never knows if it could be OOP like the TAAB book set. The Benefit set is still readily available for around $25. https://www.amazon.com/Benefit-Deluxe-1DVD-Jethro-Tull/dp/B00EPO13AS I'm sure I'd buy Benefit if it was offered in book format even though I have the current Deluxe set. Scratch-n-sniff or not .
From the Tull proboard forum, a Q&A with Derek Lawrence [Jethro Toe producer]: Here we go: 1) When and how did you first come into contact with the pre-Tull ‘John Evan Band’? I believe it was Ronnie Beck at Feldmans Music [who] had gone up to Blackpool to [see the] John Evan Smash. He knew I had more or less an open door to MGM [and] asked me if I was interested. 2) How many sessions did you record with them and were they all at Abbey Road? All on 4-track? The four Candy Coloured Rain tracks were recorded at Abbey Road but Sunshine Day/Aeroplane were recorded at CBS Studios New Bond Street 3) The band changed their name from the 'John Evan Band' to the 'John Evan Smash' to ‘Candy-Coloured Rain’ to ‘Bag O’Blues’/‘Bag O’Nails’ and finally to 'Jethro……' Do you remember the different names and were you involved in changing the band name? I wasn't involved in the name changes apart from Candy Coloured Rain and that was totally my idea. To be honest I thought the tracks were Arty Farty and that name seemed to fit 4) Did any particular members of the band stand out for you? Did you get on well with them? I suppose because I was a Rock producer I got on and spent time with Mick Abrahams 5) Hi Derek and thank you for participating in this question and answer session. I suppose the most obvious question is the whereabouts of the fabled John Evan Band/Candy Coloured Rain/Jethro Toe recordings which have never been released in any form. Some you may not have been involved in and I also realise that some of the songs listed below may have been studio “jams” but do we presume that after all these years that the recordings are lost or are they lurking in a cupboard at Abbey Road or elsewhere? These include: How Can You Work With Mama? (reputed to be the first ever Ian Anderson composition) Straight No Chaser (Thelonius Monk) Take The Easy Way (Ian Anderson) You Got Me (Ian Anderson) From 21 Subtract (Ian Anderson) On The 7th Side Of 9 (Ian Anderson) Invasion Of Privacy (Ian Anderson) + covers of The Man With The Weird Beard (Ray Charles) Sock It To 'Em J.B. (Rex Garvin) Graham, Cornwall, UK Obviously I did at least six tracks but if my memory serves me right at CBS we did four tracks that being Sunshine Day, Aeroplane and I think with brass Sock it to me and one other. The Candy Coloured Rain tracks were From 21 Subtract, Blues for 18th, On the 7th side of 9, Invasion of Privacy recorded at Abbey Road 6) Many of us have heard your acetate of ‘Aeroplane’ and ‘Blues for the 18th’ released on CD by Line Records a number of years ago but the mix of Aeroplane is almost identical to the MGM single mix just a little longer. The brass section had been mixed out even for the acetate, why was this pressed? Was it going to be the first Tull single before Sunshine Day was recorded in January 1968? They are basically the same takes with the odd change. When it was decided that the brass were going those tracks were wiped. 7) How did the contract with MGM records come about and why did it only last for one single – ‘Sunshine Day’/’Aeroplane’ in January 1968? I had a deal with MGM and placed them on that 8) What’s the true story behind naming the band Jethro Toe on that first single? A mistake or by design (see attached review from Melody Maker 17/2/68)? Ian called me to say [what] the name of the band was now and I had never heard of a seed drill never mind the inventor so I thought he said Jethro Toe and that's what I told the record company 9) A news clipping from Record Mirror (3/2/68, see attached) states that the band were to have ‘Sunshine Day’ released as a single on the Music Factory label in the US followed by an album in March ’68. What happened to these releases and if an album was being prepared then were any acetates prepared and do they still exist? I think that was basically Terry [Ellis] and Chris [Wright] bull$h1tting I had no knowledge of those stories 10) When and why did your involvement with the band end? Terry and Chris wanted me out. I was more a heavy rock guy and I think they were right 11) Do you have any photos of yourself with the band or in the studio around this time? No 12) Are you going to write your autobiography? I've promised a publisher I will but we will have to wait and see Follow up questions: 1) Other accounts of the pre Jethro Tull recording history have ‘Candy Coloured Rain’ recordings taking place at the CBS studios in Bond St in September 1967 with a follow up session as the ‘John Evan Band’ in October at Abbey Road producing Aeroplane/Blues for the 18th of which an acetate exists. Does this sound likely as it contradicts your memories of where tracks were recorded? Wasn’t the session that produced Sunshine Day much later than the others – in January 1968 at Abbey Road with Mick Abrahams? All the records I made for MGM were recorded at CBS and for confirmation the label states Mike Ross as engineer and he was at Bond Street. The Candy Coloured Rain tracks were recorded at Abbey Road Studio Three. 2) Does your acetate of Sunshine Day have anything on the B side? No B side 2) A book on Tull has stated that you brought in Tony Wilson to provide backing vocals on some of these pre-Tull sessions. What are your memories of this? I brought Tony in because I needed good harmonies recorded quickly. Tony only sang on the Bond Street tracks, the Candy tracks were meant to be less Pop 4) Did you introduce Ritchie Blackmore to the band and did you ever suggest that he should join if only for the recordings? I don’t recall introducing or talking about Richie to the band
