Jethro Tull - A Christmas Song Reaction

[@paulhart3812]

Lead singer Ian Anderson is playing a mandolin. He fancied himself as a medieval minstrel.

[@erictownsend8870]

Jethro Tull's only Christmas album also has one called "Last Man at the Party" which describes drunken behavior at a Christmas party. Ian Anderson, composer, singer, acoustic guitarist, flautist, and leader, did not use drugs or drink to excess, although form his stage performances people might have thought so! For a taste of Jethro Tull live, check out “Jethro Tull - Locomotive Breath (live 1977)” 9:49 on KZbin. Live music from the 70's is not always recorded well, and this one is pretty good, each instrument heard well and closeups of various band members playing. Captures the band's musicianship, comedic performances, and entertainment value. It is an excerpt from an encore in 1977 that continues to completion with the British anthem “Land of Hope and Glory” and the final refrain of one of their songs “Twelve Backdoor Angels.” Jethro Tull (Ian Anderson with a different band) put out new albums in 2023 and 2024, and toured, and my wife and I saw them live near Chicago this summer. More sophisticated flute playing and less stage gyrations!

[@kentclark6420]

Tull has a Xmas album as well. I don't remember it too well, but I remember it was amazing.

[@tkengathegrateful4844]

On Christmas 1990, my grandfather (WWI veteran - Italian army) suffered a health emergency right at the dinner table and was taken to the emergency room. He never left the hospital and died a few months later.

[@markferrett700]

JT have a huge catalogue of Albums.....check out Songs from the wood or Heavy Horses.

[@colrhodes377]

Ring out solstice bells from Jethro Tull is worth hearing.

[@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering]

@@Owlstretchingtime78you wouldn’t say that if it was getting kicked in the balls or falling down a well 🧐 😆😝 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@colrhodes377]

@@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering 🤔🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🏴‍☠️👏👏👏

[@dorsetknob2265]

The instrument is a Mandolin played by Ian

[@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis.]

Thank you doing this C and C. Whomever uploaded this cut a piece off the end, at the end after the music fades, Ian Anderson, whispers "Hey, Santa, pass us that bottle, will ya?". You two have big families. 😊

[@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis.]

​@@Owlstretchingtime78Yes, I totally agree on both counts, but I have to say if I were uploading it I would have checked to make sure it was there, because as you rightly say it's really important to the song as a whole.

[@mphillipguana1]

it's a mandoline

[@mphillipguana1]

Mi error, lo lamento, mejor entonces digo que es una mandolina y listo​@@Owlstretchingtime78

[@colrhodes377]

A great song and a realistic view of Christmas

[@redlead873]

You missed the end of the track, Ian Anderson says ''Hey Santa, pass that bottle will ya''

[@hanierfamily]

I guess the people who made the video we used didn't feel it was an important part. Odd.

[@tommy8058]

The song wasn't over. It misses Ian Anderson speaking at the end: Hey Santa, pass us a bottle of ya."😊

[@tkengathegrateful4844]

I came here to post just that. Although I think it's "Pass us that bottle, will ya?"

[@SPKdesign1]

Jthro Tull have a ton of great Lps. Try something fi Heavy Horses if you like this.

[@keithhealing1115]

The ending, the "remember, if you will, this is just a Christmas Song" is sarcastic. It plays on the whole idea of the capitalism of Christmas. That final line is aimed precisely at those who say the song is too moralising.

[@andrewgibson395]

Interesting choice of album to review Tull, perhaps not the more obvious choice. Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow is my favourite of the 'Christmas' songs.

[@georgepapaduke9560]

Nice. Tull did a bunch of Christmas songs along the way and eventually released a full album. Personally, I really like "Ring Out Solstice Bells" and "Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow." Rock on.

[@hanierfamily]

We did Ring Out Solstice Bells last year. We will put the other one on our list. Others have requested it also.

[@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering]

Normally at this point I’d be savaging …this ..like a pit bull with a recently delivered letter.. but I was reading Owls comments about last Xmas and losing his dad and I’ll respectfully leave it at that today . Good wishes for this time of year Owl … ✊ 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@didierchapelot5671]

If you jump in Tull's discography, you'll discover a whole new world full of musical and lyrical gems. This is one of the most important band in rock history. Not everything is a winner but Ian Anderson can be considered as a sort of genius. His lyrics are (were) often rather critical on religion. Of course, begin with the LP Aqualung, and tracks such as "Aqualung" or "God" or "Locomotive Breath". But the list of songs to react to is long.

[@GeoffCB]

The last line; "Hey Santa, pass us that bottle will you?" was missing!

[@ghichens3418]

Probably one of the shortest "Jethro Tull " tracks ive heard , but He (Ian Anderson ) is a Genius of his craft , Flute Playing , Guitar , Singing , and of course prancing around on stage , brandishing the Flute like a weapon , with his Medieval Clothes , including Cod Piece !!! You have to see him Live to really get this Band ! They are full on . Tracks to check out Live , "Minstral in The Gallery " "Thick as a Brick " "Cross Eyed Mary " "Locomotion Breath " For starters ! Great Artist , cheers !

[@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering]

Don’t listen to him Haniers - Auld Ian and that Alan a dale guy are cut from the same cloth , all flutes , mandolins and hey-nonny -no ! 👀 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@ghichens3418]

@@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering Yep !I hold my Hand ker cheif hands up and Amit Im a secret Hey Nonny nooer fan ! Cheers mines a pint of Real Ale plankton (Things in a Beer that do backstroke )cant beat it ! Ha

[@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering]

@@ghichens3418 I like yer style G 😝… my mate used to employ the same tactics of kicking his own arse first to take the steam outta a situation- I’ll explain … When my peer group had moved up to being the young rowdy crowd in our local boozer , 18-20 yo , one of my best friends had the ultimate male handicap thrown on him … he started to go prematurely bald 👩‍🦲!! Now , as im older , more sensitive and mature and going baldy myself I can look back and empathise how awful that must’ve been for him …. At THE TIME however it was a weakness to be mercilessly exploited and a trump card to be played in moments of conflict …. So that’s set the scene on how he fought back and beat the whole fkn lot of us baying hyenas . It had become de rigeur for us all to meet around 7.30pm if we were going out for a beer on a Thursday, Friday or Sunday- Saturday was an all dayer… and if a few of us were already in the bar when my mate walked in ( I won’t name him cos Stevie wouldn’t like it - Fk it 😝, too late ) we used to give him pelters with names n abuse to do with his follical challenges which was hysterical to us trainee bastards but clearly made him uncomfortable- UNTIL.. One day he came in 5 mins late , deliberately , stood at the bar and asked for silence n proceeded to reel off all the possible insults we could come up with like “ oi Kojak , baldy , there’s that guy from the King and I , is that wee guy that Benny Hill slaps oan the heed yer da?.. and on and on then he looks at us all and says “ anything else ? “… and we all realised he’d taken away our power to slag him off by kicking his own arse FIRST .. and POOF ( not John Inman ) as if by magic it became no longer funny to insult him as he’d done a better job first .. and it stopped , for good ! There’s a lesson for us all here … and I’m fkd if I know what it is 🤣 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@ghichens3418]

@@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering That is a fantastic bit of insight Jay ! I will make this short as my first 4 answers have gone , My machine is chucking a con rod all thE TIME !! I will try and give a better response and giggle later , take care matey ! Graham

[@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering]

@@ghichens3418 👌 all good G 😃 good luck with the Rod thingy 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@ghichens3418]

Ps ! Happy Christmas to you Both Chris and Cynthia . Thanks for Playing great Tunes all year , and Putting up with Old Hippie Punks asking for Tunes you would not normally seek out ! Cheers Graham

[@hanierfamily]

Our pleasure! We are really enjoying our discovery of this great music. Keep 'em coming.

[@ghichens3418]

@@hanierfamily OK . Will do , I will do my best to remember what I have sent you peeps already , and the Steam drive on this machine takes more coal than you think !! Our connection is very poor as we live on a hill in Cornwall which is exposed to the wind , Gremlins and other unwanted problems ! Thank you for your reply . I will keep them coming if thats all good with u ! Thanks again speak soon C and C ! Bless u cheers ,Graham

[@williambaldridge1203]

I think you missed the last line of the song. it wasn't quite over.

[@hanierfamily]

That's actually how the video ends,we think.

[@williambaldridge1203]

@hanierfamily The last line of the song is Santa or censor pass us that bottle.

[@roborr5287]

You chopped the end off.

[@hanierfamily]

Nope. The people who made the lyric video did.

[@tkengathegrateful4844]

@@hanierfamily Occupational hazard, I guess. 😊

[@jermaschinot]

nothing to do with the other piece.

[@hanierfamily]

We're doing it anyway. 😁

[@jermaschinot]

great! just saying@@hanierfamily