The Jethro Tull Christmas Album
The Jethro Tull Christmas Album | ||||
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Studio album (Christmas) by Jethro Tull | ||||
Released | 30 September 2003 (US) | |||
Genre |
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Length | 62:31 126:29 (with Christmas at St Bride's 2008) | |||
Label | Fuel 2000, RandM | |||
Producer | Ian Anderson | |||
Jethro Tull chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | (favorable)[3] |
The Jethro Tull Christmas Album is the 21st studio album released by Jethro Tull, on 30 September 2003. This was the band's last studio album for 19 years (until the release of The Zealot Gene[4] in 2022), as well as the last album to feature the lineup of Ian Anderson, guitarist Martin Barre (and his last album with the group), bassist Jonathan Noyce, keyboardist Andrew Giddings, and drummer Doane Perry.
Content
The Jethro Tull Christmas Album is a mix of new material, re-recordings of Tull's own suitably themed material and arrangements of traditional Christmas music. In 2009, the live album Christmas at St Bride's 2008 was included with the original album on CD.
Of the opening song, Birthday Card at Christmas, Ian Anderson has said:
- "My daughter Gael, like millions of other unfortunates, celebrates her birthday within a gnat's whisker of Christmas. Overshadowed by the Great Occasion, such birthdays can be flat, perfunctory and fleetingly token in their uneventful passing. The daunting party and festive celebration of the Christian calendar overshadows too, some might argue, the humble birthday of one Mr. J. Christ. Funny old 25ths, Decembers…"
Track listing
- "Birthday Card at Christmas" (Ian Anderson) – 3:37
- "Holly Herald" ("The Holly and the Ivy" (Trad.) / "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" (F. Mendelssohn); instrumental medley arranged by Anderson) – 4:16
- "A Christmas Song" (Anderson) – 2:47
- "Another Christmas Song" (Anderson) – 3:31
- "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" (Trad. instrumental arranged by Anderson) – 4:35
- "Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow" (Anderson) – 3:37
- "Last Man at the Party" (Anderson) – 4:48
- "Weathercock" (Anderson) – 4:17
- "Pavane" (Instrumental, Gabriel Fauré, arranged by Anderson) – 4:19
- "First Snow on Brooklyn" (Anderson) – 4:57
- "Greensleeved" (Trad. instrumental based on "Greensleeves". Arranged by Anderson) – 2:39
- "Fire at Midnight" (Anderson) – 2:26
- "We Five Kings" (Instrumental "We Three Kings", Rev. J. Hopkins, arranged by Anderson) – 3:16
- "Ring Out Solstice Bells" (Anderson) – 4:04
- "Bourée" (Instrumental J. S. Bach, arranged by Anderson) – 4:25
- "A Winter Snowscape" (Instrumental, Martin Barre) – 4:57
Tracks 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, and 15 are all re-recordings of previously released pieces. 'Bourée', however, has significant alterations to the musical arrangement.
'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen' (Track 5) has been played in concert many times over the years: this is the first studio version.
Christmas at St Bride's 2008
Recorded Live at St Bride's Church
- "Weathercock" (Ian Anderson) – 4:41
- "Introduction: Rev. George Pitcher / Choir: What Cheer" (William Walton) – 3:32
- "A Christmas Song" (Anderson) – 3:19
- "Living in These Hard Times" (Anderson) – 3:44
- "Choir: Silent Night" (Traditional) – 3:06
- "Reading: Ian Anderson, Marmion" (Sir Walter Scott) – 2:17
- "Jack in the Green" (Anderson) – 2:33
- "Another Christmas Song" (Anderson) – 3:56
- "Reading: Gavin Esler, God's Grandeur" (Gerard Manley Hopkins) – 1:50
- "Choir: Oh, Come All Ye Faithful" (Traditional) – 3:50
- "Reading: Mark Billingham, The Ballad of The Breadman" (Charles Causley) – 3:33
- "A Winter Snowscape" (Martin Barre) – 3:39
- "Reading: Andrew Lincoln, Christmas" (Sir John Betjeman) – 3:12
- "Fires at Midnight" (Anderson) – 3:38
- "We Five Kings" (Instrumental "We Three Kings", Rev. J. Hopkins, arranged by Anderson) – 3:19
- "Choir: Gaudete" (Trad. arranged by Anderson) – 3:39
- "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen / Thick as a Brick" (Trad. arranged by Anderson / Anderson) – 10:25
Personnel
- Ian Anderson – vocals, flute, acoustic guitar, mandolin, piccolo, percussion
- Martin Barre – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
- Jonathan Noyce – bass guitar
- Andrew Giddings – keyboards, accordion
- Doane Perry – drums, percussion
- Additional personnel
- James Duncan – additional drums and percussion
- Dave Pegg – additional bass guitar and mandolin
- The Sturcz String Quartet:
Charts
Chart (2003) | Peak position |
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German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[5] | 51 |
US Top Holiday Albums (Billboard)[6] | 35 |
References
- ^ Dave Sleger, Bruce Eder. The Jethro Tull Christmas Album at AllMusic
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
- ^ Masuo, Sandy (17 December 2003). "The Jethro Tull Christmas Album". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ Ewing, Jerry (13 July 2021). "Jethro Tull to Release New Album The Zealot Gene in Early 2022". Louder. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Jethro Tull – The Jethro Tull Christmas Album" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
- ^ "Jethro Tull Chart History (Holiday Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
External links
- The Jethro Tull Christmas Album 2003 at AllMusic
- The Jethro Tull Christmas Album 2004 at AllMusic (bonus DVD)
- Official Website
- Progressive Archives
- Rolling Stone Review
- v
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- Ian Anderson
- David Goodier
- John O'Hara
- Scott Hammond
- Jack Clark
- Mick Abrahams
- Clive Bunker
- Glenn Cornick
- Tony Iommi
- Martin Barre
- John Evan
- Jeffrey Hammond
- Barriemore Barlow
- John Glascock
- Dee Palmer
- Dave Pegg
- Mark Craney
- Eddie Jobson
- Gerry Conway
- Peter-John Vettese
- Paul Burgess
- Doane Perry
- Don Airey
- Maartin Allcock
- Andrew Giddings
- Dave Mattacks
- Jonathan Noyce
- Florian Opahle
- Joe Parrish
- This Was
- Stand Up
- Benefit
- Aqualung
- Thick as a Brick
- A Passion Play
- War Child
- Minstrel in the Gallery
- Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!
- Songs from the Wood
- Heavy Horses
- Stormwatch
- A
- The Broadsword and the Beast
- Under Wraps
- Crest of a Knave
- Rock Island
- Catfish Rising
- Roots to Branches
- J-Tull Dot Com
- The Jethro Tull Christmas Album
- The Zealot Gene
- RökFlöte
- Bursting Out
- Live at Hammersmith '84
- A Little Light Music
- Jethro Tull in Concert
- Living with the Past
- Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970
- Aqualung Live
- Live at Montreux 2003
- Live at Madison Square Garden 1978
- Live at Carnegie Hall 1970
- Living in the Past
- M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull
- Repeat – The Best of Jethro Tull – Vol II
- Original Masters
- 20 Years of Jethro Tull: Highlights
- Nightcap
- The Best of Jethro Tull – The Anniversary Collection
- Through the Years
- The Very Best Of
- The Best of Acoustic Jethro Tull
- The Essential
- 50 for 50
- Slipstream
- 20 Years of Jethro Tull
- 25th Anniversary Video
- Living with the Past
- A New Day Yesterday
- Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970
- Live at Montreux 2003
- Jack in the Green
- Live at Madison Square Garden 1978
- Live at AVO Session Basel
- Around the World Live
- "Sunshine Day"
- "A Song for Jeffrey"
- "Love Story"
- "Living in the Past"
- "Bourée"
- "Sweet Dream"
- "The Witch's Promise"
- "Teacher"
- "Aqualung"
- "Cross-Eyed Mary"
- "Mother Goose"
- "Hymn 43"
- "Locomotive Breath"
- "Life Is a Long Song"
- "Bungle in the Jungle"
- "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day"
- "Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die"
- "The Whistler"
- "Songs from the Wood"
- "Heavy Horses"
- "Dun Ringill"
- Discography
- Members
- A Billion Hands Concert
- The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
- A Classic Case
- Thick as a Brick 2
- Jethro Tull – The String Quartets
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