Jethro Tull - Too Old To Rock N Roll: Too Old To Die (1976) plus Bonus Track

 ( UK 1967 - 2012, 2017 - Present)

Jethro Tull isn't his name, of course, but it might as well be. At the mere mention of this venerable British art-rock outfit, most people flash on the image of flute-wielding Tull front man Ian Anderson. The LP's 'This Was' and 'Stand Up', both from 1969, present the group as jazz-and folk-influenced progressives; Anderson's rasping, melodramatic style of play takes off from Rahsaan Roland Kirk's multi-reed explorations. Guitarist Martin Barre contributes heavy, hooky riffs to accompany Anderson's burgeoning songwriting voice on Stand Up. And then, Tull clicked with young American audiences.

Aqualung combines heaving melodies and moralistic liberal diatribes against church and state: You know the rest. Thanks to 20 years of radio rotation, heavy handed manifestos like "Aqualung" and "Wind Up" rank right up there with "Stairway to Heaven" on the over familiarity meter. Living in the Past, which ably documents Tull to this point, is recommended over the later compilations.

The immediate success of Aqualung spurred Anderson to indulge his artistic whims, resulting in two challenging, wildly experimental, and occasionally obtuse theatrical concept albums: 'Thick as a Brick' and 'Passion Play'. After that strategy backfired, Jethro Tull returned to traditional song structure on War Child and the acoustic-flavoured Minstrel in the Gallery.

Ian Anderson

Things were never quite the same again, though. After the excessively snide 1976 hit "Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll, Too Young to Die!," Tull retreated into a sylvan glade of arty Elizabethan folk-rock. This latter-day approach is best captured on the lovely, smoke-flavoured Songs From the Wood and A. on which former members of Fairport Convention and Roxy Music add crucial support. 

Jethro Tull On Stage at Wolfgangs in 1976

After releasing a pair of electronic stinkers (Walk Into Light and Under Wraps) in the '80s, Anderson retired the Tull moniker for several years. The 1988 box-set retrospective (20 Years of Jethro Tull) is representative, but mighty tough for the average listener to wade through, Jethro Tull released the folkish Crest of a Knave in 1987; from then on, Anderson retreated into a prosaic formula that obliterated most of the pastoral passages and tricky time signatures in favour of shorter songs that rocked in surprisingly conventional ways. 

Ian Anderson and Martin Blarre

Anderson's darkly sarcastic sense of humour and the band's tight instrumental combustion has made Tull an exhilarating live experience to this day—long after its records ceased to hold much interest for anyone but hard-core fans. [extract from the New Rolling Stone Album Guide, 4th Edition, 2013]

Album Background
First, a bit of back story: after 1975's Minstrel in the Gallery, Jethro Tull had intended to not only record a new album but also put together a stage musical about an ageing rock star. Somewhere along the line, however, they walked away from the musical idea and instead utilised the material they'd written for it as the basis for their new album, Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!

Like 'Benefit' before it, 'Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll' has never got the credit it's due.

A Rock Opera containing some of the band's most anthemic Rock songs (the title track being the most famous example) and some of its most poignant and delicate acoustic ballads ('From A Dead Beat To An Old Greaser', 'Salamander', 'Bad-Eyed And Loveless'), 'Too Old' is one of the unsung gems of Jethro Tull's remarkable catalogue.

However, Ian Anderson should stick to music, because he most definitely is not a storyteller. This is the muddled story of one Ray Lomas, “the last of the old rockers,” whose long hair and tight jeans mark him as a person whom time has passed by. After a series of events remarkable only for their lack of humor and originality, we leave the “hero” as he is about to become a pop star in his own right.

We can take comfort, though, in knowing that Anderson’s technical prowess as a composer remains undiminished. The album abounds in breathtaking musical passages. The title cut, for one, is a textbook example of the use of dynamics and nuance in a rock song: instruments subtly creep in during the verses, with the slightest of musical nods to let us know they’re there. The music builds with a tension that heightens a desperate theme, then erupts in the chorus. “Quizz Kid” features, in addition to numerous startling changes in texture, several brief but pungent solos by guitarist Martin Barre, whose playing is exemplary throughout.

Album Review
Jethro Tull's Too Old to Rock 'N' Roll: Too Young to Die! remains one of the minor efforts in its catalogue. Though the group was never a critical favourite, this 1976 album was particularly dismissed, and it didn't find as much favour as usual from fans, either.

This LP remains the group's only release of the 1970's not to have at least gone gold in the U.S. In his liner notes to the reissue, bandleader Ian Anderson claims that the collection was intended to support a stage musical “based on a late-'50s motor cycle rocker and his living-in-the-past nostalgia for youthful years. Not me, guv, honest,” he added. “Why do people always think it has to be autobiographical?” Perhaps because the main character, Ray Lomas, bears a striking resemblance to Anderson in the cartoon strip included with the album and because the sentiments expressed in the songs revealed a curmudgeonly attitude familiar from past Jethro Tull efforts penned by Anderson.

The songs don't conform to the story line developed in the strip, nor do they tell a coherent story on their own, though they do have their own separate stories to tell. For example, “Crazed Institution,” in the strip, has something to do with Lomas' revulsion at a department store called “Horrids” (ie. Harrod's), but the song sounds like a put down of glam rockers who “live and die upon [their] cross of platinum.” The title track, which went on to become a classic rock and concert favourite, remains the most striking tune [extract from vinylpussycat.com].

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my Nice Price Cassette Tape (purchased from the Bargin Bin at Brash Suttons back in the late 70's) and includes full artwork and label scans. Sadly, I've never come across the vinyl release but the hunt still continues as it is an important hole to fill in my Jethro Tull collection. This album was the followup album to their critically acclaimed 'Minstrel In The Gallery', and as such suffered from the impossible expectations this created. In fact, Rolling Stone only rated the album with 2 stars and consequently album sales were not strong. For me, this album was in its own right still a strong album and tracks like Quizz Kids and Too Young To..... were up there with their best.

Tracklist:

01 - Quizz Kid
02 - Crazed Institution
03 - Salamander
04 - Taxi Grab
05 - From A Deadbeat To An Old Greaser
06 - Bad-Eyed And Loveless
07 - Big Dipper
08 - Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll: Too Young To Die
09 - Pied Piper
10 - The Chequered Flag (Dead Or Alive)
11 - Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll: Too Young To Die (Bonus Live)*

* Taken from Burstin Out

Jethro Tull were:

Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Flute, Harmonica, Electric Guitar [Occasional], Percussion [Occasional] – Ian Anderson
Bass, Vocals – John Glascock
Electric Guitar – Martin Barre

Drums, Percussion – Barriemore Barlow
Piano – John Evan

Jethro Tull Link (263Mb)