JETHRO TULL - THIS WAS Island Rough Textured Eyeball label MONO

	£		102
	$		135

JETHRO TULL -

 "THIS WAS"

ILP 985  MONO

UK 1968 1st UK Press

Original UK First Day issue. This is the original widespine gatefold sleeve album!! The label is the very first Pink "Eyeball" rough textured one. (Smooth labels came later as well as different variations of the Island label). This Mono version was only sold for 6 days and then retracted from sale as the mono mix was deemed inferior to the stereo version which subsequently sold more widely. Apparently only a few hundred of this mono album were ever sold. Mega scarce, this one ....

Machined matrices are the earliest possible ILP+985+A and ILP+985+B.

This auction is for an extremely early  UK 1st Press Jethro Tull album with a super wide spine

While vocalist Ian Anderson's creative vision largely shaped Jethro Tull's later albums, on This Was Anderson shared songwriting duties with Tull's guitarist Mick Abrahams. In part due to Abrahams' influence, the album incorporates more rhythm and blues and jazzinfluences than the progressive rock the band later became known for. In particular:

• The music to "Beggar's Farm," "My Sunday Feeling," "It's Breaking Me Up" and "Some Day the Sun Won't Shine for You" are based on blues progressions, with the latter song arranged similarly to Big Bill Broonzy's blues standard "Key to the Highway."
• "Cat's Squirrel" (included in the album "because people like it," according to the liner notes) was an instrumental covered by numerous 1960s British blues bands, perhaps most notably by Cream. Mick Abrahams would later perform the song in his post-Jethro Tull blues band Blodwyn Pig.
• The album includes a cover version of Roland Kirk's jazz standard "Serenade to a Cuckoo." According to the liner notes, "Cuckoo" was one of the first tunes Ian Anderson learned to play on the flute.
• The coda of "My Sunday Feeling" incorporates quotes from two well-known jazz tunes, Henry Mancini's "Pink Panther Theme" (specifically the song's bass line, played as a short solo by Glenn Cornick) and Nat Adderley's and Oscar Brown, Jr.'s "Work Song."

This Was also contains the only Jethro Tull lead vocal not performed by Ian Anderson on a studio album, "Move On Alone." Mick Abrahams, the song's author, provides vocals on the track; David Palmer provided the horn arrangement. Abrahams left Jethro Tull following the album's completion in a dispute over "musical differences," so the album's title may be viewed as a wry commentary on his departure.

The song "Dharma for One," a staple of Tull's early concerts (usually incorporating an extended drum solo by Clive Bunker), was later covered by Ekseption, Pesky Gee! and The Ides of March.

The absolute rarity of this limited  album is not to be underestimated. It hardly ever surfaces nowadays. This is an absolutely heavy gorgeous slab of early quality ISLAND  vinyl  It has a deep glossy sheen!! Hauntingly beautiful songcraft!!!  Incredibly hard to find as a first press.

 Gatefold Sleeve: VG+. Lovely sleeve with inner flipbacks like only the real first presses have. This sleeve has the super wide spine. It has a couple of creases esp. near the spine but there is no writing. The outside is fully laminated. Has a repaired tear on the back opening. A great looking sleeve despite the points mentioned. 

Vinyl:  VG. There are a few marks and hairlines but the vinyl plays really well without skips , ticks or jumps. Certainly not thrashed by any stretch of the imagination and worthy of inclusion in a great prog collection. There is hardly ever any background noise. This is a thick heavy slab of vinyl and superior to any reissues. 

Inner: EX. Polylined.

***This is a unique prime investment opportunity!!! Finding this album in any condition at all is nearly impossible!!! This is  a great and seriously collectable super album!!  You will buy into a piece of  bluesprog core history.*** 

Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 45.00.  These fees in England have gone up significantly last May. Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.

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