20 Years of Jethro Tull: Highlights

20 YEARS OF JETHRO TULL (1 disc) contains selections from 20 YEARS OF JETHRO TULL--THE BOX SET, a five-album (3 disc) collection. The liner notes contain a Jethro Tull "family tree" tracing the members of Jethro Tull and their various bands from The Blades in 1963 to Jethro Tull in 1988.
Jethro Tull: Ian Anderson (vocals, flute, mandolin, harmonica, keyboards, whistle); Mick Abrahams, Martin Barre (guitar); John Evan, Don Airey, Peter Vettese (keyboards); Glenn Cornick, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, Dave Pegg, John Glascock (bass); Clive Bunker, Barriemore Barlow, Doane Perry, Gerry Conway (drums).
Personnel: Ian Anderson (vocals, whistling, acoustic guitar, mandolin, flute, harmonica); Dave Pegg (vocals, mandolin); Martin Barre (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Mick Abrahams (electric guitar); Patrick Halling (violin); John Evan (accordion, keyboards); Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond (brass, upright bass); Don Airey, Peter-John Vettese (keyboards); Clive Bunker, Gerry Conway, Barriemore Barlow, Doane Perry (drums).
Audio Mixer: Robin Black .
Recording information: Hamburg Congress, Centrum Hall, Germany (??/1968-04/1988); Island Studios, London, England (??/1968-04/1988); Maison Rouge Studios, London, England (??/1968-04/1988); Morgan Studios, London, England (??/1968-04/1988); Radio Monte Carol (??/1968-04/1988); Sound Techniques Studio, Chelsea, London, England (??/1968-04/1988); Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, PA (??/1968-04/1988).
True fans of Jethro Tull who are reluctant to invest in the five-disc box set that came out in 1988 should consider picking up this best-of collection taken from that monster assemblage. Divided into four sections ("The Radio Archives and Rare Tracks," "Essential Tull," "Flawed Gems" and "The Other Side of Tull") 20 YEARS OF TULL is chockfull of alternative takes, oddities, rarities, unreleased masters, home demos and live cuts.
This unusual but enjoyable history begins with a cover of "Stormy Monday Blues," capturing the group in its early blues incarnation. Rarely heard acoustic numbers like "Summerday Sands" and the elegant, spare "March the Mad Scientist" show the band's gift for effortless baroque pop. Among the more interesting rarities is the 1970 rendition of "Two Fingers" originally recorded for AQUALUNG, which made it onto 1974's WAR CHILD. Songs like "Jack-a-Lynn" and "Mayhem, Maybe" from 1981 prove that the band was still making pretty folk-rock even as they moved into the harder-rocking '80s. And of course, any 20-year Tull retrospective has to include some of the classics, so certain favorites about locomotives and park-bench sitters--albeit in live versions--are included here.