40th anniversary- 2CD version of the Jethro Tull debut album This Was. - Disc 1 is the album in mono which has never before on CD + 9 BBC tracks from sessions which relate to the album. - CD 2 is a new stereo mix of the album plus rare early singles tracks: Sunshine Day, Song For John Gee, Love Story & Christmas Song. - This release will also feature new liner notes & anecdotes from the band members. Jethro Tull was initially a strange kind of blues band, mixing blues with folk and at times, hard rock. Their first line-up included Mick Abrahams, Glenn Cornick, Clive Bunker, and Ian Anderson. In 1968, they released their first single; Sunshine Day, through MGM Records, although it was not a chart success it did help secure them a residency at London's famed Marquee Club. Band advisers tried and failed to persuade Ian to give up the flute and let Mick do all the singing, but it was Ian's stage performances that elevated the band above other blues rock bands of the time, and brought Jethro Tull to the attention of the media. In the summer of 1968, they performed at the first Hyde Park Festival, opening for Pink Floyd and later that year they recorded their debut album. This Was, released 40 years ago, reached number 10 in the UK charts, partly thanks to great airplay from BBC Radio DJ John Peel. Just before the 1969 release in the U.S., guitarist Abrahams left to form "Blodwyn Pig," primarily due to Anderson's preference for a less blues-orientated future. In recent years, Jethro Tull and their music have featured in several TV shows, from the Sopranos (where Tony Soprano sang a Tull song) to Saxondale, Friends and Ugly Betty, who featured a name check recently.
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