Sep 30: Songs about processes: Farming

Heavy horses

Iron-clad feather-feet pounding the dust
An October's day, towards evening
Sweat embossed veins standing proud to the plough
Salt on a deep chest seasoning
Last of the line at an honest day's toil
Turning the deep sod under
Flint at the fetlock, chasing the bone
Flies at the nostrils plunder.

The Suffolk, the Clydesdale, the Percheron vie
with the Shire on his feathers floating
Hauling soft timber into the dusk
to bed on a warm straw coating.

Heavy Horses, move the land under me
Behind the plough gliding --- slipping and sliding free
Now you're down to the few
And there's no work to do
The tractor's on its way.

Jethro Tull - 'Heavy Horses'

Image: Alan Parkinson

Here's a video from 1978... of its time...

Sep 17: El Niño

This track from the Jethro Tull album J-Tull Dot Com (bad title - based on their website at the time) is relevant to the atmospheric phenomenon which threatened to lead to record temperatures in some parts of the world when it was seen to be developing earlier this year, and the predictions about its impacts are quite dire. Certainly sea surface temperatures in the Pacific are off the charts...

It unbalances the climate of Australia and South America.

Lyrics by Ian Anderson reference some of the major aspects of an El Niño....

Aug 9: Steven Wilson: an intriguing teaser campaign...

Steven Wilson is a progressive rock musician, composer and also master remixer of other people's music - working with Jethro Tull for example to remix all their classic albums.

He has teased a new album using a video with a real sense of place... and unease.

It is suggested that it may be based on a village which you can never leave.

Accompanying the video is a really creative website made to look like an old fashioned village bulletin board style website from the 1990s complete with some icons for earlier browsers etc. I remember adding banners and buttons like that to some of my early websites.

Jul 23: 1995

Pat Metheny Group released 'We Live Here'.

This is one of their best albums. The inner sleeve featured photographs and maps and other material describing the places where the band members grew up and live. There are lots of maps on the front cover too.

It won a Grammy.

I saw the band on their tour to support this album.

A good analysis of the album here from Sputnik Music.

Jethro Tull released 'Roots to Branches'. This album has some very nice pieces. Here's 'Beside Myself'.

What are your favourite albums from 1995?

Jul 20: The Prog Prom

The 2nd night of the Proms saw one with orchestral arrangements of progressive rock classics, with some guest appearances.

The orchestra is conducted by Robert Ames. He conducted the orchestra that accompanied Sigur Rós on recent live tours.

Here's the programme for the evening:

Aaron Copeland, arr. ELP, orch. Robert Ames Fanfare for the Common Man 6’
Ian Anderson, orch. Sam Gale Living in the Past 4’
Mike Ratledge, orch. Sam Gale Out-Bloody-Rageous Pt 1 4’
Genesis, orch. Sam Gale I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) 4'
Michael Dunford, orch. Christian Balvig Northern Lights 5’
Justin Hayward, orch. Fiona Brice Nights in White Satin 5’
Peter Hammill, orch. Adam Dennis Refugees 7’
Yes, orch. Peter Riley And You And I 8’
Mike Oldfield, orch. Adam Dennis Tubular Bells Pt 1 – excerpts 5’

Keith Emerson, orch. Chester Tribley/Bronte Tucker Karn Evil 9: First Impression, Part 2 2’
Thjis van Leer, orch. Christian Balvig Sylvia 4’
Osibisa, orch. Christian Balvig Komfo 4'
Frank Zappa, orch. Christian Balvig Peaches en Regalia 3'
Focus, arr. Christian Balvig Sylvia 4’
King Crimson, orch. Fiona Brice 21st Century Schizoid Man - I Talk To The Wind - Court of the Crimson King 10’
Tony Banks, Steve Hackett, orch. Fiona Brice Entangled 7’
Kerry Minnear, Derek Shulman, Ray Shulman, orch. Sam Gale On Reflection 4’
Mike Heron, orch. Christian Balvig Maker of Islands 6’
Richard Wright, orch. Fiona Brice Great Gig In the Sky 5’
Rick Davies, orch. Christian Balvig Crime of the Century 6’
Modest Mussorgsky, arr. Keith Emerson, orch. Robert Ames The Great Gate of Kiev 5'

Other performers:

Guy Garvey vocals
Jane Weaver vocals
Gruff Rhys vocals
Carl Palmer drums
Peter Hammill vocals - I saw Peter Hammill live supporting Marillion back in around 1983....
Vanessa Hayes vocals

Stuart Maconie presenter
BBC Concert Orchestra
Robert Ames conductor

Listen again on BBC Sounds - and it's on BBC itself at the weekend.

Jul 17: 1989

Some memorable sounds were released in 1989.

There was Peter Gabriel's soundtrack for 'The Last Temptation of Christ'. Some excellent world musicians added textures and unusual instrumentation. I had the LP of this album and it sounded great.

And the church bells ringing out at the beginning of Kate Bush's 'The Sensual World' complete with the voices of the Trio Bulgarka.

I had an instrumental version of this track on a single for a while... which was great...

1989 also brought Bob Mould's first solo album following the break up of the band Hüsker Du.

Hüsker Du had been famous for short songs which were fast and furious - check out 'Celebrated Summer' for a typical example.

Workbook was more varied, and featured some angry songs as well as moments of calm such as Sunspots.

1989 also saw the release of one of the finest albums of all time: 'Hats'.

This album deserves its own post...

We also had some controversy this year when Jethro Tull won the Grammy for 'Best Hard Rock and Heavy Metal' album for 'Crest of a Knave'. Metallica were odds on to win... 

Tull didn't even turn up...

Ian Anderson said:

The hot ticket was Metallica, in this newly introduced category of Hard Rock/ Metal. I was told by our record company, by the then-head of Chrysalis in the USA, not to bother going, which is a euphemism for: “We’re not going to pay your air fare or get you a hotel, because we don’t think you’re going to win.”

Jul 15: 1987

1987 saw the release of more music that is still being played by me today.

Islands was a release by Mike Oldfield.

This was a time when Mike was trying to cater for two different audiences: those who liked his side-long instrumental pieces, and the shorter songs which could be released as singles, such as 'Moonlight Shadow'.

The Wind Chimes was the long piece... get ready for every 1980s video effect in the book being thrown at this one....

1987 was also the year that 'Hold your Fire' was released. This as featured earlier in the month - when Aimee Mann joined Rush on stage to sing 'Hold your Fire' - remains one of my favourite Rush albums.

The album is very 'glossy' in its production.

The tour for the album was excellent - I saw that several times, including once with my sister.

Meanwhile U2 released 'The Joshua Tree' which was also a very popular album at the time.

An album I have listened to a great many times is Jethro Tull's 'Crest of a Knave'. In the1989 entry, I will post another story about this album.

It included the excellent track 'Budapest'.  I have posted previously about this track and the time I met the band. There had been a gap of several years since their last album as a throat infection had affected Ian Anderson's voice, and over the years since it has declined further...

Here's 'The Waking Edge' from the album.

At this time, Anderson was living on the Isle of Skye as the Laird of Strathaird - in a large house near Dun Ringill and fish farming.

This documentary was shown around this time on Channel 4.

What are your favourite albums and pieces of music from this year?

Jul 10: 1982

1982 saw some other classic albums.

Rush 'Signals' was a real highlight and has been described before.

This was the summer that I got my 'A' level results, and got a place at Huddersfield Polytechnic to do a geography degree. We had a summer holiday in Cornwall with friends. It was a time when I knew my next few years were sorted and I could relax a little.

Simple Minds 'New Gold Dream' was a classic of this year too.

Pat Metheny Group's 'Offramp' had some excellent tracks, including 'James'. This was the time when the guitar synthesiser which he still uses to superb effect was being introduced to his albums.

Jethro Tull released 'The Broadsword and the Beast'.

This was accompanied by a tour with a very theatrical staging, like a ship, and costumes and other elements. I saw this tour and had the t-shirt which I wore quite a lot over the years.

Peter John Vettese was on keyboards, which started his involvement with Ian Anderson on his solo album 'Walk into Light' which came out the following year.

Here's a live recording from Freiburg... now there's a city worth visiting...

What are your favourite albums and memories from 1982?

Jul 5: 1977

Another great year for music.

February saw the release of Jethro Tull's 'Songs from the Wood' - perhaps their most complete album and which had the connections back to the land...

This is one of the albums I used to get out of the library in Rotherham and take home in large cardboard carriers on the bus before playing on my parents' Dynatron music centre before I got my own separates sound system from Richer Sounds.

Doing a bit of research I found it was the Dynatron "Norfolk" (MC1010CR) music centre with Garrard 35-SB turntable, manufactured in Cambridge, England.

Pink Floyd's 'Animals' was also released in this year. This was one of their more memorable albums.

Peter Gabriel 1: Car - a classic cover from Hipgnosis as well.

Talking Heads 77 - I was fortunate to see David Byrne earlier this year, and it was a superb theatrical performance.

What are your favourite albums from 1977?

Jul 1: 1973

1973 was a stellar year for music.

The highlight of course was this banger... a multi-million seller which spawned 50 years of music and a business empire...

Listen to Side 2, as Side 1 has already been posted...

I've blogged elsewhere about how this album has been in my life for 50 years, and single-handedly helped determine my musical preferences and taste, with its nods to minimalism, its changes of tone, wonderful guitar solos and emotional arc and final release... which was honed to perfection on 'Ommadawn' several years later.

Also out this year were a range of other classics.

In January, the Sweet released this classic from school discos of the time... and we all dressed like that in the 1970s....

John Martyn released 'Solid Air'.

I saw John perform many times, including at Sheffield Crucible theatre and Devonshire Green in a tent.

March saw the release of another perennial classic... I had this on a good vinyl version with the poster and stickers.

Jethro Tull released 'A Passion Play', Yes released 'Yessongs', Rick Wakeman released 'The Six Wives of Henry the 8th'.

What were your favourite albums from 1973? 

There are a lot of classics to choose from.

Let me know in the comments...

June 14: Songs with city names...

Some obvious ones...

Vienna - Ultravox

Budapest - Jethro Tull

I've mentioned this song before...

City of Blinding Lights - U2 - not a named city... but based on New York...

There is a connection here with New York, which was explained on this Wikipedia post:

The chorus was inspired by U2's first concert in New York City following the September 11 attacks during their 2001 Elevation Tour. When the lights illuminated the audience during a performance of "Where the Streets Have No Name", the band saw tears streaming down the faces of many fans. Upon seeing this raw release of emotion, Bono shouted, "Oh you look so beautiful tonight"; later, the band integrated the line into the chorus.  The fans' passion, along with the resolve of the city following the attack, were the primary inspirations for many of the song's other lyrics.

What other city songs would you select?

Jun 13: Dee Palmer, RIP

Sad news of the passing of someone who was very important in the golden years of Jethro Tull's success: Dee Palmer.

Here's a song they wrote and arranged from the album 'Stormwatch'.

Jun 2: New music: Under Wraps and Walk into Light remixed

Ian Anderson has been behind projects to remix and release Jethro Tull's albums - each one with new tracks, live versions, early mixes and remixes.

A lot of these have been done by musician Steven Wilson. 

The latest release is a remix of the Tull album 'Under Wraps' and a solo album called 'Walk into Light'.

These were remixed by Bruce Soord.

Here's the opening track: Lap of Luxury.

Mar 17: Solo albums #1: Fly by Night

What do you think have been the best solo albums which have been produced by someone who spent a long time in a band first?

Feel free to tell me in the comments below.

In November 1983,  I was watching Pebble Mill at One in a student house in Huddersfield - I was probably supposed to be writing an essay on the Atterberg limits - and was probably eating toast made on the gas fire - and this came on. Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull being interviewed, and a film about his life on the Isle of Skye, which I'd visited several times already to climb in the Cuillins.

Thanks to YouTube you can watch it here.

In the film, we see Ian Anderson talking about his life on the Isle of Skye at the time, living on the Strathaird Estate.

He released his first solo album 'Walk into Light' at the end of 1983. I liked the design of this album very much and bought it on vinyl on release (as was the case for most of the albums I owned of course until CDs began to usurp them - temporarily it turns out).

The album cover looked like a TV test card.

There are some really good tracks on this album, and I saw some of them performed during the mid 1980s at Jethro Tull gigs where they were added to the set. 

Here's 'Fly by Night' being performed during the 1984 'Under Wraps' tour, which I saw several times in different venues, including the Hammersmith Apollo (as was) - a show that was recorded for a later LP release.

Feb 11: J is for Jethro Tull

An alphabet of bands and artists during February. These were selected by the Spotify algorithm.

Another obvious choice from the algorithm in one sense, although I only listen to earlier Tull these days - more recent albums do not have the same spark.

Their name comes from that of an early agricultural innovator, who developed a way of distributing seeds on fields.

When they released their first single, their name was misspelt on the label as Jethro Toe.

Around about 2004, Ian Anderson developed a problem with his vocals and had to have throat surgery, and since then he has mostly talked through the albums and then attempts to sing live. I saw Tull play live on and off from 1983 to their fiftieth anniversary tour - when I decided that was that. 

On these more recent performances there is also far less of the mandolin and acoustic guitar which were so thrilling back in the 1980s when they were played as much as the oft-twirled flute, and the one leg balance was firmer. 

I'm glad to have the memories from 40 years ago... and to have seen them in small venues. Tull were one of my most viewed musical acts - probably over a dozen times I saw them in various line-ups. I just missed the John Glascock era sadly.

Here's a classic from the 1980s, which has still not appeared on albums that are available on streaming services. It's the theme from a TV documentary series 'The Blood of the British' and is called Coronach.

They have produced a whole range of classic albums.

Perhaps their most consistent album was 'Songs from the Wood'.

I remember getting this out of Rotherham Library in the days when I didn't have the money to buy lots of albums. 

It’s inspired by the thought that perhaps nature isn’t as gentle as we’d like to believe. And it takes as its theme the natural and supernatural inhabitants of the woodlands of old England.

This was followed by "Heavy Horses" which continued in a similar tone, with more classic songs.

One of their more ecological albums was called 'Stormwatch'.

The album cover featured the opening lines from a track called 'Dun Ringill'. 

This is an old Iron Age defensive structure on the Strathaird peninsula shores of Loch Slapin, on land owned by Ian Anderson. I visited it several times on trips up to Skye and watched otters.

The lines were actually spoken by the veteran Sky weather presenter Francis Wilson.

The weather's on the change, Ice clouds invading
Pressure lines joint in faint discord and the stormwatch brews
A concert of kings as the white sea snaps
At the heels of a soft prayer whispered

There is a whole blog to be created about the music of Tull, and I shall return to their music several times this year, for memories of concerts and encounters and particular albums. There are plenty of songs linked to land and landscapes - from the urban structures of 'Steel Monkey' to the Cuillin Ridge in 'The Waking Edge' and the decline of American agriculture in 'Farm on the Freeway'.

This track was taken from the album 'Crest of a Knave'. 

Crest of a Knave won the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental, beating the heavily favoured ... And Justice for All by Metallica and critics' choice Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction.

The Grammy award was controversial as many did not consider the album or Jethro Tull to be hard rock, much less heavy metal. Under advice from their manager, no one from the band turned up to the award ceremony, as they were told that they had no chance of winning.

I've also mentioned Tull previously, as they were one of my "musical encounters of the first kind..."

Discography - AI generated so caution needed...

When searching for suitable references I came across this film, which I hadn't seen before... Interesting to see Eddie Jobson on the plane, as U:K were supporting Tull on this tour. David Palmer also before they became Dee.

What 'J' comes up in your alogorithm?

Do you have any memories of Jethro Tull concerts?

Jan 21: Trivia Quiz Question #2

Which European capital city was the name of a track on this album?

Answer in the comments below - 'points' for the first person to provide the answer - more questions each week or two as we go through the year...

Jan 13: Tour t-shirts - what are your favourites?

One part of going to see a band playing live is checking out the merchandise stand and taking home a t-shirt to remember the gig, and also to wear to another concert in the same tour ideally to show everyone that you've already been to see the show before (that works less well these days).

I have some classic t-shirts from years ago, and will be sharing images of them in the blog as the year goes by. I still fit into most of them, and quite a few are still in good nick.

Here's one of mine which dates back to 1984. 

It was a shirt I bought at the Hammersmith Odeon before seeing Jethro Tull on their 'Under Wraps' tour, when they brought in more keyboards and had the excellent Peter John-Vettese playing with them.

The concert was actually recorded for radio broadcast and later released as an album: Live at Hammersmith 1984. 

The full version is also available on YouTube. I remember being particularly pleased to hear Thick as a Brick, and some of Ian Anderson's new solo album: Fly by Night which remains a favourite of mine that I play quite regularly.

My most recent purchase was from the Sigur Rós gig at the Royal Albert Hall in October 2025 - a subtle shirt with the name of the band on the front and a TAKK cover design on the back.

Before I start sharing mine in future posts, here's a chance for you to dig into your drawers to see if you have any old classic t-shirts. 

If you do, let me know which ones you have and when they date back to. Photos welcome.

Use the Google Form here to send me your best shirts.

Image: Alan Parkinson, shared on Flickr under CC license

Jan 10: Never meet your heroes they say...

Have you met any of your musical heroes?

Perhaps you've bumped into them on public transport, at a motorway service station perhaps? (Watford Gap used to be famous for that back in the day).

Maybe it was on public transport? 

In September 1989 I went to see Jethro Tull on their Rock Island tour at Manchester Apollo. Here's the set list they played that night.

There's a long story about that Sunday night, which I may tell at some point during the year. The upshot of it was that one of the friends I went with ended up as part of the production, during a performance of the song 'Budapest', and I ended up with a backstage pass. Much more on songs about cities in future posts..

This is the actual backstage pass that I had that evening over 35 years ago. It's stuck to the box which contains a cassette tape. The tape contains a recording of an American concert, during which Ian Anderson loses his temper with the audience... it's very good.

At the end of the concert we went up to the rooms where the band were going to be gathering after the concert. I actually have my diary from that year still (and a few other years). I shall be drawing on that for memories of other concerts.

Here's what I wrote in my diary:

"There was heavy security... went up to the top of the Apollo and to the Tull only dressing room; met the wives of Martin Barre and Dave Pegg, and a person who'd seen Tull about 300 times. then Martin Allcock [who sadly died all too young] arrived and took several bottles of wine - Martin Barre and beaming Dave Pegg was next - introduced ourselves and thanked him for the concert then met Ian Anderson - he's quite short and talked for about 10 minutes. He said he could never be a teacher when I told him what I did for a job"

I was teaching in King's Lynn at the time and had to drive back there from Manchester via Rotherham to drop off my friends. It was 2.30am before I got home... with teaching the same day.... that was a tiring one.

There's an excellent article on the history and legacy of Watford Gap services, which is due to be demolished to make way for a more modern electric vehicle charging facility to reflect the changes in car ownership. This used to be where bands who had played in London would refuel on the way back north as it was open in the early hours. Many bands met up there..

In October 2025, my son met one of his heroes. He is a big fan of film soundtracks, and in particular the work of Warren Ellis, who plays with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and he met Warren at a screening of film about Marianne Faithfull at the BFI. 

Quite a moment for him.

There were also some interesting stories from those who filled in my Google Form ahead of the blog's launch...

Here's a sample from those I've received so far, with thanks to the people who shared them - I'll share some more in due course.

• Angus was at school with Tom Robinson
• Matt has had a series of encounters, but one that stands out was having a pint with Jarvis Cocker in 'The Blue Bell' in Conwy when he was on holiday there in the late 90's. He also came into the butchers where he worked and ordered a sandwich! 
• Sandra danced on a table with Chesney Hawkes after a lock in at the university bar
• David was a few urinals down from Jon Bon Jovi once
• John once burst into Brian Connolly from The Sweet's dressing room to tell him he was a huge fan. He looked at his watch and said, " F*** off, son; I'm on in five minutes."

More to come....

So, who have you met?

Did you have a chat?

Were you star struck?

Please share your celebrity encounters on the Google Form below and I will share some of the best ones in a future post or two depending on who turns up.