https://exchange.prx.org/p/576063
It's been a couple years, so once again Rockin' in the Days of Confusion is presenting, in its entirety, Jethro Tull's landmark 1972 album Thick As A Brick. We even have time for three other tunes before we get to it, including an Eagles track never played on the show before.
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Street Fighting Man
Source: Mono CD: Singles Collection-The London Years (originally released as 45 RPM single and on LP: Beggar's Banquet)
Writer(s): Jagger/Richards
Label: Abkco (original label: London)
Year: 1968
The Rolling Stones were at a low point in their career following their most psychedelic album, Their Satanic Majesties Request, which came out in late 1967. As a response to charges in the rock press that they were no longer relevant the Stones parted company with their longtime producer, Andrew Loog Oldham and began an equally long association with Jimmy Miller, who had already established himself as a top producer working with Steve Winwood of the Spencer Davis Group and later Traffic. The first song Miller produced with the Stones was Street Fighting Man, which appeared on the 1968 LP Beggar's Banquet. Before that LP was released, however, the band recorded an even more iconic single, Jumpin' Jack Flash, which was the first Miller/Stones production to be heard by the general public.
Artist: Paul McCartney & Wings
Title: Live And Let Die
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Paul & Linda McCartney
Label: Apple
Year: 1973
The music for the first seven James Bond films was all composed by John Barry, and was very much in sync with the image projected by Sean Connery in the title role of all but one of the films. For the eighth film, Live And Let Die, Barry was unavailable due to prior commitments, so producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli decided that a new James Bond (Roger Moore) should have newer sounding music as well, so even before the screenplay was completed they contacted Paul McCartney about providing a theme song for the new film. The gamble paid off. Live And Let Die by Paul McCartney & Wings (with orchestration by George Martin) became the most successful James Bond theme yet, going into the top 10 in both the US and UK, and snagging an Academy Award nomination as well.
Artist: Eagles
Title: Doolin-Dalton/Desperado (Reprise)
Source: LP: Desperado
Writer(s): Meisner/Henley/Frey/Souther/Browne/Blue
Label: Asylum
Year: 1973
The original Eagles lineup of Glenn Frey (guitars, vocals), Don Henley (drums, vocals), Bernie Leadon (guitars, vocals), and Randy Meisner (bass guitar, vocals) only recorded two albums before adding guitarist Don Felder to the band. The second of those was Desperado. Released in 1973, Desperado was a concept album drawing parallels between Wild West gunfighters and 70s rock musicians. The idea came out of a jam session featuring Frey, Henley, Jackson Browne and JD Souther that resulted in the creation of Doolin-Dalton, a piece that keeps popping up in parts throughout the album. The song was based on an outlaw gang based in the Oklahoma Territory in the late 1800s. From there, Henley and Frey came up with the album's title track, which appears at the end of the album's first side and then is reprised (along with the final Doolin-Dalton) as the album's closing track.
Artist: Jethro Tull
Title: Thick As A Brick
Source: CD: Thick As A Brick
Writer(s): Ian Anderson
Label: Chrysalis (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1972
By the early 1970s, concept albums from progressive rock bands were becoming a bit of a cliche. In a few cases, such as Jethro Tull's Aqualung, the label was applied without the permission, or even the intention, of the artist making the album. In late 1971 Tull's Ian Anderson decided, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, that if the critics wanted a concept album so badly he would give them the "mother of all concept albums". In the early 1970s a type of humor known as parody was in vogue, thanks to magazines like National Lampoon and television shows like Monty Python's Flying Circus. Anderson, taking his cue from Monty Python in particular, decided that the next Jethro Tull album would combine complex music with wry humor targeting critics, audiences and even the band itself. To begin with, all the album's lyrics were credited to a fictional eight-year-old schoolboy named Gerald Bostock, whose "epic poem" was stirring up controversy in the small village of St. Cleve. Anderson created an elaborate backstory for the piece, fleshing it out with a 12 page newspaper parody, complete with local news, TV listings, and a sports section (among other things) that folded out when the album cover was opened. Thick As A Brick itself is one continuous musical work consisting of several sections that tie together thematically to lampoon modern life, religion and politics in particular. The piece, which lasts nearly 44 minutes, goes through several tempo and key changes, resembling classical music in terms of sheer complexity. The band also utilized a much greater variety of instruments on Thick As A Brick than they had on previous albums, including harpsichord, xylophone, timpani, violin, lute, trumpet, saxophone, and a string section. Recording took about three weeks in late December, with another month spent putting together the newspaper itself. The entire package was so well presented that many record buyers were under the impression that Gerald Bostock was indeed a real person. Although the album initially received mixed reviews from the rock press, it has since come to be regarded as a progressive rock classic. Indeed, many (including me) feel that Thick As A Brick is Jethro Tull's greatest accomplishment.
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