Barack Obama and Jethro Tull
You are probably at least passingly familiar with Jethro Tull from their 1971 album Aqualung which includes the classic songs “Aqualung” and “Locomotive Breath”. If that’s all you know about them then at the very least listen to the whole Aqualung album. It’s fantastic.
Yet Aqualung was one of their first albums. They have created so much great music. Here’s a small sampling of my recommendations:
Stand Up (1969): “A New Day Yesterday,” “Back to the Family”
War Child (1974): “Skating Away on the Thin Ice of A New Day,” “Bungle in the Jungle.”
Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die! (1976) One of my favorite albums. Listen to all of it (and buy yourself a copy) but pay attention to the guitars in “Salamander.”
Storm Watch (1979) Unlike Too Old/Too Young, I’m not a fan of the album itself but the guitars in the song “Dun Ringill” are beautiful. This is one of my all-time favorite songs.
The Broadsword and the Beast (1982): Another great album. Especially worth checking out are “Fallen on Hard Times,” and “Watching Me Watching You.”
Lastly on my list of Jethro Tull must-hears is the album Crest of the Knave (1987). The whole album is great, from the opening track “Steel Monkey,” to the final track “Raising Steam.” Listen to the whole deal. Buy the album. It’s fantastic.
That being said, there’s a flaw with it which has nothing to do with Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, or anyone else in the band. The flaw is that the band won the 1988 Grammy award for “Best Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Performance,” beating out both Metallica and Jane’s Addiction.
The band had a sense of humor about it, even putting out the statement “the flute is a metal instrument!”
Even so, they should have won an award for the album – just not that award.
Which brings me to our President, Barack Obama. The Nobel Foundation has awarded the 2009 Nobel Peach Prize to President Barack Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
Um.. What?
I am a big fan of the President but isn’t it a little early to be awarding him a peace prize?
It’s Jethro Tull all over again. Right guy, wrong award.
Leads a guy to do some “Wond’ring Aloud.”
Labels: Barack Obama, Jethro Tull, music, politics
posted by Eric at 10/10/2009 07:31:00 PM
3 Eulogies
While I agree that I think that the award was a little premature, if you listen to the remarks made by the committee, they feel that the effort put forth for peace and to restore the sense of our world participation in diplomacy, as well as a commitment to reducing nuclear armament was significant enough to warrant a nomination. Additionally, in many instances in the past, to encourage a sense of responsibility and duty to follow through and surpass the goals of the awarded prize, the early award often helps act as a catalyst for further positive behavior.
That being said, I feel this is likely to be latched onto by the extreme right wing as yet another way to bash the 'liberal' Obama, and that if he is now accepted by the world court press as a Nobel winner, and the Europeans etc really like him, then America is lost. That we are truly doing better when the world doesn't like us. ( I don't agree...)
And, I just can't get with the flute. Sorry, Jethro Tull.
PS Thanks for the AIDS Walk promotion. I raised $550 personally through everyone's generous donations.
i love tull, and yes my sperm is in the gutter
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