''Living in the Past'' is a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

quasi-compilation collection by Jethro Tull, which contains album tracks, out-takes, the "

Life Is a Long Song "Life Is a Long Song" is a song composed by Ian Anderson and first recorded by Jethro Tull. It was released as the lead track on an EP of the same name on 3 September 1971, which reached No. 11 in the UK charts. The song later appeared on the 197 ...

" EP, and all of their non-LP singles except for "Sunshine Day"/"Aeroplane" (1968), "One for John Gee" (b-side of "A Song for Jeffrey", 1968), "17" (b-side of "Sweet Dream", 1969) and the original version of "

Teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

" that appeared in the UK as the b-side of "

The Witch's Promise "The Witch's Promise" is a single by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released in January 1970, on the Chrysalis label. It reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart, and was promoted by an appearance on the British chart show ''Top of the Pops ...

" in 1969 (the re-recorded 1970 take that was released on the American version of '' Benefit'' was included instead). Also included are two live recordings taken from a performance at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built ...

in November 1970.

Details

The album was named after the single released in May 1969 and was released in an elaborate gate-fold packaging that contained a large colour photo booklet with over 50 photos of the band. Two songs, "By Kind Permission Of" and "Dharma for One", were recorded live at

, United States. The former would be extended to include "With You There To Help Me" and would be included in complete form, along with "Dharma For One", on the separate LP release '' Live At Carnegie Hall 1970'' (2015). "

Love Story Love Story or A Love Story may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres * Romance (love) ** Romance film ** Romance novel Films * ''Love Story'' (1925 film), German silent film * ''Love Story'' (1942 film), Italian drama film * ''Love ...

", "Christmas Song", " Living in the Past", "Driving Song", " Sweet Dream" and "The Witch's Promise", some of which had only appeared on mono versions before, were given new stereo mixes for inclusion on the album. Additionally, " A Song for Jeffrey" and "

" were also remixed. Many of the tracks only appeared as British releases before being compiled on ''Living in the Past'' for the first time in the American market. Spurred on by radio airplay of the single, " Living in the Past", US rock fans who bought the album were treated to three years of UK releases. In the United States, ''Living in the Past'' was the first Jethro Tull album to appear on the

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright A ...

label; while each of the band's previous albums were marked as "a Chrysalis Production", the albums were released by Warner Bros. Records'

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

subsidiary. Early U.S. editions of ''Living in the Past'' bore both a Chrysalis catalogue number (2CH 1035) and a Reprise catalogue number (2TS 2106), suggesting that the album was scheduled to appear on Reprise Records but that Chrysalis gained control of the band's USA releases in late 1972. All of the tracks that were not on the original '' This Was'' (1968), '' Stand Up'' (1969) and '' Benefit'' (1970) albums have appeared as bonus tracks on their 2001 Digital Remasters.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

review the collection positively, stating that: "Not only was Ian Anderson writing solid songs every time out, but the group's rhythm section was about the best in progressive rock's pop division. Along with any of the group's first five albums, this collection is seminal and essential to any Tull collection, and the only compilation by the group that is a must-own disc."

Charts

The album peaked at No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200 charts and went

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

not long after its release. The title track from the album became Tull's first

top-40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

hit in the United States, reaching No. 11, a full three years after it performed well in Britain. In UK, the album reached No. 13. In Norwegian charts, the album hit No. 5.

Differences in US version

The US vinyl version has " Hymn 43" in place of "Locomotive Breath" (both from the ''Aqualung'' album). It omits "Inside" and "Teacher", which were both on the US ''Benefet'' album, replacing them with "Alive and Well and Living in" and "Witch's Promise".

Track listing

Original vinyl versions

UK vinyl

* Some pressings of this album erroneously list 'From Later' as 'For Later'. However, it is listed correctly as 'From Later' on both the Life Is a Long Song EP and on the Aqualung 40th Anniversary Special Edition..

US vinyl

CD releases

Differences in the song selections between the US and the UK editions of the album resulted in different track listings for the various CD releases. Most CDs had to further alter the track listings, due to time constraints as CDs at the time could only hold up to 74 minutes of music. Since the original American CD edition of ''Benefit'' was released with the alternative track list omitting "Alive and Well and Living In", many of the US CD editions of ''Living in the Past'' add that track. All of the single CD reissues omit two songs ("Bourée" and "Teacher") in order to reduce the running time to fit the album on one disc, but both countries' versions include "Inside", which originally was only on the UK vinyl. A 1997 two-disc

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL or MoFi) is a record label specializing in the production of audiophile issues. The company produces reissued vinyl LP records, compact discs, and Super Audio CDs and other formats. History Recording engineer Br ...

reissue contains every song selected for the UK and US vinyl editions.

UK single-disc reissue (Chrysalis UK 1990, F2-21575)

* Omits "Bourée" and "Teacher" from the UK vinyl version.

American single-disc reissue (Chrysalis US 1992, 0946 3 21035 2 9/F2-21035)

* Same track list as the UK single-disc re-issue but with additional track "Alive and Well and Living In", and "Locomotive Breath" is replaced by " Hymn 43".

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab edition (UDCD 2-708, 1997 remaster)

* This release contains all of the songs released on the UK and US versions of the album.

Personnel

;Jethro Tull *

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedles ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...

tin whistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

(

12 string A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

(on "Sweet Dream"),

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

(on "Just Trying to Be", "Wond'ring Again", "Life Is a Long Song", "Up the 'Pool" and "Dr. Bogenbroom"),

balalaika The balalaika (russian: link=no, балала́йка, ) is a Russian stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the thir ...

;

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

(on "Singing All Day"),

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

Mick Abrahams Michael Timothy Abrahams (born 7 April 1943) is an English guitarist and band leader, best known for being the original guitarist for Jethro Tull from 1967 to 1968 and the frontman for Blodwyn Pig. Jethro Tull Abrahams was born in Luton, ...

– electric guitar (on "A Song for

Jeffrey Jeffrey may refer to: * Jeffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * ''Jeffrey'' (1995 film), a 1995 film by Paul Rudnick, based on Rudnick's play of the same name * ''Jeffrey'' (2016 film), a 2016 Dominican Republic documentary film ...

" and "Love Story") *

Martin Barre Martin Lancelot Barre (; born 17 November 1946) is an English guitarist best known for his longtime role as lead guitarist of British rock band Jethro Tull, with whom he recorded and toured from 1968 until the band's initial dissolution in 201 ...

– electric guitar, acoustic guitar (on "Witch's Promise" and "Life Is a Long Song"),

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

and additional

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(on "Dharma for One") *

John Evan John Evan (born John Spencer Evans; born 28 March 1948, in Derby, Derbyshire.) is a British musician and composer. He is best known for having played keyboards for Jethro Tull from April 1970 to June 1980. Evans' father was headmaster at a De ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, Hammond organ,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. ...

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

celeste Celeste may refer to: Geography * Mount Celeste, unofficial name of a mountain on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada * Celeste, Texas, a rural city in North Texas ** Celeste High School, public high school located in the city of Celeste, ...

, backing vocals and additional percussion (on "Dharma for One") *

Glenn Cornick Glenn Douglas Barnard Cornick (23 April 1947 – 28 August 2014) was an English bass guitarist, best known as the original bassist for the British rock band Jethro Tull from 1967 to 1970. ''Rolling Stone'' has called his playing with Tull as " ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

; Hammond organ (on "Singing All Day") *

Jeffrey Hammond Jeffrey Hammond (born 30 July 1946), often known by his former stage name Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, is an artist and retired musician best known for being the bassist of progressive rock band Jethro Tull from 1971 to 1975. With Jethro Tull, Ha ...

(as Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond) – bass guitar (on "Hymn 43", "Locomotive Breath", "Life Is a Long Song", "Up the 'Pool", "Dr. Bogenbroom" and "From Later") *

Clive Bunker Clive William Bunker (born 30 December 1946) is a British drummer. Bunker is best known as the original drummer of the rock band Jethro Tull, playing in the band from 1967 until 1971. Never a self-professed technical drummer, Bunker engaged ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, percussion, backing vocals (on "Dharma for One") *

Barriemore Barlow Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow (born 10 September 1949, Birmingham) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and percussionist for the rock band Jethro Tull, from May 1971 to June 1980. Christened Barrie, 'Barriemore' was an affectation ...

– drums (on "Life Is a Long Song", "Up the 'Pool", "Dr. Bogenbroom" and "From Later") ;Additional personnel *

Dee Palmer Dee Palmer (formerly David Palmer; born 2 July 1937) is an English composer, arranger, and keyboardist best known for having been a member of the progressive rock group Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull from 1976 to 1980 (although she had worked wi ...

– string and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

conductor arrangements (on "Christmas Song" and "Sweet Dream") * Lou Toby – string arrangement and conductor (on " Living in the Past") *

Andy Johns Jeremy Andrew "Andy" Johns (20 May 1950 – 7 April 2013) was a British sound engineer and record producer who worked on several well-known rock albums, including the Rolling Stones' ''Exile on Main St.'' (1972), Television's ''Marquee Moon'' (19 ...

– sound engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* (main) * (UK) * (Truncated)
Jethro Tull - ''Living in the Past'' (1972) album review by Bruce Eder, credits & releases
at

AllMusic.com AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Jethro Tull - ''Living in the Past'' (1972) album releases & credits
at

Discogs.com Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the l ...

Jethro Tull - ''Living in the Past'' (1972) album review by Sviskebisk
at SputnikMusic.com
Jethro Tull - ''Living in the Past'' (1972) album to be listened
as stream at Play.Spotify.com
Jethro Tull - ''Living in the Past'' (1972): Japanese Mini LP replica CD reissue, 2004
{{Authority control Jethro Tull (band) compilation albums 1972 compilation albums Chrysalis Records compilation albums Albums produced by Ian Anderson Albums produced by Terry Ellis (record producer)

Details

Critical reception

Charts

Differences in US version

Track listing

Original vinyl versions

UK vinyl

US vinyl

CD releases

UK single-disc reissue (Chrysalis UK 1990, F2-21575)

American single-disc reissue (Chrysalis US 1992, 0946 3 21035 2 9/F2-21035)

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab edition (UDCD 2-708, 1997 remaster)

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

See also

References

External links