Comments
Stand Up is the second studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1969. Before recordings for the album began, the band's original guitarist Mick Abrahams resigned because of musical differences with Ian Anderson; Abrahams wanted to stay with the blues rock sound of their 1968 debut, This Was, while Anderson wished to add other musical influences such as folk rock. He was replaced by guitarist Martin Barre, who appeared on every Jethro Tull album from this point on.[1]
Stand Up represents the first album project on which Anderson was in full control of the music and lyrics. The result was an eclectic album with various styles appearing in its songs, yet an album which remained somewhat in the blues rock mould, which would be the last such album from Jethro Tull.
The album quickly went to number 1 in the UK charts, while the non-album single "Living in the Past" rose to number 3.[2]
Jethro Tull are an English rock band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1967. Initially playing blues rock, the band developed its sound to incorporate elements of British folk music and hard rock to forge a progressive rock signature.[1] The band is led by vocalist/flautist/guitarist Ian Anderson, and featured a revolving door of lineups through the years including significant members such as longtime guitarist Martin Barre, keyboardist John Evan, drummers Clive Bunker, Barriemore Barlow, and Doane Perry, and bassists Glenn Cornick, Jeffrey Hammond, and Dave Pegg.
The group first achieved commercial success in 1969, with the folk-tinged blues album Stand Up, which reached No. 1 in the UK, and they toured regularly in the UK and the US. Their musical style shifted in the direction of progressive rock with the albums Aqualung (1971), Thick as a Brick (1972) and A Passion Play (1973), and shifted again to hard rock mixed with folk rock with Songs from the Wood (1977) and Heavy Horses (1978). Jethro Tull have sold an estimated 60 million albums worldwide,[2] with 11 gold and five platinum albums among them.[3] They have been described by Rolling Stone as "one of the most commercially successful and eccentric progressive rock bands".[4]
