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"...Alive And Well And Living In 2021..."
When the pudgy 2CD/1DVD 'A Collector's Edition' card digipak reissue of Tull's 1970 third studio album "Benefit" appeared in October 2013 - most fans loved it – even if it did feel a tad clunky on the visual front.
But since the 'book' series has advanced (serious reissues seriously praised) - "Benefit" and its absence in that handsome rat pack has been a hole in a wall of hardback digipak editions most fans have longed to fill.
Well, here on Friday, 5 November 2021 is the 'The 50th Anniversary Enhanced Edition' of "Benefit" by JETHRO TULL - a stunning six-disc visual and audio upgrade (4CDs and 2DVDs) that makes most other 50th Anniversary sets seem positively dowdy. Here are the actual benefits...
Chrysalis 0190295201616 (UK) is beautifully done (barcode is the same number) – 2CDs in the front hardback cover (the album Remastered and Remixed by STEVEN WILSON including associated Stereo and Mono mixes), Disc 3 in the first hard-card leaf (Live At Tanglewood 1970), Disc 4 in the final leaf (Live In Chicago 1970) and 2DVDS in the rear hardback cover (Steve Wilson Audio mixes of the album with bonuses in Stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound plus flat transfers on DVD1 with DVD2 being a visual of the Live At Tanglewood 1970 concert).
Fans have come to have high expectations for these Tull digibook sets – fan involvement and historian contributions with rare picture sleeves, press announcements and reviews, concert posters, pictures of venues, timelines etc – and the 100-page attached booklet doesn’t disappoint (the 2013 version had 42-pages, so a massive amount of extra material). Every aspect of that 1969 to 1970 period is covered (even early Aqualung sessions for that 1971 magnum opus). There is an interview with Studio Engineer ROBIN WOOD, interviews with the band on recording sessions, lyrics to all album tracks and the stand-alone singles (which wasn’t on the 2013 issue), a day-by-day breakdown leading up the April (US) and May 1970 (UK) album release and beyond - and every possible catalogue number and chart position for the UK and USA. It’s truly a wonder and I cannot imagine how many man-hours it took to collate and typeset.
And the STEVE WILSON Remixes and Remasters sound spectacular (not just good) – after decades of my battered Chrysalis LP – it is genuinely shocking to hear stuff like "Alive And Well And Living In" and "Sossity" sound this sonically empowered – Anderson’s vocals leaping out of your speakers with snotty intent. Here is a breakdown...
CD1 (76:19 minutes):
A Steven Wilson Stereo Remix
1. With You There To Help Me
2. Nothing To Say
3. Alive And Well And Living In
4. Son
5. For Michael Collins, Jeffrey And Me
6. To Cry For A Song [Side 2]
7. A Time For Everything?
8. Inside
9. Play In Time
10. Sossity: You're A Woman
Tracks 1 to 10 make up their 3rd album "Benefit" – released 20 April 1970 in the USA on Reprise RS 6400 and 1 May 1970 in the UK (delayed from 24 April 1970) on Chrysalis/Island ILPS 9123. Produced by IAN ANDERSON - peaked at No. 11 (USA) and No. 3 (UK).
ASSOCIATED RECORDINGS (A Steven Wilson Stereo Remix):
11. Singing All Day (Stereo)
12. Sweet Dream (Stereo)
13. 17 (Stereo)
14. Teacher – (4:58 minutes, UK Single Version, Stereo)
15. Teacher – (4:03 minutes, US Album Version, Stereo)
16. My God (Early Version) - Studio Outtake from early 'Aqualung' sessions recorded 11 and 12 April 1970 – Extra Flute Passages – 9:06 minutes
17. Just Trying To Be - Studio Outtake from early 'Aqualung' sessions recorded 11 April 1970 – mostly Anderson and Acoustic - 1:39 minutes
NOTES: Tracks 16 and 17 did not appear on the 2013 'A Collector's Edition'
CD2 – Original 1969-1970 Mono Mixes (77:37 minutes):
1. Singing All Day (Previously Unreleased 1969 Mono Mix)
2. Sweet Dream (Mono Single Mix)
3. 17 (Mono Single Mix)
Tracks 2 and 3 released 17 October 1969 as a UK 45-single on Chrysalis WIP 6070 (peaked at No. 7)
4. The Witch's Promise (EUR single double 'A' side; mono mix not used in the UK)
5. Teacher (UK Single Version - EUR single double 'A' side; mono mix not used in the UK)
6. Teacher (US Album Version - Mono Reduction Mix used for US single 'B' side)
7. Inside (UK Single 'A' Side)
8. Alive And Well And Living In (Mono Reduction Mix for US single 'B' side)
9. A Time For Everything (Mono Reduction Mix for US single 'B' side)
ORIGINAL 1969-1970 STEREO MIXES
10. Sweet Dream (Unused Stereo Mix prepared for the Side 'A' of an unissued US promo single for FM stereo radio)
11. 17 (Unused Stereo Mix prepared for the Side 'A' of an unissued US promo single for FM stereo radio)
12. The Witch's Promise (UK single version double 'A' side – disc transfer)
13. Teacher (UK single version double 'A' side – disc transfer)
14. The Witch's Promise (US promo single 'A' prepared for FM stereo radio)
15. Teacher (US Album Version – Us Promo Single 'B' side prepared for FM stereo radio)
1971 STEREO REMIXES
16. Singing All Day
17. Sweet Dream
18. The Witch's Promise
19. Teacher (US Album Version)
ORIGINAL RADIO SPOTS
15. Benefit AM Radio Spot No. 1 (Mono)
16. Benefit FM Radio Spot No. 2 (Stereo) – issued to US Radio Stations May/June 1970 on Reprise PRO 395
Notes: Although the running order is rejiggered, CD2 is the same 16 tracks that were on the 2013 reissue; three here were Previously Unreleased Mixes at that time – Tracks 1 (Mono), 10 and 11 (Stereo)
CD3 (69:19 minutes) and DVD 2 (Previously Unreleased)
LIVE AT TANGLEWOOD 1970 – A Steven Wilson Stereo Remix
(Recorded 7 July 1970 for Bill Graham’s ‘Fillmore At Tanglewood’ Show)
1. Introduction And Tuning
2. Nothing Is Easy
3. My God (incl. Flute Solo)
4. With You There To Help Me / By Kind Permission Of
5. Dharma For One (incl. Drum Solo (edited on CD))
6. We Used To Know
7. Guitar Instrumental
8. For A Thousand Mothers
CD4 (75:19 minutes, Previously Unreleased):
LIVE IN CHICAGO 1970 (Recorded in Mono directly from the soundboard by John Burns at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois on 16 August 1970)
1. Introduction And Tuning
2. My Sunday Feeling
3. My God (incl. Flute Solo)
4. To Cry You A Song
5. With You There To Help Me / By Kind Permission Of
6. Sossity: You're A Woman / Reasons For Waiting
7. Nothing Is Easy
8. Dharma For One (incl. Drum Solo (edited))
9. We Used To Know
10. Guitar Instrumental
11. For A Thousand Mothers
DVD 1 (Audio Only - As per 2013 Reissue)
Steven Wilson's 2013 Stereo Mixes of "Benefit" and 5 Extra Tracks in DTS and Dolby AC3 5.1 Surround & Stereo 96/24 LPCM (65:06 minutes)
Flat transfers of the Original UK and US LP Master in 96/24 LCPM (59:59 minutes)
Additional Tracks "Sweet Dream", "17" and "The Witch's Promise"
DVD 2 (Video, NTSC, All Regions (0) – Previously Unreleased)
The 1970 Tanglewood Concert on video with Steven Wilson’s 2020 audio Remix in DTS and Dolby AC 3 5.1 Surround and Stereo 96/24 LPCM
More than a year and a half late for a 50th Anniversary celebration of the original LP (1970 to 2020) and pandemic delays aside, the packaging and audio upgrades here in 2021 are both fantastic. But I must admit that non-fans will probably tire of the multiple versions of Teacher, Sweet Dream, 17 and of course The Witch's Promise on CD 1 and 2 (never mind live versions) - but that 9:06 minute outtake of "My God" with the wild flute soloing in the centre is an absolute blast and shows more clearly than anything before how fast Anderson and his songwriting was racing ahead (one of two new extras dovetailing CD1). And that Just Trying To Be may only be 1:39 long, but its ethereally beautiful.
Come the Tanglewood live set, you can hear how tight the band is, eager, sharp, taking on America and doing it bravely too with material the audience clearly doesn't know. I was impressed at the live sets and their sound (CD 3 in Stereo and Remixed by whiz Wilson, CD4 in Mono but still punchy and with a few cuts we didn’t have before. For Tull nuts, the live sets are another sneak preview into their band in primo-form - hitting the crowd right in the eyes with old chestnuts and newbees that would quickly become celebrated the following year as classics.
Jethro Tull would go global in 1971 with "Aqualung" and rightly so. And it has to be truthfully said that Benefit's illustrious follow up is a better crop of songs and a more coherent LP in every way. But this fabulous reissue of 1970's "Benefit" should surely mean that this forgotten bow in Tull's arsenal of strings should be reappraised. Well done to all involved...
I know it's not for everyone, but this lavish go at "Benefit" again is a reissue winner (six discs for under thirty-five quid). Hell, at this rate, we might even get my all-time Tull-crave - 1972's "Living In The Past" double-album which in 2022 will reach its 50th anniversary (a super-duper deluxe edition with the double LP in that hardback book packaging please and shed loads more).
'Nothing is easy' with Tull, but they sure do it right for their fans. A reissue of the year for 2021 without hesitation...
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