A Groundbreaking Song by Jethro Tull: Aqualung - What you didn’t you know???

In this episode, I pay homage to Jethro Tull’s great
groundbreaking song, AQUALUNG! I breakdown the riff, the
song, and the history…
Carl Baldassarre

#JethroTull
#prog
#CarlBaldassarre

[Peter-ztk]

Barre’s solo on Aqualung is one the best ever, gives me goosebumps when I hear it!

[robst]

The whole album -- everything about it -- is pure genius. I was a 13-year-old schoolboy when I first heard the album Aqualung as background music during a free art practice class. It blew my mind, and I've loved it ever since. It's timeless music, with brilliant, poetic lyrics. Martin Barre is a superb guitarist.

[markdess]

Couldn’t agree more … Martin Barre’s solo is one of, if not THE best solos of all time

[gregoryguitars]

Man, I gotta say; to my ear and brain power, you are without a doubt the best guitar instructor on YouTube. I have a college degree in music theory and build guitars for a living and I learn more from you in 20 minutes than I could anywhere else. Thanks man

[FistOFrost]

I love this breakdown! Jethro Tull, one of the most brilliant bands ever.

[Galantski]

If Martin Barre had never recorded another note in his life that solo alone would easily have cemented his place in the annals of guitarists as one of the all-time greats.

[arthurbishop]

I like the sad, acoustic part. It's THAT PART that gives the song the most feeling and color imo.

[dontrapani]

I've waited a long time for someone to give this song its true merit, and Baldassarre has done a great job. I was 22 when this album came out, and I didn't actually buy a lot of records in those days. But this was one that I had to have, and along with Who's Next, it was my pick for best album of 1971. The days of the Beatles making albums that you would play every track on were gone by 1971, and then Tull released this album that I played and played and played. Every song was a masterpiece, and I thought the opener and closer were all-time classics. The pure musicianship is off the charts, the piano is simply amazing as well. And I have always been disappointed that Martin Barre's guitar solo wasn't rated at least Top Ten of all time in the various polls over the past 50 years. In my book, it has always been, note for note, the best rock solo I've ever heard. Thanks for giving it its due, Carl.

[angelomoshopoulos]

When I realized back in the 80's that the song was about homelessness, I can't help but cry every time I hear it. Martin Barre was so huge as a guitarist. Thanks for doing it.

[stevesirbaugh]

I saw Martin Barre last night on his 'A Brief History of Tull' tour and he was amazing. I'm not a guitarist but I have really enjoyed watching this video, and Carl's other one about the Top 10 Tull guitar riffs from 1969 to 1971, that have given me more insight into what I saw Martin do and why it's so special. I was fortunate enough to have seen Tull several times back in the 70s so seeing Martin again at age 76 and still rocking the way he does is inspiring.

[nikha]

Martin Barre is such an underrated guitarist, certainly a favorite of mine. Saw him live just earlier this year, and it's amazing how much energy and fun he still has on stage. He's certainly brought the "rock" into Jethro Tull, his riffs just tend to be overshadowed by Ian Anderson's flute.

[ricenglish]

You are something else, Carl. First of all, I love the Sunburst Gibson you are playing. Martin is my all-time favorite lead guitarist, but every time I mention him to someone else, they give me a blank stare. You know great riffs, runs, fills, and leads. Plus, your playing is outstanding. This is awesom, Carl. Thanks. p.s. -- That question and answer on the solo is really cool. I hear it. I always did, but I didn't categorize it as such.

[JohnnyArtPavlou]

Dear CB, everything you do has such a beautiful eloquence and clarity to it. From the way you dress and the way you sit in the way you speak to the loving way in which you bring forth the beautiful details of these magical rock songs that we love so much. I hope your channel explodes. You certainly deserve a million subscribers.

[michaelcornish]

Saw Martin Barre and his band at The Gov in Adelaide maybe two years ago. So so good. Martin played brilliantly, with a full examination of so many great Tull classics. No flute! However, the band made it all work. He was a real live wire and had seemed to have so much fun playing. His drummer was AMAZING!

[luapsel]

Thank you SO much Carl!... I REMEMBER the FIRST time I saw Martin Barre play Aqualung and the BAND filling IN those Second- Inversion CHORDS after the Intro Riff and Power Chords! . I wasn't well- versed in theory YET, just started playing guitar, but I KNEW the SOUND was Unusual for Rock and Roll but it was SO DAMN COOL...!! Thank you for Showing it, on the guitar, although I WISH I could SEE your fingers better!... Kudos!

[geoffsimpkins]

I’ve always maintained that the guitar solo in Aqualung was the most appropriate solo ever. Fits the song so perfectly.

[stanspb]

What a great discussion of that song and the era. I was not very musicial but was an electronics nerd and when the N.A. tour to support that album came my way in that they wanted a sound system that was unique at the time, more hi-fi and dynamic than some Altec A7s, I was a designer with a small 4 person company and on spec along, threw everything into building a hi-fi sound system that would do both the heavy rock and the acoustic sections justice. It was a complete re-thinking of a touring system and needed to design the power amps, clusters of individual power amp per cab, for each of bottom, mids and hf, the first tri-amp'd system with electronic cross overs, and a unique at the time mixing console. The console was the first one to have switchable ballistics for Vu and PPM metering, parametic Eq on every channel, linear home made faders, and many other features that had not been seen before in touring or fixed install systems....all on spec using every penny we had expecting to win the sound tests the tour manager arranged for various sound companies to set up their systems for a live audition. We would have been bankrupted if we did not win but we did, and were the only ones who never were on tour before. We babied that system all over North America and sometimes an amp would blow so one of use would leave early to be able to search parts stores for the high power transistors and repair them in the hotel room. There were 12 amps per side, all home made. It did sound good but I swore off my first and only tour.
The band was GREAT, and Ian was a jewel. I lost track of them for years because I ended up owning a large 3 studio complex and was busy recording.

I gave everything away in 1999 and moved to St Petersburg Russia in early 2000. I was walking through a popular pub named Liverpool that featured authentic Beatles memorabilia that had become the home watering hole for UK bands playing tours in Russia. I walked past a table with 10 people on it mostly young except for one guy who was bald and old like me. I heard him talk as I walked by to go talk to my friend, the owner from Iceland. I asked the owner who that was because his voice sounded familar. The reply was Ian Anderson and it all came back to me. I went back to the group stood across from him just staring and he was obviously uncomfortable so it interupted the story he was telling to the younger band members. Finally he spoke to me "May I help you?" I replied "Dallas, stage right, curtain, fire" and a light went off in his eyes..and we met again 26 years later. One my my power amps blew up, safely taking itself off line and caught the curtain on fire. The audience thought it was part of the show. But it was out in seconds. No one let on that it was not planned. We hugged and he told his young members about that tour that was very memorable for all of us. He invited my GF and me to attend the concern in 2 hours and arranged for back stage since it was sold out in the large concert hall. He returned several times every other year. I ran into the Rolling Stones at the same pub before one of there shows but I never had direct involvement with them but we shared a lot of common friends.
I LOVED Aqualung and the group, and my first and last tour.
My work was making albums and designing gear when needed. My studio did many many gold and platinum albums from everyone from Fleetwood Mac (Rumours), Stevie Wonder(Songs in the Key of Life), Whitney Houston, Heat, Journey, Arethea Franklin, Metallica, Huey Lewis and the News( Sports, and the original songs for the movie Back to the Future) Santana, Tower of Power, Boz Skaggs, Van Morrison, Starship, and too many to count.

[johnvrabec]

Great analysis! My favorite part of the solo is near the end when the feedback swells and then he snaps it off so quickly. Brilliant.

[garysexton]

Comment’s I’ve just read are from a year ago so I’m not sure you’re going to see mine. It’s 5/12/23 and my first viewing of your dive into Aqualung and I love it. MB is in my top five best guitarists. I have seen them from 1971-present. You need to view the 1970 Isle of Wight video performance of Tull. You will see the madness and musicianship of Ian and how tight the band was. I suggest that you also listen to the Minstrel in the Gallery album one of Martin’s incredible guitar works ! And I agree with you that Martin’s guitar works were overshadowed by Ian’s flute ( obviously by the critics of the time), but I recognized that Ian and Martin made the sound of Tull. I could go on and on. But now that I’m subscribed I will check out what you already have and I hope you will dive deeper into Tull ! I thoroughly enjoyed my first video of you and learned a lot so thanks. I will be commenting in the future. God bless you for your work!

[tommonk]

I went to college in 1978, and friend of mine down the hall in my dorm would only listen to Jethro Tull music in his room. He had seen Tull live 4 times and absolutely loved them. I was forced to become immersed in their music. LOL. I became a fan.