Jethro Tull
A Song For Jeffrey/One For John Gee


Released 1968 on Island
Reviewed by Dave Furgess, 25/01/2001ce


This was the second official Jethro Tull 45 and it remains one of the strangest 45 releases of all time. I first heard this song when my next door neighbor and I played his older brother's copy of the first Tull album and it scared the hell out of me. I was just a punk kid at the time and I actually thought it was made by a bunch of 70 year old men as the front cover displays. In recent years I found out that "Song for Jeffrey" was issued as a single in the UK and I knew I had to have it.

What a bizarre song this is.It starts with a lonesome bass riff by Glenn Cornick played alongside of Ian Anderson's flute. The song then ignites into a twisted psychedelic delta blues stomp,highlighted by some wicked bottleneck guitar by original guitarist Mick Abrahams and Clive Bunker's upfront beat. I have no idea what Anderson is singing about but it still scares me, he sound like he's singing with a mouthful of mush!! I don't know why but "Song for Jeffrey" sounds to me like an out-take from the 13th Floor Elevators' "Bull of the Woods" album. This is one way-out single. The flipside "One For John Gee" is a jazzy instrumental that falls into Eric Dolphy and Charles Lloyd territory.


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