CATFISH RISING

In December 1990, Jethro Tull started recording a set of new songs. Anderson had been working on several acoustic oriented songs, based on mandolin, acoustic and electric guitars, rather than on the keyboards, that had dominated the previous Rock Island and Crest Of A Knave. Anderson's aim was to write and record a set of entertaining, light-hearted songs, with lots of humour and warmth. Acoustic instruments were more suitable to obtain this than the synthesised sounds. The result was a set of rustic and direct songs with an overall BLUESY mood. The catfish is an image applied by many black American country blues singers and the Mississippi Delta is a natural environment for catfish. Perhaps "rising" could be an allusion to the fact that the blues influence in Tull's music is once again "rising" after 1968 This Was. The songs were recorded by the nucleus of Jethro Tull in those days: Anderson, Pegg, Perry and Barre and 3 different keyboard players: John Bundrick, Foss Paterson and ANDREW GIDDINGS, who would join Tull one year later when Martin Allcock was dismissed. On three tracks Matt Pegg took up the bass work for his dad Dave, who was unable to participate due to his involvement with Fairport Convention at the time. Apart from the 13 songs on this album 5 more were recorded: "Night In The Wilderness" (good one) which was released on the "This Is Not Love"-single and "Truck Stop Runner", "Rosa On The Factory Floor", "Piece Of Cake", "Silver River Turning", released on 1993 Nightcap. This album can be considered as a good, yet not at all a remarkable one. This Is Not Love is a good hard guitar played track. This is the traditional opener in all JT hard rock trilogy: in Crest Of A Knave: Steel Monkey; in Rock Island: Kissing Willie. Roll Yer Own is a strange one.humoristic one both lyrically and musically! Rocks On The Road is one of the best here. Lyrically speaking, this song is a very dark and sad one. On stage Anderson ironically introduced this song by saying it was about a travelling salesman. And of course it is, though we must not forget that in a sense he himself is a kind of travelling salesman, bringing music and merchandise to audiences, hopping from country to country.

Other remarkable pieces are Doctor To My Disease, Occasional Demons, Still Loving You Tonight.

It's self evident: this 1991 album is NOT at the same level of the previous one. Maybe the opener title track is a revealer!!

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