What a Cold Open! Jethro Tull FTW!

A great band dips into their deep archives and shares GOLD.

If you are a regular reader, you probably are aware that I am a Jethro Tull fan. One of their tunes, Locomotive Breath is a fan favorite, and a song that is near and dear to my heart.

Back when we had to forage in the shadows of the Triceratops, and T-Rexes, Jethro Tull released the album Aqualung, and while the title track got the bulk of the attention, deep in the set list is Locomotive Breath.

My connection to this came fairly early in my learning to play guitar, it is a fairly simple riff based on an easy to play chord progression, with plenty of open space to riff on, and solo over.

Flash forward to 1999, and they played this just smoking, intimate audience rendition.

But why I am sharing this is that the intro to the song, even on the original LP version, is a slow build, starting with quiet playing, laying the groundwork for the ripping main event.

This “cold open” just slayed me. And wait until just before the kicking jam for a treat.

I LOVE the Jethro Tull channel on Youtube, they are digging into their deep archive of recordings and videos to share gems regularly. Do sub to them.

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