JETHRO TULL


Stormwatch

(1979)



1. North Sea Oil 3'12
2. Orion 3'58
3. Home 2'46
4. Dark Ages 9'14
5. Warm Sporran 3'33
6. Something's On The Move 4'28
7. Old Ghosts 4'23
8. Dun Ringill 2'42
9. Flying Dutchman 7'46
10. Elegy 3'39

Bonus Tracks

11. A Stitch In Time 3'40
12. Crossword 3'38
13. Kelpie 3'38
14. King Henry's Madrigal 3'01

Total Time: 59:38


REMASTERED ALBUM
Stormwatch was to prove to be the last TULL release for four of the band members. Bassist John Glascock had suffered congenital heart problems the year before and, following surgery, had taken time off from the band to convalesce. John rejoined the band for tours and the recording of the new record in 1979. The songs were to be a mixture of moody and dark pieces reflecting the troubled state of the economy. The oil price escalation, energy crises and other depressing world events influenced my writing and thinking. The album was difficult to record as John's health had taken a turn for the worse and, after three tracks had been completed, I took the difficult decision to lay him off again with the strong advice to cut down the partying and to adopt a more healthy and relaxed lifestyle. John was a happy, fun-loving individual and found it impossible to adjust. But his health seemed too precarious to allow him to continue with the late nights and heavy recording schedule. So, much of the record was made with me playing bass and a grey cloud hanging over the whole affair. "Stormwatch" became the apt title, in a foreboding sort of way, and the end result, while being musically satisfying and embodying some of the band members' best playing, left us all emotionally drained. The subsequent tour utilised a stage set of piratical and Disneyesque proportions. A broken-down two-masted sailing ship became our stage every night and it sailed stormy waters (and freeways) across the length and breadth of the USA. Then, one night, came the sad news that John Glascock had died at home in the UK. New bassist, David Pegg, of FAIRPORT CONVENTION fame, had brought new blood to the touring line-up and a new enthusiasm to match. He was to become the longest-serving TULL bassist with 16 years and the Porsche to show for it! Barrie Barlow's disillusionment with touring and the impact of Glascock's death made for an increasingly difficult relationship with me although we had worked so well together on the record. But then, I am not the easiest fellow to get along with - being a bit of a bugger sometimes, in fact. Some of Barrie's best performances are to be found on this record and, since I had the task of playing bass, we bonded in a musical way quite different to usual. Bass-players and drummers have to have that special musical thing going and we found that extra dimension quite easily. But of course, we all would rather have had the healthy presence of John throughout the recording. So let's dedicate this re-mastered Stormwatch to Barrie Barlow who, in his eight years with the band, brought his dynamism, loyalty, humour and musical dedication to the 70's band line-up and left his final and fitting mark on this great collection of songs and performances.

Ian Anderson, 2003

  • Ian Anderson - Vocals, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar
  • Martin Lancelot Âàrrå - Electric Guitar, Mandolin and Classical Guitar
  • Barriemor Barlow - Drums, Percussion
  • John Evan - Piano, Organ
  • David Palmer - Synthesizers, Portative Organ and Orchestral Arrangements
  • John Glasscock - Bass Guitar in "Flying Dutchman", "Orion" and "Elegy"

    Produced by Ian Anderson
    Engineered by Robin Black
    Cover Concept: Ian Anderson
    Art Direction: Peter Wagg
    Cover Painting: David Jackson
    Re-issue Design: Hugh Gilmour on behalf of The RED ROOM @ EMI
    Release Coordination: Tim Chacksfield

    All Songs Composed by Ian Anderson
    Except "Elegy" by David Palmer and "King Henrys Madrigal", Trad, Arranged Palmer
    Other arrangements by JETHRO TULL

    All songs published by The Ian ANDERSON GROUP Of COMPANIES / CHRYSALIS MUSIC PUBLISHING Ltd.

    Recorded at MAISON ROUGE STUDIOS, Fulham and in the MAISON ROUGE MOBILE

    Special Thanks To:

    Francis Wilson, THAMES TV. Weatherman for spoken voice; Leigh Mantle second engineer and all at MAISON ROUGE STUDIOS

    ©2004 CHRYSALIS RECORDS Ltd.
    This labelkopy information is the subject of copyright protection.
    Digital Remasters ©2004




    1. North Sea Oil

      Black and viscous --- bound to cure blue lethargy
      Sugar-plum petroleum for energy
      Tightrope-balanced payments need a small reprieve
      Oh, please believe we want to be
      in North Sea Oil
      New-found wealth sits on the shelf of yesterday
      Hot-air balloon --- inflation soon will make you pay
      Riggers rig and diggers dig their shallow grave
      But we'll be saved and what we crave
      is North Sea Oil
      Prices boom in Aberdeen and London Town
      Ten more years to lay the fears, erase the frown
      before we are all nuclear --- the better way!
      Oh, let us pray: we want to stay
      in North Sea Oil

    2. Orion

      Orion, won't you give me your star sign
      Orion, get up on the sky-line
      I'm high on my hill and I feel fine
      Orion, let's sip the heaven's heady wine

      Orion, light your lights:
      come guard the open spaces
      from the black horizon to the pillow where I lie.
      Your faithful dog shines brighter than its lord and master
      Your jewelled sword twinkles as the world rolls by.
      So come up singing above the cloudy cover
      Stare through at people who toss fitful in their sleep.
      I know you're watching as the old gent by the station
      scuffs his toes on old fag packets lying in the street
      And silver shadows flick across the closing bistro.
      Sweet waiters link their arms and patter down the street,
      their words lost blowing on cold winds in darkest Chelsea.
      Prime years fly fading with each young heart's beat

      Orion, won't you make me a star sign
      Orion, get up on the sky-line
      I'm high on your love and I feel fine
      Orion, let's sip the heaven's heady wine

      And young girls shiver as they wait by lonely bus-stops
      after sad parties: no-one to take them home
      to greasy bed-sitters and make a late-night play
      for lost virginity a thousand miles away.

    3. Home

      As the dawn sun breaks over sleepy gardens
      I'll be here to do all things to comfort you.
      And though I've been away
      left you alone this way
      why don't you come awake
      and let your first smile take me home.
      The shadows in the park were longer yesterday
      and Lady Luck stood still, waiting for the kill.
      And on a jumbo ride
      over seas grey, deep and wide
      I flew for heaven's sake
      and let the angels take me home.
      Down steep and narrow lanes I see the chimneys smoking
      above the golden fields ... know what the robin feels
      in his summer jamboree.
      All elements agree
      in sweet and stormy blend ---
      midwife to winds that send me home.

    4. Dark Ages

      Darlings are you ready for the long winter's fall?
      said the lady in her parlor
      said the butler in the hall.
      Is there time for another?
      cried the drunkard in his sleep.
      Not likely
      said the little child. What's done
      the Lord can keep.
      And the vicar stands a-praying.
      And the television dies
      as the white dot flickers and is gone
      and no-one stops to cry.
      The big jet rumbles over runway miles
      that scar the patchwork green
      where slick tycoons and rich buffoons
      have opened up the seam
      of golden nights and champagne flights
      ad-man overkill
      and in the haze
      consumer crazed
      we take the sugar pill.
      Jagged fires mark the picket lines
      the politicians weep
      and mealy-mouthed
      through corridors of power on tip-toe creep.
      Come and see bureaucracy
      make its final heave
      and let the new disorder through
      while senses take their leave.
      Families screaming line the streets
      and put the windows through
      in corner shops
      where keepers kept
      the country's life-blood blue.
      Take their pick
      and try the trick
      with loaves and fishes shared
      and the vicar shouts
      as the lights go out,
      and no-one really cares.

      Dark Ages
      shaking the dead
      Closed pages
      better not read
      Cold rages
      burn in your head.

    5. Warm Sporran

      (Instrumental)

    6. Something's On The Move

      She wore a black tiara
      rare gems upon her fingers
      and she came from distant waters
      where northern lights explode
      to celebrate the dawning
      of the new wastes of winter
      gathering royal momentum
      on the icy road.
      With chill mists swirling
      like petticoats in motion
      sighted on horizons
      for ten thousand years
      the lady of the ice sounds
      a deathly distant rumble
      to Titanic-breaking children lost
      in melting crystal tears.
      Capturing black pieces
      in a glass-fronted museum
      the white queen rolls
      on the chessboard of the dawn
      squeezing through the valleys
      pausing briefly in the corries
      the Ice-Mother mates
      and a new age is born.
      Driving all before her
      un-stoppable, un-straining
      her cold creaking mass
      follows reindeer down.
      Thin spreading fingers seek
      to embrace the sill-warm bundles
      that huddle on the doorsteps
      of a white London Town.
      Oh, sunshine --- take me now away from here
      I'm a needle on a spiral in a groove.
      And the turntable spins
      as the last waltz begins
      And the weather-man says
      something's on the move.

    7. Old Ghosts

      Hair stands high on the cat's back like
      a ridge of threatening hills.
      Sheepdogs howl, make tracks and growl ---
      their tails hanging low.
      And young children falter in their games
      at the altar of life's hide-and-seek
      between tall pillars, where Sunday-night killers
      in grey raincoats peek.

      Misty colours unfold a backcloth cold ---
      fine tapestry of silk
      I draw around me like a cloak
      and soundless glide a-drifting
      on eddies whirled in beech leaves furled ---
      brown and gold they fly
      in the warm mesh of sunlight
      sifting now from a cloudless sky.

      I'll be coming again like an old dog in pain
      Blown through the eye of the hurricane
      Down to the stones where old ghosts play.

    8. Dun Ringill

      Clear light on a slick palm
      as I mis-deal the day
      Slip the night from a shaved pack
      make a marked card play
      Call twilight hours down
      from a heaven home
      high above the highest bidder
      for the good Lord's throne
      In the wee hours I'll meet you
      down by Dun Ringill ---
      oh, and we'll watch the old gods play
      by Dun Ringill
      We'll wait in stone circles
      `til the force comes through ---
      lines joint in faint discord
      and the stormwatch brews
      a concert of kings
      as the white sea snaps
      at the heels of a soft prayer
      whispered
      In the wee hours I'll meet you
      down by Dun Ringill ---
      oh, and I'll take you quickly
      by Dun Ringill

    9. Flying Dutchman

      Old lady with a barrow; life near ending
      Standing by the harbour wall; warm wishes sending
      children on the cold sea swell ---
      not fishers of men ---
      gone to chase away the last herring:
      come empty home again.
      So come all you lovers of the good life
      on your supermarket run ---
      Set a sail of your own devising
      and be there when the Dutchman comes.
      Wee girl in a straw hat: from far east warring
      Sad cargo of an old ship: young bodies whoring
      Slow ocean hobo --- ports closed to her crew
      No hope of immigration --- keep on passing through.
      So come all you lovers of the good life
      your children playing in the sun ---
      set a sympathetic flag a-flying
      and be there when the Dutchman comes.

      Death grinning like a scarecrow --- Flying Dutchman
      Seagull pilots flown from nowhere --- try and touch one
      as she slips in on the full tide
      and the harbour-master yells
      All hands vanished with the captain ---
      no one left, the tale to tell.

      So come all you lovers of the good life
      Look around you, can you see?
      Staring ghostly in the mirror ---
      it's the Dutchman you will be
      ..floating slowly out to sea
      in a misty misery.

    10. Elegy

      (Instrumental)

    11. A Stitch In Time

      I work in dark factories --- a cog in the big wheel
      driving grey satanic mills and weaving sad stories.
      And faceless masters --- oh, they pay me plenty ---
      crumbs from their luncheon packs, harsh wine from
      bottles halk empty.

      A stitch in time saves nine.
      Said Cock Robin from the wall.
      It's an early bird catches the worm.
      Show a little pride before you fall.
      So I flew to the south sun with birds of a feather
      to drink in the warm nights and tell of fine weather.
      A stitch in time saves nine.

      Listen all you young folk --- your lives on a timetable
      clocking on twenty-one --- fly while you're able.
      A stitch in time saves nine.

    12. Crossword

      Walking on air, shoulder and head above you.
      Down in the street, black canyons walking through.
      Hooded sad eyes, fixed on your shuffle shoes.
      Life is a clue in your crossword.

      Typewriter turk. Telephone terror takes time to wind down.
      Push-button finger shakes.
      City of dreams. Back to your quiet nightmare.
      Your life is a clue in the crossword.

      Working to rule in your own time.
      Drag yourself home to your star sign page.
      Staying awake on cold yesterday's steak and warm beer.

      Ladder of string --- climbing to sweet success.
      Homework aside. Your brain on the train to test.
      Pick up the news (you left on the seat beside you).
      Your life is a clue in the crossword.

    13. Kelpie

      There was a warm wind with the high tide
      on the south of the hill.
      When a young girl went a-walking
      and I followed with a will.
      ``Good day to you, my fine young lady
      with your lips so sweetly full.
      May I help you comb your long hair ---
      sweep it from that brow so cool?''

      Up, ride with the kelpie.
      I'll steal your soul to the deep.
      If you don't ride with me while the devil's free
      I'll ride with somebody else.

      Well I'm a man when I'm feeling
      the urge to step ashore.
      So I may charm you --- not alarm you.
      Tell you all fine things, and more.
      Up, ride with the kelpie.
      I'll steal your soul to the deep.
      If you don't ride with me while the devil's free
      I'll ride with somebody else.

      Say goodbye to all your dear kin ---
      for they hate to see you go
      in your young prime, to this place of mine
      in the still loch far below.
      Up, ride with the kelpie.
      I'll steal your soul to the deep.
      If you don't ride with me while the devil's free
      I'll ride with somebody else.

    14. King Henry's Madrigal

      (Instrumental)