Thick as a Brick
Thick as a Brick (1972) is a concept album by the rock band Jethro Tull. It's lyrics are built around a poem written by a fictitious boy, "Gerald Bostock" or "Little Milton". The album on LP vinyl runs as one seamless track on both sides of the record, being thus "one song".
Band leader Ian Anderson was surprised by the critical reaction to the previous album Aqualung as a "concept album", a label he firmly rejected. With Thick as a Brick, the band set out to create an album deliberately integrated around one concept: a poem by an intelligent English boy about the trials of growing up. At the time (and even today) many people believed that Gerald Bostock was a real person. Beyond this, the album is intended to be a send-up of all pretentious "concept albums". The formula was successful, and the album reached #1 on the charts in the United States.
The original LP cover was a spoof of a 12 by 16 inch (305 by 406 mm) multipage local newspaper with stories, competitions, adverts etc., lampooning the kind of horribly parochial and amateurish local journalism that still exists in many places today. The spoof newspaper had to be heavily abridged for conventional CD covers, but the 25th Anniversary Special Edition CD includes a partial facsimile; some content is missing, such as the original connect the dots activity and part of the "front page".
Personnel
- Ian Anderson: Vocals, acoustic guitar, flute, violin
- Martin Barre: Electric guitar, lute
- John Evan: Piano, organ, harpsichord
- Jeffrey Hammond (as "Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond"): Bass guitar, vocals
- Barriemore Barlow: Drums, percussion, timpani
- Trevor McKillop: saxophone, trumpet
Track listing
- "Thick As A Brick" (Ian Anderson/"Gerald Bostock")
The 25th Anniversary Edition CD added two additional tracks:
- "Thick as a Brick" (Live at Madison Square Garden, 1978)
- Interview with Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Martin Barre and Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond
References as used in the lyrics
- Thick as a brick - A slang expression used to indicate a person who is stupid.
- ERNIE and Premium Bond win - Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment (computer) used to pick the Premium Bond, a type of lottery in the United Kingdom.
- Tenner - £10
- Sarnies - A slang term for Sandwich.
- Biggles - Major James Bigglesworth a fictional hero, originally set in World War I.
- Superman - A comic book character from the United States.
- Robin - A comic book character from the United States.
- Cornwall - A county in England.
- Boy Scout Manual - The handbook of the Boy Scouts of the United Kingdom.