I have a pretty big collection of vinyl records.  Not huge, but big enough where I know there are records here that I’ve never even listened to but always imagined “getting around to”.  As a New Year’s resolution (let’s consider this a New School Year’s Resolution) I’ve decided that I’m going to listen to one album, in its entirety, everyday for a year.  Now I’m a pretty busy guy; always on the go, so with that in mind I plan to make up for days when I’m gone by doubling up on the adjoining days. 

The system that I’m using is a Technics Direct Drive SL-D2 turntable with a Shure M97xE Audiophile cartridge attached through a Pioneer SX-650 receiver.  The speakers are a pair of early Advent Legacy II that I re-foamed about 3 years ago.  It is the system that I will be using through the process as I’m not prone to switching things in and out once I’ve settled on a system.  I do not have “golden ears”.  I’m convinced that I can’t hear the difference between music played on a real high quality audiophile system and a mid range setup like mine.  I won’t be talking about the clarity and crispness, the response or the distortion.  I’ll be talking only about the albums and the music contained therein.  

My collection is somewhere over 700 albums, I know because my daughter, Aria, just counted them.  There are 4 crates at around 95 albums each, a record cabinet that holds around 140 records plus some loose ones out.  All told there are just under 600 in the main listening room.  My biggest issue with this project is: which album gets to be the first?  Should I start with my favorites?  That’s tough because, being my favorites, I’ve already listened to them recently.  Should I start with ones I’ve never listened to before?  I’d hate to take the gamble that my first album would be one that I would end up not liking all that much.  Do I start with something “hip” and obscure to show how “cool” my record collection is?  No, God, I’d want to punch myself in the neck. 

Easiest way is to just let Aria pick the first album.  She chose based on which one had the coolest packaging.  Can’t blame her. Aria just picked and so we are listening to

                Jethro Tull: Living in the Past.

She picked it because it was in a book style cover, it looked cool and she likes books.  Her words, not mine.

I can remember finding this album when I was a kid and thinking I had stumbled onto some rare piece for my vinyl collection.  It really is the coolest thing to come across in a used record store or thrift shop.  Turns out though that it is not all that rare.  Doesn't stop me from rescuing them every time I come across them at the Salvation Army.  It’s like a large format photo book with pictures of the band members, each with their own page, some pages with groups shots on them and vinyl albums inside on the green Chrysalis label.  How lucky am I that Aria’s pick was a Jethro Tull double album?!  One of my favorites but also one that I haven't listened to in YEARS.

Living in the Past, released in 1972 (two years before I was born) was not an actual album that was recorded and released as an album but rather a collection of different singles, live performances and outtakes recorded by Jethro Tull over the years and put into this amazing collection. My copy is a little worn as I found it used but it has also traveled with me to summer camp, college, 3 different apartments and finally here.  Still sounds great.  I forgot what a great listening album it is.  My wife isn’t exactly a Jethro Tull fan and so I find I can only listen to this when she’s gone!



So many great tracks on here, all that I fell in love with when I first discovered Jethro Tull back when I was in 9th or 10th grade.  My favorite at the time was Bouree but also a huge fan of Witch's Promise,  Living in the Past, A Song for Jeffrey, Singing All Day, Life's a Long Song, Hymn 43... heck, I'm a huge fan of all of them.  Sides one and two and four consist of studio recordings.  Side three was recorded live at Carnegie Hall and consists of "By Kind Permission of" which the band often used as an introduction to "Locomotive Breath" though on here it stands alone. This then leads into "Dharma For One".   There's good stuff here though I'm sure it was much more fun live than it is to listen to on record.  Aria and I started a puzzle at this point.  As a kid I used to skip this side and tended to listen mainly to side one as it had "Bouree" and "Living in the Past".  Even then I never had the time to sit and listen to the whole album all the way through!


Side four is a great way to go out.  I never get to hear "Wond'ring Again" and ending with the short but sweet "Nursie" makes me want to keep going on to the next Tull record.  But I'll save that for another day.