Jethro Tull have announced that they will release a Steven Wilson remix of their fabled The Château D’herouville Sessions on vinyl for the very first time. The new double vinyl set will be released through Warners Records on March 15.
The material was recorded back in the summer of 1972 at the famous French recording studio where the likes of David Bowie, Elton John, Pink Floyd and Cat Stevens had previously recorded. The band were riding on the back of the massive success of their Thick As A Brick album, and recorded a wealth of new material.
The sessions, nicknamed 'The Disaster Sessions' by the band, were beset by problems that included a series of equipment failures, bed bugs and food poisoning. Yet the band returned to London with the intention of continuing work on the n ew material.
History shows that never happened, with the work cast aside in favour of a brand new studio album, 1973's A Passion Play. Ian Anderson did complete and rework most of the original material to release on the Nightcap album as the Chateau d’Isaster Tapes. Then in 2013, they received a make-over by Steven Wilson, for inclusion on the A Passion Play: An Extended Performance book-set.
"There are some good things going on there, and I really quite like the songs which had lyrics, lots of theatrical references such as the bomb in the dressing room," Anderson recalls. "I was trying to create this idea of the world of theatre somehow mirroring the real life outside on the streets and in society."
Full track details are below, as well as the new vinyl release artwork.
Pre-order The Château D’herouville Sessions.
Jethro Tull: The Château D’herouville Sessions
Side 1 1 (Reel date: 10th September 1972)
1. The Big Top
2. Scenario
3. Audition
4. Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The New Day
5. Sailor
6. No Rehearsal
Side 2 (Reel date: 15th September 1972)
1. Left Right
2. Only Solitaire
3. Critique Oblique (Part I)
4. Critique Oblique (Part II)
Side 3 (Reel date: 25th September 1972)
1. Animelee (1st Dance)
2. Animelee (2nd Dance)
3. The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles
4. Law Of The Bungle (Part I)
5. Tiger Toon
6. Law Of The Bungle (Part II)
Side 4 (Original Released Mixes)
1. Scenario [1988 mix]
2. Audition [1988 mix]
3. No Rehearsal [1988 mix]
4. Only Solitaire [1974 mix]
5. The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles [1973 mix]
6. Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The New Day [1974 mix]
