Yesterday flidaisairmid posted a YouTube of Jethro Tull's Velvet Green, in honor of Beltane, coming up very soon :) Of course I've heard Velvet Green many times, but I'd never seen a performance. Turns out there are quite a few of Jethro Tull's songs online, so I've been enjoying watching some of them, last night and this morning. The group's first album was in 1968, and Ian Anderson at least is still performing. I don't know enough about the group to know if any of the other older members are still there. Over time he's definitely picked up some younger members, and performs both as the group Jethro Tull and as Ian Anderson with other people. A few things that haven't changed about Anderson - he's quite active as a player/singer on stage, and he still plays a killer flute.

Interesting thing is that, even having listened to his music for a few decades, it never really occurred to me to think of his music as particularly speaking out about climate change (although in the 70s the scientists thought that the result of what was happening would be more like a little ice age) or issues with technology, but Skating Away and Heavy Horses do indeed make references to these things (confirmed by his web site). I just thought it was all cool music, and that it was great that we shared similar sentiments about living life :)

This is a later, orchestral piece -- a modernized Pavane, so not typical JT, but fun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgM2txqfKgs&mode=related&search=

And a later rendition of Living in the Past:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Q13YAdBwQ&mode=related&search=

You can also check out earlier performances from the 70's, Skating Away and Heavy Horses, with a quick search on YouTube.