''Benefit'' is the third studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released in April 1970. It was the first Tull album to include pianist and organist John Evan – though he was not yet considered a permanent member of the group – and the last to include bass guitarist Glenn Cornick, who was fired from the band upon completion of touring for the album. It was recorded at

Morgan Studios Morgan Studios (founded as Morgan Sound Studios) was an independent recording studio in Willesden in northwest London. Founded in 1967, the studio was the location for recordings by such notable artists as Jethro Tull, the Kinks, Paul McCartney, ...

, the same studio where the band recorded its previous album '' Stand Up''; however, they experimented with more advanced recording techniques. Frontman Ian Anderson said that he considers ''Benefit'' to be a much darker album than ''Stand Up'', owing to the pressures of an extensive U.S. tour and frustration with the music business.

Production

Guitarist Martin Barre said that ''Benefit'' was a lot easier to make than previous albums, as the success of ''Stand Up'' allowed the musicians more artistic latitude. Bassist Glenn Cornick stated that the band's intention was to capture a more "live" feeling as "I felt the last one sounded like a group of session musicians performing various songs. It was pretty cold." ''Benefit'' incorporated studio techniques such as reverse recording (flute and piano tracks on "With You There to Help Me"), and manipulating the tape speed (guitar on "Play in Time"). In a 1970 interview Anderson noted that the addition of keyboardist John Evan had changed the band's style: "John has added a new dimension musically and I can write more freely now. In fact anything is possible with him at the keyboard".

Musical style

Ian Anderson said that ''Benefit'' was a "guitar

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...

" album, recorded in a year in which artists like

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...

were becoming more riff-oriented. Anderson also noted that ''Benefit'' is "a rather dark and stark album and, although it has a few songs on it that are rather okay, I don't think it has the breadth, variety or detail that ''Stand Up'' has. But it was an evolution in terms of the band playing as 'a band.'" Overall, Anderson considered the album "a natural part of the group's evolution". According to Martin Barre "To Cry You a Song" was a response to Blind Faith's "Had to Cry Today", "although you couldn't compare the two; nothing was stolen ... The riff crossed over the bar in a couple of places and Ian and I each played guitars on the backing tracks. It was more or less live in the studio with a couple of overdubs and a solo. Ian played my Gibson SG and I played a

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz guitarist, jazz, country guitarist, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid body ...

on it."

Releases

The UK and the US release are different. The US version (with flute) of "

Teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

" was placed on side two of the album, and the track "Alive and Well and Living In" was excluded. In the UK, "Teacher" was the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the non-album single "

The Witch's Promise "The Witch's Promise" is a single by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released in January 1970, on the Chrysalis label. It reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart, and was promoted by an appearance on the British chart show ''Top of the Pops ...

", and was without a flute. In 2013, the Collector's Edition of ''Benefit'' was released. It contains bonus tracks mixed by Steven Wilson, a disc with mono and stereo mixes of rare and previously unreleased versions of tracks and singles and an audio-only DVD that includes a surround sound mix of the original album. The Collector's Edition also includes a booklet featuring an 8,000-word essay written by

Martin Webb Martin Webb (born 1964) is a British-born entrepreneur, television presenter and currently a property developer He presented the series ''Risking It All'' aired on Channel 4 in 2005. He wrote regular articles for the business supplement of the ...

, as well as interviews with band members and a selection of photos, some previously unseen. For the 50th anniversary of the album, an enhanced edition was released in 2021, consisting of four CDs and two DVDs.

Critical reception

Critics were generally unimpressed with ''Benefit'' upon its release. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' called the album "lame and dumb". '' Disc and Music Echo'' was also unimpressed but recognized the band's quality: "This album doesn't advance by such a drastic leap as ''Stand Up'' did from ''This Was''. It's more like the Jethro Tull we've seen and heard for the past year. It seems to be a remarkably long album, and shows what an exciting group this is. Exciting because they can have quite long guitar breaks and still retain a very tight and together sound". ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

appreciated the riffs around which all the songs were constructed, but wasn't impressed by the lyrics that he judged hard to recall.

Legacy

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

and ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

s much-later reviews were more positive in accepting the album's style. Bruce Eder stated that: "Most of the songs on ''Benefit'' display pleasant, delectably folk-like melodies attached to downbeat, slightly gloomy, but dazzlingly complex lyrics, with Barre's guitar adding enough wattage to keep the hard rock listeners very interested. 'To Cry You a Song', 'Son', and 'For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me' all defined Tull's future sound: Barre's amp cranked up to ten (especially on 'Son'), coming in above Anderson's acoustic strumming, a few unexpected changes in tempo, and Anderson spouting lyrics filled with dense, seemingly profound imagery and statements." ''Record Collector'' reviewer, analysing the Collector's Edition of 2013, praised the Steven Wilson remix and wrote: "''Benefit'' forms the perfect bridge between the rolling, tumbling Tull of old and the tightly braided riffs and prickly lyrics presented by '' Aqualung''." Paul Stump, in his ''History of Progressive Rock'', said that ''Benefit'' "maintained the invention (and sales) of its predecessor, once again teasing unexpected emotional reflexes from time-honoured voicings and rhythms to signpost something that, if not a wholly new kind of pop song, at least offered the listener new bearings in his or her search."

Track listing

1970 UK release

1970 US release

2013 A Collector's Edition (3 Discs)

Personnel

;Jethro Tull * Ian Anderson –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

(uncredited),

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedles ...

, balalaika, keyboards, production * Martin Barre – electric guitar * Glenn Cornick –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

(uncredited) * Clive Bunker –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

;Additional musicians * Dee Palmer – orchestral arrangements * John Evan –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

;Production * Robin Black – engineer * Terry Ellis – cover design, executive producer * Ruan O'Lochlainn – cover design, photography

Charts

''Benefit'' was the first million record seller from Jethro Tull.

Album

Singles

Certifications

References

External links

Jethro Tull - ''Benefit'' (1970/2001 Version with Bonus Tracks) album review by Bruce Eder, credits & releases
at AllMusic.com
Jethro Tull - ''Benefit'' (1970) album releases & credits
at Discogs.com
Jethro Tull - ''Benefit'' (1970) album review by BludgeonySteve
at SputnikMusic.com
Jethro Tull - ''Benefit'' (1970/2001 Remastered Version) album to be listened
as stream at Play.Spotify.com
Jethro Tull - ''Benefit'' (1970/2013 Steven Wilson Remix & Remaster) album to be listened
as stream at Play.Spotify.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Benefit (Album) Jethro Tull (band) albums 1970 albums Chrysalis Records albums Reprise Records albums Albums produced by Ian Anderson Albums recorded at Morgan Sound Studios