Teacher (Jethro Tull Song)
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"Teacher" is a song by the British
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band Jethro Tull, first released as the B-side to the January 1970 single "
The Witch's Promise "The Witch's Promise" is a song by British rock band Jethro Tull, released as a single in January 1970, on the Chrysalis label. It reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, and was promoted by an appearance on the British chart show ''Top of t ...
", on the
Chrysalis A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages the ...
label. Written by the band's frontman
Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician best known for being the chief vocalist, Flute, flautist, and acoustic guitarist of the British rock band Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also p ...
, the song is a comment on the corruption of self-styled
guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...
s who used their followers for their own gain. After its release on the "Witch's Promise" single, an alternate re-recorded version of the song later appeared on the US release of the album '' Benefit''. This version would become a radio hit in the US and appear on several compilation albums.


Background

"Teacher" was written by Jethro Tull frontman
Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician best known for being the chief vocalist, Flute, flautist, and acoustic guitarist of the British rock band Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also p ...
. He later stated the song was influenced by his skepticism of teacher-like
guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...
s who had been influencing other musicians of the time, though some perceived the song to be a comment on the band's manager, Terry Ellis. He reflected: Unlike its more folk-inflected
A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
, "
The Witch's Promise "The Witch's Promise" is a song by British rock band Jethro Tull, released as a single in January 1970, on the Chrysalis label. It reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, and was promoted by an appearance on the British chart show ''Top of t ...
", "Teacher" features a standard,
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
-oriented arrangement and structure. Anderson commented, "Every so often there are those songs that fall into the conventional
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
structure—songs like 'Teacher', for instance—but that style isn't our forte. We're not very good at it because I'm not that kind of a singer, and it doesn't come easy to me to do that stuff." The two songs on the "Witch's Promise" single were the first recording to feature keyboardist
John Evan John Evan (born John Spencer Evans; born 28 March 1948, in Derby, Derbyshire) is a British musician and composer. He is best known as the keyboardist for Jethro Tull from April 1970 to June 1980. Early life Evans' father was headmaster at a ...
, who would join Jethro Tull as a permanent member shortly after and would remain with the band throughout the 1970s. He was sharing a flat with frontman Ian Anderson at the time, and agreed to perform as a
session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...
. He played Hammond organ on "Teacher" and both piano and Mellotron on "The Witch's Promise". This led to an offer to join the band full-time.


Release and reception

The first version of "Teacher" was released as the B-side to the band's January 1970 single, "
The Witch's Promise "The Witch's Promise" is a song by British rock band Jethro Tull, released as a single in January 1970, on the Chrysalis label. It reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, and was promoted by an appearance on the British chart show ''Top of t ...
". The single was successful, reaching number four in the UK. The band then recorded a second, more radio friendly version of the song for the American market, which would appear on the US version of their 1970 studio album '' Benefit''. This second version, which featured Anderson's flute playing and a faster tempo, would go on to receive substantial FM-radio play. Since its release, the US album recording of "Teacher" has appeared on several compilation albums, the earliest instance being its inclusion in remixed form on the band's 1972 '' Living in the Past'' compilation. Other compilations that feature "Teacher" include '' M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull'', '' 20 Years of Jethro Tull: Highlights'', '' The Best of Jethro Tull – The Anniversary Collection'', '' Essential'', and '' 50 for 50''. A classical arrangement of the song, performed by Jethro Tull with the
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
, appears on the 1985 album '' A Classic Case''. "Teacher" has largely seen positive critical reception since its release. Writing for ''Louder'' magazine, Mark Tornillo of Accept named it to his list of the top ten Jethro Tull songs from 1969 to 1972, writing, "I always just liked the lyrics and the groove." Eric Senich of
WRKI WRKI (95.1 FM, "I-95") is a commercial radio station licensed to Brookfield, Connecticut, serving Greater Danbury and Bridgeport-New Haven, Connecticut. The station is owned by Townsquare Media, and carries a classic rock radio format. Its stud ...
ranked the song the seventh best Jethro Tull song, writing, "Ian Anderson has admitted to writing this song with the sole purpose of creating a hit single. A very "un-Tull" like thing to do but, hey, if you're gonna write a pop song and it ends up sounding like this you can write all the pop songs you want Ian!" ''The Daily Vault'' wrote that the song "glides by on effortless attitude".


Personnel

*
Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician best known for being the chief vocalist, Flute, flautist, and acoustic guitarist of the British rock band Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also p ...
– vocals, flute *
Martin Barre Martin Lancelot Barre (; born 17 November 1946) is an English guitarist best known for his longtime role as lead guitarist of British rock band Jethro Tull, with whom he recorded and toured from 1968 until the band's initial dissolution in 201 ...
– guitar *
Glenn Cornick Glenn Douglas Barnard Cornick (23 April 1947 – 28 August 2014) was an English bass guitarist, best known as the original bassist for the British rock band Jethro Tull from 1967 to 1970. ''Rolling Stone'' has called his playing with Tull as " ...
– bass *
Clive Bunker Clive William Bunker (born 30 December 1946) is a British drummer. He is best known as the original drummer of the rock band Jethro Tull, playing in the band from 1967 until 1971. Never a self-professed technical drummer, Bunker engaged with ...
– drums Additional personnel *
John Evan John Evan (born John Spencer Evans; born 28 March 1948, in Derby, Derbyshire) is a British musician and composer. He is best known as the keyboardist for Jethro Tull from April 1970 to June 1980. Early life Evans' father was headmaster at a ...
Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...


References

Citations Sources * * * {{Jethro Tull 1969 songs Jethro Tull (band) songs Songs written by Ian Anderson Song recordings produced by Ian Anderson