Jethro Tull – Living in the Past
One of Jethro Tull’s best known songs and also one of the few Billboard Hot 100 songs to be in 5/4 time signature, “Living In The Past” was first written in Massachusetts when the band had 3 day stint at a local rock club.
Ian Anderson wrote it in a hotel room in 1969 and with help from their manager, booked some time in a “cheap studio in New Jersey” and hired the cheapest local session musicians to lay down basic tracks. It was then taken back to London and the band recorded the actual song for release.
It originally came out in 1969 in the UK as a single, and went to #3 on the UK chart. It wasn’t released in the U.S. until 1972 as the title track to a compilation album of previously released non-album tracks and B-sides along with some live recordings from 1969-1972.
The song hit the Hot 100 and climbed all the way up to peak at #11!
