Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!

Recording

Like their previous album, Minstrel in the Gallery, the band recorded the album in the Maison Rouge Mobile Studio. They recorded "Too Old to Rock'n'Roll: Too Young to Die!" and "The Chequered Flag (Dead or Alive)" along with outtakes "Salamander's Rag Time", "Commercial Traveller" and "Advertising Man (Unfinished backing track)" on 19 and 20 November 1975, "Big Dipper" on 3 January 1976, "Pied Piper" and "Quiz Kid" on 4 and 5 January, "Taxi Grab", "Pied Piper", "Crazed Institution" and "Old Rocker (Quiz Kid intro)" on 8 January, "From a Dead Beat to an Old Greaser", "Salamander" and "Pied Piper" along with outtake "A Small Cigar (acoustic version)" on 12 January, and finally "Bad-Eyed and Loveless" along with outtake "A Small Cigar (orchestral version)" on 27 January 1976.

Background

Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson says the point of the album was to illustrate how his style of music may go out of popularity with every other fashion and fad, but he is determined that if he sticks to it, everything comes back around and the style will rise again.

Ian Anderson explains that the concept came from the turmoil of the rise of punk movement, and not meant to be autobiographical of him as an ageing songwriter, although "some members of the press took the album as our attempt to 'get with' the punks". Anderson also stated that the basis of the concept is "to point out that this business [music, fashion] is cyclic, and that if you stick around long enough, you do come into fashion again."

Concept

Originally intended to be a rock musical, similar to the Kinks’ Preservation Act 1 (1973), Preservation Act 2 (1974) and Schoolboys in Disgrace (1975) the story would follow an ageing and retired rock star named Ray Lomas - winning money in a 'Quizz' show, trying to commit suicide and waking up years later to find out that the grease fashion has returned. Although much of the album concept is only explained in the cartoons printed in the sleeves, there are changes in the plot or in details between the cartoons and the music.

A clip of the title track was released in the Slipstream video, which returned to much of the original album's concept.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone complained about the "muddled story" of the album, saying that "Ian Anderson should stick to music, because he most definitely is not a storyteller." Nevertheless, the same review praised Anderson's skill at musical composition, and the guitar solos of Martin Barre.

Chris Welch, writing for Melody Maker, gave a mixed review, saying that he "long(ed) for the beat of Barriemore Barlow to break free, or the guitar of Martin Barre to swoop", at the same time he praised Anderson's poetics.

AllMusic's review called the album "one of the minor efforts in the [Jethro Tull] catalogue".

Charts

Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!, as an album, had lower sales than the preceding album Minstrel in the Gallery (1975) and following album Songs from the Wood (1977). It reached No. 14 in the United States, No. 25 in Britain, No. 10 in Austria, No. 10 in Norway and likewise in Denmark, and No. 27 in Sweden. It was Jethro Tull's only album of the 1970s not to achieve Gold certification.

Releases

Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! was remastered in 2002 and the CD version contains two bonus tracks that were cut from the original LP, "Small Cigar" and "Strip Cartoon".

The album has been released in a box set called Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! - The TV Special Edition in November 2015. The box set contains previously unreleased tracks and outtakes of songs from the album remixed by Steven Wilson, besides an 80-page booklet telling the story of the recording and the video of the special TV show recorded in 1976 and available officially for the first time.

1976 Original release

All tracks written by Ian Anderson.

2002 Remaster

Personnel

Orchestrations by David Palmer. Orchestra conducted by David Palmer.