Following on from the recently released ‘Pass The Bottle (A Christmas Song)’, Jethro Tull The String Quartet featuring Ian Anderson, John O’Hara and The Caruducci Quartet have a second seasonal offering out in the form of ‘Ring Out These Bells’, an adaptation of the Jethro Tull single ‘Ring Out, Solstice Bells’.
“’Ring Out These Bells’ was written for the Songs From The Wood album as a reference to the winter solstice pagan festival and the latter day transplanted Christian notional birth of the Biblical Jesus, but then the record company thought that we should release it as a Christmas single,” Anderson recalled.
“After a futile attempt to record a simpler, catchier version, we reverted to the original recording. It was released just too late to make the top ten charts in time for Christmas. But it has remained a radio play staple in the radio playlists for Christmas ever since,” the vocalist continued, “This new string quartet version captures the spirit of the original recording but with a really authentic Christmas classical interpretation with the flute and a bit of the vocal sections of the familiar version. I can just feel the mistletoe quivering in anticipation of a quick kiss and no tell.”
Both ‘Ring Out These Bells’ and ‘Pass The Bottle (A Christmas Song)’ are available now as an instant download when pre-ordering through iTunes. For further information on the March 2017 released Jethro Tull The String Quartet album check out RAMzine here.
