"Ahead Rings Out" is not in the American Spotify library.

Yes, my playlist this week included songs from Blodwyn Pig’s debut. Only one problem, that album is in the international Spotify database, but not the U.S. aggregation. Frustrating? You bet!

I had to hunker down and compile a whole new playlist! But I didn’t want this one to go to waste.

If you’re in the U.K. or Europe the Spotify link at the bottom of the page should work just fine. But in America, you’re gonna be missing "See My Way" and "Sing Me A Song That I Know". You can find "Dear Jill", and there are alternative versions of the prior two, but you need to hear the originals.

So, if you’re playing in the U.S., I’ll provide alternative YouTube links at the end…

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BLODWYN PIG

Hard core Jethro Tull fans will tell you the first album is the best, the blues-influenced extravaganza, the one that got little traction in the U.S., the one that featured Mick Abrahams.

Now to tell you the truth, my Tull addiction began with the subsequent long player, "Stand Up", which truly did. Yup, you popped open the album cover and the band literally stood. At least on the initial copies.

Not that I bought "Stand Up" when it was released. But this was back when people brought their records to school, Jimmy Lesser brought "Stand Up", I remember looking at it.

But I got addicted to Tull on a 110 MPH drive the first weekend of college. We left the President’s reception in John Morosani’s Trans Am listening to Frijid Pink on the 8-track and he scared the living daylights out of me on the curves of Route 125, running straight through the Middlebury College campus.

And yes, all these groups are interconnected. That’s why Pete Frame’s family trees are so fascinating–see Jethro Tull’s here:

Jethro Tull Family Tree

But going back to the beginning, Mick Abrahams didn’t like the direction Ian Anderson was taking with Tull so he went his own way. Which segues into the first number I want you to play, "See My Way". It’s a torrid track that takes off immediately, which you hear once and remember, kind of like Thunderclap Newman’s "Something In The Air", albeit with a completely different feel.

I’ve never heard "See My Way" on the radio. I got turned on to it at my friend Marc Goloff’s house.

We all bought different records. It was at Marc’s house that I heard "Rock and Roll Woman" from Buffalo Springfield’s "Retrospective", just after Crosby, Stills & Nash started to break. And the incredible intro to "Gimmie Shelter". "Let It Bleed" had just come out, there was no airplay. I was shocked. This was ethereal and addictive, I immediately went out and purchased the album at Korvette’s.

But I didn’t buy Blodwyn Pig’s debut, "Ahead Rings Out", for years, until I found a used vinyl copy, funds were limited, it was not like today, when everything is at your fingertips on Spotify.

But Marc insisted I listen to the initial cut on the second side of "Ahead Rings Out", an album with a unique cover, a pig wearing headphones and sunglasses, smoking a cigarette.

Ahead Rings Out

Jack Lancaster blows two horns at once. Like his hero, Rahsaan Roland Kirk. But it’s the intro that hooked me, that made me need to hear "See My Way" every time I went to Marc’s house. It’s intimate. Too many people are playing to the last row, I like to feel they’re playing just for me.

Then "See My Way" explodes, it’s a rave up.

And then there’s a time change. This ain’t boy band claptrap, this is incredible players, working out.

And then the intimacy comes back, and eventually there’s a long instrumental break and you’ll be thrilled this cut is finally in your collection, it may not have ever been a hit, but it’s a classic.

But even better is "Dear Jill". Which I came to eons later. Never getting much past "See My Way" at Marc’s house.

This is classic English blues. The band is locked into a groove that you just can’t resist. On today’s Top Forty radio all the songs sound the same, but "Dear Jill" sounds nothing like "See My Way", it’s not a hit, but it’s the essence of music, you feel it inside. Cameron Crowe knows, he featured "Dear Jill" in the soundtrack for "Almost Famous".

And the follow-up album wasn’t as good.

And the band splintered.

But Mick Abrahams is still kicking around, go to his homepage. I hate when music starts playing automatically, but I love the sound coming out of the speakers when I navigate to his site:

Squirrel Music

Meanwhile, if you like "See My Way", which was curiously left off the original English version of "Ahead Rings Out" but appeared on the U.S. LP, and "Dear Jill", check out "Sing Me A Song That I Know", which was excised from the U.S. album.

Also, if you’re a fan of "This Was", you might be interested in Blodwyn Pig’s reworking of the album from the band’s 2001 album "All Said And Done".

You MUST listen to "See My Way" and "Dear Jill".

And like I said, if those appeal to you, be sure to check out "Sing Me A Song That I Know".

But the redo of "This Was" on "All Said And Done" is for fans only. But fans of "This Was" may not be aware it exists. So I’m including it here for them. It’s amazing what gems have been retrieved from the stratosphere for our listening pleasure on Spotify.

Spotify link

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The "All Said And Done" tracks are in the U.S. Spotify library.

But here are some YouTube links for the "Ahead Rings Out" tracks:

"See My Way"

"Dear Jill"

"Sing Me A Song That I Know"