01	Songs From The Woods						04:55
	02	Jack-in-the-Green						02:31
	03	Cup Of Wonder						04:33
	04	Hunting Girl						05:12
	05	Ring Out Soltice Bells						03:47
	06	Velvet Green						06:04
	07	The Whistler						03:31
	08	Pibroch(Cap In Hand)						08:35
	09	Fire At Midnight						02:33
	10	Beltane (Bonus Track)						05:19
	11	Velvet Green (Live - Bonus Track)						05:56

Remastered 2003.

Ian's Liner Notes : "Songs from the Wood" Remastered

After a series of unsatisfactory temporary domiciles, ranging from lowly bed-sits to swanky hotel suites, I moved out to the country, as you do, in 1975. Waking up to the sounds of birds, sheep and miaowing kittens set a different tone from the London metropolitan rumble and traffic pollution.
At that time we had a lovable but often infuriating PR man who was allowed to call himself our manager as part of the financial relationship - one Jo Lustig. Jo was a hardnosed American press and promo guy of the old New York school and modelled himself on the many heavyweight and comedy actors who were his pals and professional colleagues. Anglophile Jo, too, moved from London out to the country in East Anglia and bought for me as a Christmas present, a big book on British folklore and legends. I guess we both were trying to identify with the quaint and elusive country culture which we Townies often crave to have a part of.

Digging deep into the characters and stories, as well as reading up in other works on the mysteries of ley lines, early religion and the like, I soon found the fodder for lyrical and musical invention which was to take Tull into the world of Folk-Rock. Or, so said some of the critics. Really, it just seemed a natural progression from the previous albums and, while inspired by folk tales, it in no way took on the true folk credentials of the Fairports, Steeleye Span and the other stalwarts of the Traditional Folk scene of the seventies. More a case of folky window dressing in a prog-rock shop-front. But, all in all, one of the best ever Tull albums in my opinion.

The rest of the band offered up much in the way of arrangement ideas and a bit of co-writing in many of the instrumental sections. So, like "Thick As A Brick," the final assemblage of "Songs From The Wood" was a co-operative effort from the band as a whole. Funny, really, as I didn't expect the others to latch on to the slightly twee tales of "Jack In The Green" or "Hunting Girl." But then, with the former, they didn't have to, as it was all played by me one rainy Sunday afternoon in Morgan Studios, North London. I wrote the piece in the morning, had Sunday lunch with Shona and beetled off to record it while the idea was in my head. I think we even mixed it the same evening. Wow! I wish they all happened so fast! Thanks to Barrie for conveniently leaving his drum kit in the studio. Think I might have brought my own sticks, 'though.

Looking back, we all had confidence that the record was a good one but the apparent folky flavour might be a stumbling block in those changing years when early punk and other returns to rock roots threatened to marginalize us more musical and aesthetic types. At any rate, the response from Tull fans was a good one and even in the UK, a bolstering of Tull's fortunes kept us on track as a major touring and recording band.

The detail and finer points of instrumentation in the recording are more evident in this re-master. Complex vocal harmonies abound. Mandolins and electric guitars sit down together for game pie washed down with Port. Peterson pipes belch their foul but seductive manly odours. Martin Barre is driving an outsize Bentley. I wrestle with an ancient Land Rover through muddy tracks and over the high Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire. I sleep with a feral farm cat named Mistletoe. (Found him squeaking under a cattle trough just before Christmas.) We fire our PR man.

Old Jo Lustig passed away suddenly just a couple of years ago and I like to think he might have enjoyed some memories rekindled by this music. Crazy man Lustig. Boy, he pissed me off sometimes. Dedicated to you, Jo. Sleep on.

Ian Anderson
2003