The Long Play with Al Neff" is a continuing Sunday evening Feature on The GOAT. This year, Every Sunday Evening, Album Rock WXYG, The GOAT will feature a full album at 8:00 PM from the halcyon musical days of 1972.

1972 was another amazing year in Album Rock history. Another year of tough choices every week. So many great ones to choose from.

We hope you’ll tune in next Sunday evening, June 26, 2022 at 8:00 PM for Jethro Tull’s “Living In The Past”.
Living in the Past is a double album quasi-compilation collection by Jethro Tull, which contains album tracks, out-takes, the "Life Is a Long Song" EP, and all of their non-LP singles except for "Sunshine Day"/"Aeroplane" (1968), "One for John Gee" (b-side of "A Song for Jeffrey", 1968), "17" (b-side of "Sweet Dream", 1969) and the original version of "Teacher" that appeared in the UK as the b-side of "The Witch's Promise" in 1969 (the re-recorded 1970 take that was released on the American version of Benefit was included instead). Also included are two live recordings taken from a performance at New York City's Carnegie Hall in November 1970.

The album was named after the single released in May 1969 and was released in an elaborate gate-fold packaging that contained a large color photo booklet with over 50 photos of the band.

Two songs, "By Kind Permission Of" and "Dharma for One", were recorded live at Carnegie Hall in New York City, United States. The former would be extended to include "With You There To Help Me" and would be included in complete form, along with "Dharma For One", on the separate LP release Live At Carnegie Hall 1970.

"Love Story", "Christmas Song", "Living in the Past", "Driving Song", "Sweet Dream" and "The Witch's Promise", some of which had only appeared on mono versions before, were given new stereo remixes for inclusion on the album. Additionally, "A Song for Jeffrey" and "Teacher" were also remixed. Many of the tracks only appeared as British releases before being compiled on Living in the Past for the first time in the American market. Spurred on by radio airplay of the single, "Living in the Past", US rock fans who bought the album were treated to three years of UK hits.

In the United States, Living in the Past was the first Jethro Tull album to appear on the Chrysalis Records label; while each of the band's previous albums were marked as "a Chrysalis Production", the albums were released by Warner Bros. Records' Reprise Records subsidiary. Early U.S. editions of Living in the Past bore both a Chrysalis catalogue number (2CH 1035) and a Reprise catalogue number (2TS 2106), suggesting that the album was scheduled to appear on Reprise Records but that Chrysalis gained control of the band's USA releases in late 1972.

AllMusic review the collection positively, stating that: "Not only was Ian Anderson writing solid songs every time out, but the group's rhythm section was about the best in progressive rock's pop division. Along with any of the group's first five albums, this collection is seminal and essential to any Tull collection, and the only compilation by the group that is a must-own disc."

The album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 charts and went gold not long after its release. The title track from the album became Tull's first top-40 hit in the United States, reaching No. 11, a full three years after it performed well in Britain. In UK, the album reached No. 13. In Norwegian charts, the album hit No. 5.

The US vinyl version has "Hymn 43" in place of "Locomotive Breath" and omits "Inside" in favor of "Alive and Well and Living in", previously unreleased in the US. Additionally, "Witch's Promise" and "Teacher" swapped places.

Tune In and Turn On next Sunday Evening, June 26th, and every Sunday evening at 8:00 PM for The GOAT'S "The Long Play with Al Neff.”

Don’t forget, right after the “Long Play”, we do a “Replay” of this week’s GOAT GUEST DJ SHOW.