M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull
1976 compilation album by Jethro Tull
M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull, released in 1976, is the first proper greatest hits album by Jethro Tull. It spans the years 1969 to 1975. The earlier Living in the Past (1972) compilation mainly dealt with non-album material, but this album only features one previously unreleased song, "Rainbow Blues".
"M.U." in the album title stands for "Musician's Union", which is probably a reference to the various musicians from different line-ups of the band appearing throughout the album.
It was later re-released as The Essential in 2003, with exactly the same song order, but a different album cover.
Track listing
Side one
"Teacher" (A, C, E, G, M) – 4:07 (alternative mix)
"Aqualung" (C, E, H, I, J) – 6:34 (alternative mix, including the song's opening guitar riff played twice - previous US edits of the song began three seconds later, with the second playing of the riff)
"Thick as a Brick Edit #1" (B, E, H, M, R) – 3:01 (The first three minutes of "Thick as a Brick, Part One")
"Bungle in the Jungle" (B, E, H, M, R) – 3:34
"Locomotive Breath" (C, E, H, I, J) – 4:23 (alternate mix)
Side two
"Fat Man" (A, C, M) – 2:50
"Living in the Past" (C, G, U) – 3:18
"A Passion Play Edit #8" (B, E, H, M, R) – 3:28 ("Overseer Overture", which occurs about 8 minutes into "A Passion Play, Part Two")
"Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day" (B, E, H, M) – 4:02
"Rainbow Blues" (B, E, H, M, R) – 3:37
"Nothing Is Easy" (A, C, G, M) – 4:23
Personnel
As mentioned and sorted on the back cover:
Ian Anderson – flute, acoustic guitar, soprano saxophone, mandolin and voice
Martin Barre – electric guitar and acoustic guitar
(E) John Evan – piano, hammond organ, synthesizer and piano accordion
(G) Glenn Cornick – bass guitar
(H) Jeffrey Hammond – bass guitar
(C) Clive Bunker – drums and percussion
(B) Barriemore Barlow – drums and percussion
(M) Recorded at Morgan Studios, London
(I) Recorded at Island Studios, London
(U) Recorded at Vantone Studio, West Orange, New Jersey
(R) Engineered by Robin Black
(J) Engineered by John Burns
(A) Engineered by Andy Johns
(P) 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975 Chrysalis Records
Production by Ian Anderson and Terry Ellis.
Orchestrations arranged and conducted by Dee Palmer.
Art direction by OZ Studios.
Designed by Eric Michelson.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull” as 1976 compilation album by Jethro Tull. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1976 compilation album by Jethro Tull. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 15, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1878435. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1976, 1969, 1975 and 1972.
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