{{Infobox song | name = A Song for Jeffrey | cover = File:A Song For Jeffrey.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]] | album = [[This Was]] | B-side = One for John Gee | released = 13 September 1968 UK<ref name="45cat">{{cite web |title=Jethro Tull Discography |url=https://www.45cat.com/record/wip6043 |website=45cat.com |access-date=25 November 2020}}</ref> | recorded = 27 July 1968 | studio = Sound Techniques Studio, London, UK<ref name="studio">{{cite web |title=This Was |url=https://www.discogs.com/Jethro-Tull-This-Was/release/2681495 |website=discogs |year=1968 |access-date=25 November 2020}}</ref> | venue = | genre = {{hlist|[[Blues]]<ref name="Benson2002">{{cite book|author=Raymond Benson|title=Jethro Tull|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2dyQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT23|date=1 September 2002|publisher=Oldcastle Books|isbn=978-1-84243-825-1|page=23}}</ref><ref name="BogdanovWoodstra2002">{{cite book|author1=Vladimir Bogdanov|author2=Chris Woodstra|author3=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|title=All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-pH4i3jXvAC&pg=PA587|year=2002|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-0-87930-653-3|page=587}}</ref>}} | length = 3:22 | label = [[Island Records|Island]] 6043 | writer = [[Ian Anderson]] | producer = Jethro Tull, [[Terry Ellis (music producer)|Terry Ellis]] | prev_title = [[Sunshine Day]] | prev_year = 1968 | next_title = [[Love Story (Jethro Tull song)|Love Story]] | next_year = 1968 }}
"'''A Song for Jeffrey'''" is a song recorded by the English [[rock music|rock]] band [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]], released as their second single in the UK,<ref name="Tull Wrote Own Hit">{{cite news |title=Tull Wrote Own Hit |url=http://www.tullpress.com/nme11jan69.htm |access-date=September 9, 2018 |work=[[New Musical Express]] |publisher=TullPress.com |date=January 11, 1969}}</ref> and as the [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] to "[[Love Story (Jethro Tull song)|Love Story]]" in the US.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography">{{cite book| first= Martin C.| last= Strong| year= 2000| title= The Great Rock Discography| edition= 5th| publisher= Mojo Books | location= Edinburgh| pages= 504–506| isbn= 1-84195-017-3}}</ref> The "Jeffrey" of the title is [[Ian Anderson]]'s friend and future Jethro Tull bassist [[Jeffrey Hammond]], who was "a slightly wayward lad who wasn’t quite sure where he was headed in life".<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/jethro-tull-rolling-stones-rock-roll-circus-song-jeffrey-directness-110481/2/|title=Jethro Tull on The Rolling Stones' Rock And Roll Circus and 'A Song For Jeffrey': "It has a directness!"|author=Tom Pinnock|date=3 May 2019|work=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]|publisher=[[Kelsey Media]]}}</ref>
The song starts off with a bass riff by [[Glenn Cornick]] before Ian Anderson's flute comes in. It then becomes a psychedelic blues tune, with guitarist [[Mick Abrahams]] playing slide guitar.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Furgess |first1=Dave |title=Jethro Tull – A Song For Jeffrey/One For John Gee |url=https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/288/ |website=Head Heritage |access-date=September 9, 2018}}</ref> Despite being similar in style to "My Sunday Feeling" and "Beggar's Farm", the instrumental section shows a greater influence of jazz rather than blues.<ref name=nollen/>
The song was largely praised by music critics. [[AllMusic]]'s Bruce Eder called it "a superb example of commercial psychedelic blues" but did not consider it one of the album highlights.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Eder |first1=Bruce |title=This Was – Jethro Tull review |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-was-mw0000190507 |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=September 9, 2018}}</ref> [[George Starostin]] called it one of the "catchiest ditties the band ever did: the interplay between the bloozy guitar and the poppy harmonica is amazing and promptly digs itself into your memory".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Starostin |first1=George |title=This Was |url=http://starling.rinet.ru/music/tull.htm#Was |website=Only Solitaire |access-date=September 9, 2018}}</ref> Despite the single not reaching the charts, [[New Musical Express]] wrote that it was "good enough to have made the Chart".<ref name="Tull Wrote Own Hit"/>
The song was performed on the [[The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus|Rolling Stones Rock 'n' Roll Circus]] in December 1968, although only Ian Anderson's vocals and flute were amplified for the live performance; the rest of the band mimed their parts, but the sound was pre-recorded. This was the only Tull performance with guitarist [[Tony Iommi]] during his two-week tenure with the band, and it has been suggested that he had not had time to learn his part and thus relied on Abrahams' recording.{{fact|date=April 2024}} This version was officially released on the [[The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (album)|companion album]] to the film in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/remember-when-black-sabbaths-tony-iommi-was-jethro-tull|title=Remember When Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi Was in Jethro Tull?|last=Fanelli|first=Damian|date=August 10, 2017|website=Guitar World|access-date=April 28, 2020}}</ref> A version of the song was recorded for play on BBC radio.<ref name=nollen>{{cite book| first= Scott A.| last= Nollen| year= 2001| title= Jethro Tull: A History of the Band, 1968–2001| publisher= McFarland | page= 37| isbn= 0786411015}}</ref>
"A Song for Jeffrey" was ranked the 25th best Jethro Tull song by Rock – Das Gesamtwerk der größten Rock-Acts im Check.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rehe |first1=Christoph |title=Rock – Das Gesamtwerk der größten Rock-Acts im Check: alle Alben, alle Songs. Ein eclipsed-Buch |date=2013 |publisher=Sysyphus Sysyphus Verlags GmbH |isbn=978-3868526462 |language=de}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Jethro Tull}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Song for Jeffrey}} [[Category:Jethro Tull (band) songs]] [[Category:1968 songs]] [[Category:Island Records singles]] [[Category:Reprise Records singles]] [[Category:Songs written by Ian Anderson]] [[Category:Song recordings produced by Ian Anderson]] [[Category:1968 singles]]