Gerald Bostock
Encyclopedia
Gerald Bostock is the fictional author of the poem used as the lyrics
for the 1972 Jethro Tull
album Thick as a Brick
. The album cover is designed to look like a small village newspaper
, the St. Cleve Chronicle & Linwell Advertiser. The front-page story describes how eight-year-old Gerald, nicknamed "Little Milton
", received an award for his poem, but the award was revoked after he used the word "g__r" during a television
broadcast (the full word being "gutter".) The paper also presents "Bostock's" poem in its entirety and notes that Jethro Tull has decided to use the poem as the centerpiece of their new album (also reviewed in the paper).
On the inside cover of the LP (Page 1 of the newspaper) there is an article entitled 'Little Milton in Schoolgirl Pregnancy Row', which talks about a 14-year-old girl named Julia Fealey (pictured on the front cover to Gerald's left), who blames her pregnancy on Gerald Bostock. The report continues stating that her doctor claims that the girl "was obviously lying to protect the real father."
Both Gerald Bostock and the poem were purely the inventions of Ian Anderson
and the band.
The child model who portrayed Gerald Bostock was André C. Le Breton from the Elizabeth Smith Agency; he also appeared in European TV commercials in the early 1970s, and modeled for Freemans clothing catalogues and Russelda knitwear amongst others. Currently he is a music producer and has directed films for bands such as Crass Agenda
under the Le Chaos Factory moniker.
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
for the 1972 Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
album Thick as a Brick
Thick as a Brick
-Differences between various CD releases:By 2011 the album received three major releases on CD: the first release , the MFSL-release , and the 25th Anniversary Edition . Whereas the first release and the MFSL-release run with identical speed, the 25th Anniversary edition runs 0.5% slower...
. The album cover is designed to look like a small village newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, the St. Cleve Chronicle & Linwell Advertiser. The front-page story describes how eight-year-old Gerald, nicknamed "Little Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
", received an award for his poem, but the award was revoked after he used the word "g__r" during a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
broadcast (the full word being "gutter".) The paper also presents "Bostock's" poem in its entirety and notes that Jethro Tull has decided to use the poem as the centerpiece of their new album (also reviewed in the paper).
On the inside cover of the LP (Page 1 of the newspaper) there is an article entitled 'Little Milton in Schoolgirl Pregnancy Row', which talks about a 14-year-old girl named Julia Fealey (pictured on the front cover to Gerald's left), who blames her pregnancy on Gerald Bostock. The report continues stating that her doctor claims that the girl "was obviously lying to protect the real father."
Both Gerald Bostock and the poem were purely the inventions of Ian Anderson
Ian Anderson (musician)
Ian Scott Anderson, MBE is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work as the leader and flautist of British rock band Jethro Tull.-Early life:...
and the band.
The child model who portrayed Gerald Bostock was André C. Le Breton from the Elizabeth Smith Agency; he also appeared in European TV commercials in the early 1970s, and modeled for Freemans clothing catalogues and Russelda knitwear amongst others. Currently he is a music producer and has directed films for bands such as Crass Agenda
Last Amendment
Last Amendment is the working title of a series of collaborations by ex-members of the anarchist punk band Crass and others...
under the Le Chaos Factory moniker.