Songs from the Wood

Songs from the Wood was recorded between 14 September and 16 November 1976 at Morgan Studios in London, after the previous two albums were made in Monaco. It was the first album with Dee Palmer as a full member. Anderson spoke of a more relaxed and harmonious atmosphere in familiar surroundings. He had recently married again and bought a farm estate in rural Buckinghamshire, and manager Jo Lustig had given him a book called Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain, which fed the songs here and on Heavy Horses and Stormwatch.

Palmer wrote significant portions of the title track, "Hunting Girl", "Velvet Green", "Ring Out, Solstice Bells" and "Pibroch (Cap in Hand)" and brought in a portative pipe organ. Barriemore Barlow played nakers and a tabor, and Martin Barre used a reverse echo effect on "Pibroch" to imitate bagpipes. Anderson played every instrument on "Jack-in-the-Green". Chrysalis disliked that "Ring Out, Solstice Bells" was in 7/4 and asked for a 4/4 re-record under the title "Magic Bells", produced by Mike Batt, but then released the original, which came out first on an EP and reached 28 in Britain.

The album reached 13 in Britain and 8 in the United States, and "The Whistler" at 59 was the band's last Hot 100 entry. AllMusic called it the prettiest record Jethro Tull had released since Thick as a Brick. A five-disc "Country Set" edition followed on 17 May 2017 with a Steven Wilson remix and the previously unreleased "Old Aces Die Hard". Anderson counts it among his top five Tull albums.