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Jethro Tull (band)
Encyclopedia
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 an experimental flavour, they have also incorporated elements of classical music
, folk music
, jazz
, hard rock
and art rock
into their music.
One of the world's best-selling music artists, the band have sold more than 60 million albums worldwide in a career that has spanned more than forty years.
and was known as The Blades. The group featured Anderson on vocals and harmonica, Jeffrey Hammond
on bass, John Evan
s on drums, and a guitarist named either Hipgrave or Michael Stephans. Drummer Barrie Barlow
became a member in 1963 after Evans had switched from drums to piano. By 1964 the band had developed into a seven-piece Blue-eyed soul
band called The John Evan Band (later The John Evan Smash). By this point Evans had shortened his surname to "Evan" at the insistence of Hammond, who thought it sounded better and more unusual.
In 1967 the band moved to the London area, basing themselves in nearby Luton
; they also travelled to Liverpool
. However, money remained short and within days of the move most of the band quit and headed back north, leaving Anderson and bassist Glenn Cornick
(who had replaced Hammond) to join forces with blues guitarist Mick Abrahams
and his friend, drummer Clive Bunker
, both from the Luton-based band McGregor's Engine. At first, the new band had trouble getting repeat bookings and they took to changing their name frequently to continue playing the London club circuit. Band names were often supplied by their booking agents' staff, one of whom, a history enthusiast, eventually christened them "Jethro Tull" after the 18th-century agriculturist
. The name stuck because they happened to be using it the first time a club manager liked their show enough to invite them to return. They were signed to the blossoming Ellis-Wright agency, and became the third band managed by the soon-to-be Chrysalis
empire. It was around this time that Anderson purchased a flute after becoming frustrated with his inability to play guitar like Eric Clapton
.
Their first single was released in 1968, written by Abrahams and produced by Derek Lawrence
, and called "Sunshine Day"; on the label the group's name was misspelled "Jethro Toe", making it a collector's item. "Sunshine Day" was unsuccessful.
They released their first album This Was
in 1968. In addition to music written by Anderson and Abrahams the album included the traditional "Cat's Squirrel", which highlighted Abrahams' blues-rock style. The Rahsaan Roland Kirk
-penned jazz piece "Serenade to a Cuckoo" gave Anderson a showcase for his growing talents on the flute, an instrument which he started learning to play only half a year before the release of the album. The overall sound of the group at this time was described in the Record Mirror
by Anderson in 1968 as "a sort of progressive blues with a bit of jazz."
Following this album, Abrahams left after a falling out with Anderson and formed his own band, Blodwyn Pig
. There were a number of reasons for his departure: he was a blues purist, while Anderson wanted to branch out into other forms of music; Abrahams and Cornick did not get along; and Abrahams was unwilling to travel internationally or play more than three nights a week, while the others wanted to be successful by playing as often as possible and building an international fan base.
Guitarist Tony Iommi
, from the group Earth (who would soon change their name to Black Sabbath
), took on guitar duties for a short time after the departure of Abrahams, appearing in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
, in which the group (all but Ian's vocals, which were recorded live) mimed "A Song For Jeffrey" in December 1968. Iommi returned to Earth thereafter. David O'List
(who had just left the Nice
) also deputised on guitar with Jethro Tull for a few shows and was briefly considered as a possible permanent replacement for Abrahams, although plans of O'List becoming a full fledged member of the band never materialised.
's Fat Mattress
at the time. Barre was so nervous at his first audition that he could hardly play at all, and then showed up for a second audition without an amplifier or a cord to connect his guitar to another amp. Nevertheless, Barre would become Abrahams' permanent replacement on guitar and the second longest-standing member of the band after Anderson.
This new line-up released Stand Up
in 1969, the group's only UK number-one album. The LP unfolded to a photo insert of the band attached to the covers like a pop-up book
. Written entirely by Anderson – with the exception of the jazzy rearrangement of J. S. Bach
's Bourrée in E minor
BWV 996 (fifth movement) – it branched out further from the blues, clearly evidencing a new direction for the group, which would come to be categorised as progressive rock
alongside such diverse groups as King Crimson
, Genesis
, Camel
, The Nice
, Gentle Giant
, and Yes
. A couple of months prior to the sessions for this album, the band recorded one of their best-known songs, "Living in the Past", which was originally issued only as a single. Anderson and Chrysalis Records
manager Terry Ellis reportedly wrote it in 5/4 time with the intent of preventing its ascent to the pop charts. It turned out not to be the case, as the song reached number three in the UK chart, and though most other progressive groups actively resisted issuing singles at the time, Jethro Tull had further success with their other singles, "Sweet Dream" (1969) and "The Witch's Promise" (1970), and a five-track EP, Life Is a Long Song (1971), all of which made the top twenty. In 1970, they added keyboardist John Evan (initially as a guest musician) and released the album Benefit
.
Bassist Cornick was fired for unknown reasons in December 1970, and formed the band Wild Turkey
. He was replaced by Jeffrey Hammond, the childhood friend and former Blades bandmate of Anderson's and Evan's whose name appeared in the titles of the songs "A Song for Jeffrey", "Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square", "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey, and Me", and in the lyrics of the Benefit track, "Inside." Hammond was often credited on Jethro Tull albums as "Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond", a reference to the fact that Hammond's mother's maiden name was also Hammond, no relation to his father.
This line-up released Jethro Tull's best-known work, Aqualung in 1971. On this album, Anderson's lyrics included strong opinions about religion. Because of the heavy touring schedule and his wish to spend more time with his family, drummer Bunker quit the group after the Aqualung album and was replaced by Barrie Barlow in early 1971 (who was rechristened "Barriemore" by Anderson). Barlow first recorded with the band for the EP Life Is a Long Song and made his first appearance on a Jethro Tull album with 1972's Thick as a Brick
. Disagreeing with the assessment from some music critics that Aqualung had been a concept album
, Ian Anderson decided to give them "the mother of all concept albums", including the preposterous idea that the lyrics had been written by an eight-year-old boy. The album consisted of a single track running 43:46 (an innovation previously unheard of in rock music), split over the two sides of the LP, with a number of movements melded together and some repeating themes. The first movement with its distinctive acoustic guitar riff received some airplay on rock stations at the time. Thick as a Brick was the first Tull album to reach number one on the (US) Billboard Pop Albums chart (the following year's A Passion Play
being the only other). This album's quintet – Anderson, Barre, Evan, Hammond, and Barlow – lasted until the end of 1975, and was, in essence, a reunion of The Blades, with Barre being the only member of Jethro Tull who had not been in The Blades.
1972 also saw the release of Living in the Past
, a double-album compilation
of remixed singles, B-side
s and outtakes (including the entirety of the Life Is a Long Song EP, which closes the album), with the third side recorded live in 1970 at New York's Carnegie Hall
concert.
In 1973, while in tax exile
, the band attempted to produce a double album at France's Château d'Hérouville
studios (something The Rolling Stones
and Elton John
among others were doing at the time), but supposedly they were unhappy with the quality of the recording studio and abandoned the effort, subsequently mocking the studio as the "Chateau d'Isaster". An 11-minute excerpt was released on the 1988 20 Years of Jethro Tull boxed set, and the complete "Chateau d'Isaster Tapes" were finally released on the 1993 compilation Nightcap, with overdubbed flute lines where the vocal parts were missing. They returned to England and Anderson rewrote, quickly recorded, and released A Passion Play
, another single-track concept album, with allegorical lyrics focusing on the afterlife. Just as "Thick as a Brick" had, A Passion Play contained instrumentation rather uncommon in rock music. The album also featured an interlude, "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles", which was co-written (along with Anderson and Evan) and narrated by bassist Hammond. A Passion Play sold well but received generally poor reviews, including a particularly damning review of its live performance by Chris Welch of Melody Maker
.
Around this time, the band's popularity with critics began to wane but their popularity with the public remained strong. 1974's War Child
, an album originally intended to be a companion piece for a film, reached number two on the Billboard charts
and received some critical acclaim, and produced the radio mainstays "Bungle in the Jungle
" and "Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day)". It also included a song, "Only Solitaire", allegedly aimed at L.A. Times rock music critic Robert Hilburn
, who was one of Anderson's harsher critics. The War Child tour also featured a female string quartet
playing along with the group on the new material.
In 1975, the band released Minstrel in the Gallery
, an album which resembled Aqualung in that it contrasted softer, acoustic-guitar-based pieces with lengthier, more bombastic works headlined by Barre's electric guitar. Written and recorded during Anderson's divorce from his first wife Jennie Franks
, the album is characterised by introspective, cynical, and sometimes bitter lyrics. Critics gave it mixed reviews, but the album came to be acknowledged as one of the band's best by longtime Jethro Tull fans, even as it generally fell under the radar to listeners familiar only with Aqualung.
For the 1975 tour, David Palmer
, who had long been the band's orchestra arranger, officially joined the band on keyboards and synthesisers. After the tour, bassist Hammond quit the band to pursue painting. John Glascock
, who earlier was playing with flamenco
-rock band Carmen
, a support band on the previous Jethro Tull tour, became the band's new bassist.
1976's Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!
was another concept album, this time about the life of an ageing rocker (which Anderson insisted was not autobiographical). Anderson, stung by critical reviews (particularly of A Passion Play), responded on Too Old... with more sharply-barbed lyrics.
The band closed the decade with a trio of folk rock
albums, Songs from the Wood
, Heavy Horses
, and Stormwatch
. Songs from the Wood was the first Tull album to receive generally positive reviews since the release of Living in the Past.
The band had long had ties to folk rockers Steeleye Span
(Tull were the backing band on Steeleye Span front woman Maddy Prior's solo album Woman in the Wings as a way of repaying her for contributing vocals on the Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! album) and laterly with Fairport Convention
(Fairport members Dave Pegg
, Martin Allcock, Dave Mattacks
and Ric Sanders have all played with Tull at one point or another, as well as folk drummer Gerry Conway
who became a Fairport member after playing with Tull). Although not formally considered a part of the folk rock movement (which had actually begun nearly a decade earlier with the advent of Fairport Convention
), there was clearly an exchange of musical ideas among Tull and the folk rockers. By this time, Anderson had moved to a farm in the countryside, and his new bucolic lifestyle was clearly reflected on these albums, as in the title track of Heavy Horses
, a paean to draught horses
.
The band continued to tour, and released a live double album in 1978. Entitled Bursting Out
it featured dynamic live performances from the line-up that many Jethro Tull fans consider comprising the golden era of the band. During the US tour, because of health problems, John Glascock was replaced by Anderson's friend and former Stealers Wheel
bassist Tony Williams.
Their third folk influenced album Stormwatch
was released in 1979; this is considered the end of an era for the classic Tull period as Glascock, after having open heart surgery the previous year, died in his home of heart complications (Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention took the bass responsibilities for the Stormwatch tour). Barlow, depressed and withdrawn after Glascock's death, soon quit the band. Moreover, Palmer and Evan's contracts had expired before the A album.
Jethro Tull was left with Anderson (the only original member) and Barre.
on drums, and special guest keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson
(ex-Roxy Music
, UK
, Frank Zappa
, and Curved Air
). Highlighted by the prominent use of synthesisers, it contrasted sharply with the established "Tull sound". After pressure from Chrysalis Records
, Anderson decided to release it as a Jethro Tull album. Entitled A (taken from the labels on the master tapes for his scrapped solo album, marked simply "A for Anderson"), it was released in mid-1980.
In keeping with the mood of innovation surrounding the album, Jethro Tull made an early foray into the emerging genre of music video with Slipstream, a film which takes place at London's Hammersmith Odeon (which was used for exterior scenes). However, the main concert footage was actually from an American performance in Los Angeles, California, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (as heard on the Magic Piper ROIO), featuring the A line-up, filmed in November 1980. The video was directed by David Mallet
, who has directed numerous music videos, including the pioneering "Ashes to Ashes
" video for David Bowie
. The electronic style of the album was even more pronounced in these live performances and was used to striking effect on some of the older songs, including "Locomotive Breath". The more familiar Jethro Tull sound was brought to the fore in an all-acoustic version of "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day" featuring Jobson on mandolin, Pegg on mandola and Craney on bass.
Jobson and Craney returned to their own work following the A Tour and Jethro Tull entered a period of revolving drummers: Gerry Conway who left after deciding he couldn't be the one to replace Barlow, Phil Collins
(as a fill-in for the recently departed Gerry Conway, played with the band at the first Prince's Trust
concert in 1982), Paul Burgess (for the US leg of the Broadsword and the Beast tour and who left to settle down with his family) and permanent drummer Doane Perry. The year of 1981 was the first year in their album career that the band did not release an album; however some recording sessions took place (Anderson, Barre, Pegg, and Conway, with Anderson playing the keyboards). Some of these tracks were released on the Nightcap compilation in 1993. In 1982, Peter-John Vettese
joined on keyboards, and the band returned to a somewhat folkier sound – albeit with synthesisers – for 1982's The Broadsword and the Beast
. The ensuing concert tour for the album was well attended and the shows featured what was to be one of the group's last indulgences in full-dress theatricality: the stage was built to resemble a Viking longship and the band performed in faux-medieval regalia.
An Anderson solo album (which was in fact an Anderson-Vettese effort) appeared in 1983, in the form of the heavily electronic Walk into Light
. Although the album featured electronic soundscapes and synthesiser voicings advanced for its time, as well as cerebral lyrics about the alienating effects of technology, the release failed to resonate with long-time fans or with new listeners. However, as with later solo efforts by Anderson and Barre, some of the Walk Into Light songs, such as "Fly By Night", "Made in England" and "Different Germany", later made their way into Jethro Tull live sets.
In 1984, Jethro Tull released Under Wraps, a heavily electronic album with no "live" drummer (instead, as on Walk into Light, a drum-machine was used). Although the band was reportedly proud of the sound, the album was not well received, particularly in North America. However, the video for "Lap of Luxury" did manage to earn moderate rotation on the newly influential MTV music video channel. Also, the acoustic version of the title track, "Under Wraps 2", found some favour over the years and a live instrumental version of the song was included on the A Little Light Music concert CD of 1992. Some long-time Jethro Tull fans regard Under Wraps as one of the band's weaker efforts; however, Martin Barre considers it his favourite (the main riff from the song "Paparazzi" also became a regular part of live sets as a part of Barre's solo spots; however, these were the only parts of the album that remained in the live sets after the Under Wraps tour). As a result of the throat problems Anderson developed singing the demanding Under Wraps material on tour, Jethro Tull took a three-year break, during which Anderson continued to oversee the salmon farm he had founded in 1978, although a single "Coronach" was released in the UK in 1986 after it was used as the theme tune for a Channel 4 television program called "Blood of the British". Vettese quit the band after the tour angry at the critics for bad reviews of BSATB, Walk into Light, and Under Wraps
. With Vettese absent (Anderson contributed the synth programming) and the band relying more heavily on Barre's electric guitar than they had since the early 1970s, the album was a critical and commercial success. Shades of their earlier electronic excursions were still present, however, as three of the album's songs again utilised a drum machine. Prior to the Crest Of A Knave tour, keyboardist Don Airey (ex-Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, MSG) joined the band.
The band won the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental
, beating the favourite Metallica
and their ...And Justice for All
album. The award was particularly controversial as many did not consider Jethro Tull hard rock, much less heavy metal. On the advice of their manager, who told them they had no chance of winning, no one from the band attended the award ceremony. In response to the criticism they received over the award, the band took out an advertisement in a British music periodical with a picture of a flute lying amid a pile of iron re-bars and the line, "The flute is a heavy metal instrument." In response to an interview question about the controversy, Ian Anderson quipped, "Well, we do sometimes play our mandolins very loudly." In 2007, the win was named one of the ten biggest upsets in Grammy history by Entertainment Weekly
In 1992, when Metallica finally won the Grammy in the category, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich
joked, "First thing we're going to do is thank Jethro Tull for not putting out an album this year," a play on a Grammy comment by Paul Simon
some years before thanking Stevie Wonder
for the same thing.
The style of Crest has been compared to that of Dire Straits
, in part because Anderson no longer seemed to have the vocal range he once possessed and preferred to use the lower registers, while Martin Barre's guitar sound apparently drifted towards Mark Knopfler
's style. Two songs in particular – "Farm on the Freeway" and "Steel Monkey" – got heavy radio airplay. The album also contained the popular live song "Budapest", which depicts a backstage scene with a shy local female stagehand. Although "Budapest" was the longest song on that album (at just over ten minutes), "Mountain Men" became more famous in Europe, depicting a scene from World War II in Africa. Ian Anderson referred to the battles of El Alamein
and the Falkland Islands
, drawing historic parallels of the angst that women left behind by their warrior husbands might have felt:
They toured this album with "The Not Quite The World, More The Here And There Tour". It was also the first time in the band's history, when it, even though rarely, had two electric guitar players on stage (Anderson played rhythm guitar).
1988 was notable for the release of 20 Years of Jethro Tull
, a five-LP themed set (also released as a three-CD set, and as a truncated single CD version on 20 Years of Jethro Tull: Highlights) consisting largely of rarities and outtakes from throughout the band's history, as well as a variety of live and remastered tracks. It also included a booklet outlining the band's history in detail. Now out of print, it has become a collector's item, although many (but not all) of the outtakes have been included as bonus tracks on remastered releases of the band's studio albums.
Multi-instrumentalist Martin (Maart) Allcock
, who as a member of Fairport Convention, had played as a guest with Tull at the Cropredy festival the previous year, joined the band mainly as keyboard player, starting with the 20th Anniversary tour (this may seem unremarkable, but multi-instrumentalist Allcock – proficient on all manner of stringed instruments with Fairport – had never previously played keyboards professionally with a band), replacing the departed Airey. For some numbers Alcock played the second electric guitar (Anderson reverted to playing acoustic), the last time that the band did this live.
In 1989, the band released Rock Island
, which met with less commercial and critical success than Crest of a Knave. The lead-off track, "Kissing Willie," featured bawdy double-entendre lyrics and over-the-top heavy metal riffing that seemed to take a satiric view of the group's recent Grammy award win. The song's accompanying video found difficulty in receiving airplay because of its sexual imagery. Although Rock Island was something of a miss for the group, a couple of fan favourites did emerge from the album. "Big Riff and Mando" reflects life on the road for the relentlessly touring musicians, giving a wry account of the theft of Barre's prized mandolin by a starstruck fan. "Another Christmas Song", an upbeat number celebrating the humanitarian spirit of the holiday season, stood out against the brooding and sombre mood of many of the songs on the album and was well received at concerts. It was re-recorded for the 2003 Jethro Tull Christmas Album release.
1991's Catfish Rising
was a more solid album than Rock Island. Despite being labelled as a "return to playing the blues," the album actually is marked by the generous use of mandolin and acoustic guitar and much less use of keyboards than any Tull album of the Eighties. Notable tracks included "Rocks on the Road", which highlighted gritty acoustic guitar work and hard-bitten lyrics about urban life and "Still Loving You Tonight", a bluesy, low-key ballad.
Allcock, who had played on the Catfish Rising tour, although not the album itself, quit the band at the end of the year to pursue solo work.
Dave Pegg left the band wishing to concentrate on Fairport Convention and not being keen on the world-music direction the band chose, and was replaced for 1995's Roots To Branches
album by Steve Bailey
(a widely recognised session bass player who has been friends with Doane Perry; the interesting thing is that Ian Anderson gave up being involved in the rhythm section arrangements on that record, leaving it fully to two of them), and finally by Jonathan Noyce. Roots to Branches and 1999's J-Tull Dot Com
were less rock-based than Crest of a Knave or Catfish Rising. Songs on these albums reflect the musical influences of decades of performing all around the globe. In songs such as "Out of the Noise" and "Hot Mango Flush", Anderson paints vivid pictures of third-world street scenes. These albums have reflected Anderson's coming to grips with being an old rocker, with songs such as the pensive "Another Harry's Bar", "Wicked Windows" (a meditation on reading glasses), and the gruff "Wounded, Old, and Treacherous".
In 1995, Anderson released his second solo album, Divinities: Twelve Dances with God
, an instrumental work composed of twelve flute-heavy pieces pursuing varied themes with an underlying motif. The album was recorded with Jethro Tull keyboard player Andrew Giddings and orchestral musicians. Anderson released two further song-based solo albums, The Secret Language of Birds
and Rupi's Dance
in 2000 and 2003, respectively.
In 2001, Anderson reunited with Cornick, Bunker, and Abrahams for small pub dates. It was the first time the original four members had played together since 1968. "Living With The Past" includes a documentary that features the band on tour, in Britain and America, in 2001. It also has footage of the 2001 reunion of Jethro Tull's first line up—Anderson, Abrahams, Cornick and Bunker—filmed playing in a pub.
2003 saw the release of The Jethro Tull Christmas Album
, a collection of traditional Christmas songs together with old and new Christmas songs written by Jethro Tull. The album became the band's biggest commercial success since the 1987 Crest of the Knave.
An Ian Anderson live double album and DVD was released in 2005 called Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull
. In addition, a DVD entitled Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970
and a live album Aqualung Live
(recorded in 2004) were released in 2005. Included on "Nothing is Easy" is footage from the 1970 Isle of Wight festival, considered by many Tull fans to be a classic Jethro Tull performance.
Ian Anderson performed a version of the song "The Thin Ice," on the 2005 Pink Floyd
tribute album Back Against the Wall
.
2006 saw the release of a dual boxed set DVD "Collectors Edition", containing two DVD's "Nothing Is Easy" and "Living With The Past". Bassist Jon Noyce left the band in March 2006. Giddings quit the band in July 2006 citing constant touring and less time for family. They were replaced by David Goodier
and John O'Hara respectively.
March 2007 saw the release of The Best of Acoustic Jethro Tull
, a 24-song set of Tull and Ian Anderson acoustic performances taken from various albums. Included are a new live acoustic version of "One Brown Mouse" and a live performance of the traditional song (attributed to Henry VIII
), "Pastime With Good Company."
In September 2007, Jethro Tull released CD/DVD Live At Montreux 2003. The concert was recorded on 4 July 2003 and featured, among others, "Fat Man", "With You There To Help Me" and "Hunting Girl".
In February 2010, the band were commemorated with a Heritage Award
by PRS for Music. A plaque was erected on a Catholic church in Blackpool
where the band performed their first ever gig.
In 2011 while on the Aqualung 40th Tour, Anderson mentioned in an interview that Jethro Tull will be recording a new album this fall/winter with a potential release date set for Spring 2012. This will be their first new studio album in 12 years. Their last studio album of new material was J-Tull Dot Com in 1999. Anderson's solo tours and Jethro Tull have been performing some of the new material on their past tours for the past 2-3 years. 2011 also marks the 40th Anniversary of Aqualung. This new re-issue will be a new remix of the album and include a DVD and unreleased songs. Anderson previously felt Aqualung hadn't been mixed properly and he's always wanted to improve it.
Martin Barre said in November, 2011 that Jethro Tull is "on ice" with regard to future live projects, stating he does not foresee any Tull concerts for the next two years, but will instead set up a solo band made up of three or four ex-Tull members. He said that there will be "No more Jethro Tull CDs." Both Barre and Ian Anderson will continue to work on solo projects.
and colourful costume.
Other band members joined in the dress-up and developed stage personae. Bassist Glenn Cornick always appeared in waistcoat and headband, while his successor Jeffrey Hammond eventually adopted a black-and-white diagonally-striped suit (and similarly striped bass guitar, electric guitar, and string bass). It was a 'zebra look', and at one point a two-manned zebra came out excreting ping pong balls into the audience while both performers moved forcefully around their stage areas. Former Carmen
bassist John Glascock also wore flamboyant clothes on stage, most of which he sewed himself. Keyboard player John Evan dressed in an all-white suit with a neck-scarf of scarlet with white polka-dots; described as a "sad clown" type with extremely oversized shoes, he joined in the theatrics by galumphing back and forth between Hammond Organ and grand piano (placed on opposite sides of the stage in the Thick as a Brick tour) or by such sight-gags as pulling out a flask and pretending to drink from it during a rest in the music. Barriemore Barlow's stage attire was a crimson tank-top and matching runner's shorts with rugby footgear, and his solos were marked by smoke-machines and enormous drumsticks. He also wore a Bucket hat
. Martin Barre was the island of calm amongst the madmen, with Anderson (and sometimes Evan) crowding him and making faces during his solos.
The band's stage theatrics peaked during the Thick As A Brick tour, a performance distinguished by stage hands wearing the tan trench-coat/madras cap ensemble from the album art, extras in rabbit suits running across stage and an extended interlude during which Barre and Barlow entered a beach-tent onstage and swapped pants.
A Passion Play was planned to have a full-length film to go with the stage theatrics. However, from this effort, it seems that only a few excerpts have survived to be re-released on recent commemorative videos of the band, including the interlude "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles."
A similar multi-media effort had been planned for Too Old To Rock and Roll... but was not completed. Thereafter, the emphasis on theatrics was reduced but never eliminated. In 1982's Broadsword and the Beast concerts, the entire stage was transformed into a Viking ship. Anderson often dressed as a country squire on tours in the late 1970s, with the rest of the band adopting the style during their folk phase. The A tour featured the same white jumpsuit uniforms worn by the band on the album cover. Certain routines from the 1970s have recently become ensconced in concerts, such as having a song interrupted by a phone call for an audience member (which Anderson now takes on a cell) and the climactic conclusion of shows including bombastic instrumentals and the giant balloons which Anderson would carry over his head and toss into the crowd.
In 1992, Jethro Tull embarked on a tour titled A Little Light Music
, with most of the show focusing on acoustic songs, many of which they had not played live for years, if at all. A live CD was recorded on this tour and released under the same title later in that year. This was well received by fans because of its different takes on many past compositions, as well as a rendition of the folk song "John Barleycorn
". As documented by these live performances, Ian's voice had clearly improved since his vocal cord injury in the mid-Eighties. After the CD release, the tour continued as a show of two halves, the Light and Dark Tour.
1993 was marked as the 25th Anniversary of Jethro Tull by the release of various new products, as well as an extensive Anniversary Tour, which started in May 1993 and lasting nearly a year. In keeping with the anniversary theme, this tour again revived a number of older songs.
The 25th Anniversary Box was a four-CD set including new and vintage live recordings, remixed and remastered songs from earlier albums, and re-recordings of old songs by the 90s band. A two-CD Anniversary Collection compilation was also released, containing original tracks remastered, and a video collection included new interviews, promo videos and archive material. The remixed single, Living in the (Slightly more Recent) Past, reached #32 in the UK singles chart. A planned second boxed set of outtakes and rare tracks was scaled down to two discs and released towards the end of the year under the title Nightcap.
In 2006, Jethro Tull performed at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore's
(IIM-B) cultural fest Unmaad
in India."In the last 10 years we have seen India blossom in the eyes of the West. We eagerly wait to see the latest offing from Bollywood or the Indian rock bands," Anderson said after the performance.
Their 2008 tour, celebrating 40 years of the band, included many older songs as well as guest appearances from former band members and others.
Jethro Tull and sitarist Anoushka Shankar
postponed a concert scheduled for 29 November 2008 in Mumbai
after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks
. They reorganised the performance as A Billion Hands Concert
, a benefit concert for victims of the attacks, and held it on 5 December 2008. Ian Anderson commented on this decision stating that: "Some people might consider it disrespectful that we are having a concert but hopefully a majority will realise what this is about and what it says."
Jethro Tull's 2010 concert tour took them to Austria, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Norway and Switzerland in July and August, Armenia and the UK in September and North America October through November.
Jethro Tull announced a tour of North America in June 2011 in honour of the Aqualung album's 40th anniversary. At every show on this tour, the band plays the Aqualung album in its entirety, however not in order.
Jethro Tull scheduled four concerts in Australia in April 2011, the band's first since 2006. These consisted of two performances at Sydney's State Theatre
, one at Melbourne's Palais Theatre
, and one performance at the Byron Bay Bluesfest, alongside headliner Bob Dylan
.
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:...
, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre
Martin Barre
Martin Lancelot Barre is an English rock musician.Barre has been the guitarist for rock band Jethro Tull since 1969. He has appeared on every Jethro Tull album except their debut This Was...
, who has been with the band since 1969.
Initially playing blues rock
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
with an experimental flavour, they have also incorporated elements of classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and art rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
into their music.
One of the world's best-selling music artists, the band have sold more than 60 million albums worldwide in a career that has spanned more than forty years.
1962–68: origins
Ian Anderson's first band started in 1962 in BlackpoolBlackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
and was known as The Blades. The group featured Anderson on vocals and harmonica, Jeffrey Hammond
Jeffrey Hammond
Jeffrey Hammond sometimes credited as Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, is a former bass guitar player for the progressive rock band Jethro Tull....
on bass, John Evan
John Evan
John Evan , played keyboards for Jethro Tull from April 1970 to June 1980. He was educated at King's College London....
s on drums, and a guitarist named either Hipgrave or Michael Stephans. Drummer Barrie Barlow
Barriemore Barlow
Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow is an English musician, best known as the drummer and percussionist for the rock band Jethro Tull, from May 1971 to June 1980....
became a member in 1963 after Evans had switched from drums to piano. By 1964 the band had developed into a seven-piece Blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music of the Motown and...
band called The John Evan Band (later The John Evan Smash). By this point Evans had shortened his surname to "Evan" at the insistence of Hammond, who thought it sounded better and more unusual.
In 1967 the band moved to the London area, basing themselves in nearby Luton
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
; they also travelled to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. However, money remained short and within days of the move most of the band quit and headed back north, leaving Anderson and bassist Glenn Cornick
Glenn Cornick
Glenn Douglas Barnard Cornick was the bespectacled, first bass guitar player in the progressive rock band, Jethro Tull....
(who had replaced Hammond) to join forces with blues guitarist Mick Abrahams
Mick Abrahams
Michael Timothy 'Mick' Abrahams was the original guitarist for Jethro Tull. He recorded the album This Was with the band in 1968, but conflicts between Abrahams and Ian Anderson over the musical direction of the band led Abrahams to leave once the album was finished...
and his friend, drummer Clive Bunker
Clive Bunker
Clive William Bunker is a British rock drummer. He was the original drummer in the British band Jethro Tull....
, both from the Luton-based band McGregor's Engine. At first, the new band had trouble getting repeat bookings and they took to changing their name frequently to continue playing the London club circuit. Band names were often supplied by their booking agents' staff, one of whom, a history enthusiast, eventually christened them "Jethro Tull" after the 18th-century agriculturist
Jethro Tull (agriculturist)
Jethro Tull was an English agricultural pioneer who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution. He perfected a horse-drawn seed drill in 1701 that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows, and later a horse-drawn hoe...
. The name stuck because they happened to be using it the first time a club manager liked their show enough to invite them to return. They were signed to the blossoming Ellis-Wright agency, and became the third band managed by the soon-to-be Chrysalis
Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...
empire. It was around this time that Anderson purchased a flute after becoming frustrated with his inability to play guitar like Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
.
Their first single was released in 1968, written by Abrahams and produced by Derek Lawrence
Derek Lawrence
Derek Lawrence is a record producer, famous for his work for Joe Meek's Outlaws, Deep Purple, Machiavel and Wishbone Ash.Lawrence came in contact with Meek circa at the end of 1963, when he managed a group, Laurie Black and the Men of Mystery, that won a recording session at Joe Meek's studio. He...
, and called "Sunshine Day"; on the label the group's name was misspelled "Jethro Toe", making it a collector's item. "Sunshine Day" was unsuccessful.
They released their first album This Was
This Was
*The 2001 remastered CD added three bonus tracks and extensive liner notes.40th Anniversary Collectors' Edition*A deluxe two-CD fortieth anniversary edition was released in 2008...
in 1968. In addition to music written by Anderson and Abrahams the album included the traditional "Cat's Squirrel", which highlighted Abrahams' blues-rock style. The Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Rahsaan Roland Kirk was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played tenor saxophone, flute and many other instruments...
-penned jazz piece "Serenade to a Cuckoo" gave Anderson a showcase for his growing talents on the flute, an instrument which he started learning to play only half a year before the release of the album. The overall sound of the group at this time was described in the Record Mirror
Record Mirror
Record Mirror was a British weekly pop music newspaper, founded by Isadore Green and featured, news articles, interviews, record charts, record reviews, concert reviews, letters from readers and photographs. The paper became respected by both mainstream pop music fans and serious record collectors...
by Anderson in 1968 as "a sort of progressive blues with a bit of jazz."
Following this album, Abrahams left after a falling out with Anderson and formed his own band, Blodwyn Pig
Blodwyn Pig
Blodwyn Pig were a British blues–rock group founded by guitarist–vocalist–songwriter Mick Abrahams, after he left Jethro Tull in 1968 due to a falling-out with Tull leader Ian Anderson.-Career:...
. There were a number of reasons for his departure: he was a blues purist, while Anderson wanted to branch out into other forms of music; Abrahams and Cornick did not get along; and Abrahams was unwilling to travel internationally or play more than three nights a week, while the others wanted to be successful by playing as often as possible and building an international fan base.
Guitarist Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
, from the group Earth (who would soon change their name to Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
), took on guitar duties for a short time after the departure of Abrahams, appearing in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus is a film released in 1996 of an 11 December 1968 event put together by The Rolling Stones. The event comprised two concerts on a circus stage and included such acts as The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and Jethro Tull...
, in which the group (all but Ian's vocals, which were recorded live) mimed "A Song For Jeffrey" in December 1968. Iommi returned to Earth thereafter. David O'List
David O'List
David 'Davy' O'List is a rock guitarist, vocalist and trumpeter.Most notably, he played with The Attack, The Nice and Jet.- Career :...
(who had just left the Nice
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
) also deputised on guitar with Jethro Tull for a few shows and was briefly considered as a possible permanent replacement for Abrahams, although plans of O'List becoming a full fledged member of the band never materialised.
1969–76: developing their own style
After auditions for a replacement guitarist in December 1968, Anderson chose Martin Barre, a former member of Motivation, Penny Peeps, and Gethsemane, who was playing with Noel ReddingNoel Redding
Noel Redding was an English rock and roll guitarist best known as the bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Biography:...
's Fat Mattress
Fat Mattress
Fat Mattress were an English folk rock band that formed in Folkestone in 1968. Founded by guitarist and vocalist Noel Redding, during his time as bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and vocalist Neil Landon, the band was completed by multi-instrumentalist Jim Leverton and drummer Eric Dillon...
at the time. Barre was so nervous at his first audition that he could hardly play at all, and then showed up for a second audition without an amplifier or a cord to connect his guitar to another amp. Nevertheless, Barre would become Abrahams' permanent replacement on guitar and the second longest-standing member of the band after Anderson.
This new line-up released Stand Up
Stand Up (Jethro Tull album)
2010 Deluxe EditionCD 1: Stand Up# "A New Day Yesterday" [2001 Digital Remaster]# "Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square" [2001 Digital Remaster]# "Bourée" [2001 Digital Remaster]# "Back to the Family" [2001 Digital Remaster]...
in 1969, the group's only UK number-one album. The LP unfolded to a photo insert of the band attached to the covers like a pop-up book
Pop-up book
The term pop-up book is often applied to any three-dimensional or movable book, although properly the umbrella term movable book covers pop-ups, transformations, tunnel books, volvelles, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs, pull-downs, and more, each of which performs in a different manner...
. Written entirely by Anderson – with the exception of the jazzy rearrangement of J. S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's Bourrée in E minor
Bourrée in E minor
Bourrée in E minor is a popular lute piece, the fifth movement from Suite in E minor for Lute, BWV 996 written by Johann Sebastian Bach. This piece is arguably one of the most famous pieces among guitarists....
BWV 996 (fifth movement) – it branched out further from the blues, clearly evidencing a new direction for the group, which would come to be categorised as progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
alongside such diverse groups as King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
, Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
, Camel
Camel (band)
Camel are an English progressive rock band formed in 1971. An important group in the Canterbury scene, they have been releasing studio and live recordings steadily, with considerable success, since their formation.-1970s:...
, The Nice
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
, Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. The band was known for the complexity and sophistication of its music and for the varied musical skills of its members. All of the band members, except the first two drummers, were multi-instrumentalists...
, and Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
. A couple of months prior to the sessions for this album, the band recorded one of their best-known songs, "Living in the Past", which was originally issued only as a single. Anderson and Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...
manager Terry Ellis reportedly wrote it in 5/4 time with the intent of preventing its ascent to the pop charts. It turned out not to be the case, as the song reached number three in the UK chart, and though most other progressive groups actively resisted issuing singles at the time, Jethro Tull had further success with their other singles, "Sweet Dream" (1969) and "The Witch's Promise" (1970), and a five-track EP, Life Is a Long Song (1971), all of which made the top twenty. In 1970, they added keyboardist John Evan (initially as a guest musician) and released the album Benefit
Benefit (album)
Benefit is the third album by Jethro Tull. It was released in April 1970. It was the first album to include pianist and organist John Evan , and the last to include bass guitarist Glenn Cornick. It reached #3 in the UK album charts.The album has more hard rock than its predecessor, Stand Up...
.
Bassist Cornick was fired for unknown reasons in December 1970, and formed the band Wild Turkey
Glenn Cornick
Glenn Douglas Barnard Cornick was the bespectacled, first bass guitar player in the progressive rock band, Jethro Tull....
. He was replaced by Jeffrey Hammond, the childhood friend and former Blades bandmate of Anderson's and Evan's whose name appeared in the titles of the songs "A Song for Jeffrey", "Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square", "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey, and Me", and in the lyrics of the Benefit track, "Inside." Hammond was often credited on Jethro Tull albums as "Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond", a reference to the fact that Hammond's mother's maiden name was also Hammond, no relation to his father.
This line-up released Jethro Tull's best-known work, Aqualung in 1971. On this album, Anderson's lyrics included strong opinions about religion. Because of the heavy touring schedule and his wish to spend more time with his family, drummer Bunker quit the group after the Aqualung album and was replaced by Barrie Barlow in early 1971 (who was rechristened "Barriemore" by Anderson). Barlow first recorded with the band for the EP Life Is a Long Song and made his first appearance on a Jethro Tull album with 1972's 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...
. Disagreeing with the assessment from some music critics that Aqualung had been a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
, Ian Anderson decided to give them "the mother of all concept albums", including the preposterous idea that the lyrics had been written by an eight-year-old boy. The album consisted of a single track running 43:46 (an innovation previously unheard of in rock music), split over the two sides of the LP, with a number of movements melded together and some repeating themes. The first movement with its distinctive acoustic guitar riff received some airplay on rock stations at the time. Thick as a Brick was the first Tull album to reach number one on the (US) Billboard Pop Albums chart (the following year's A Passion Play
A Passion Play
A Passion Play is a concept album, and the sixth studio album, released by Jethro Tull. Apparently concerning the spiritual journey of one man in the afterlife, it is similar to Thick as a Brick in that it is one long track split across both sides of the LP vinyl record, save for the interruption...
being the only other). This album's quintet – Anderson, Barre, Evan, Hammond, and Barlow – lasted until the end of 1975, and was, in essence, a reunion of The Blades, with Barre being the only member of Jethro Tull who had not been in The Blades.
Living in the Past (album)
Living in the Past is a double album quasi-compilation collection by Jethro Tull which contains album tracks, outtakes, the "Life Is A Long Song" EP, and all of their singles non-lp tracks except "Aeroplane", "Sunshine Day", "One For John Gee", "17" and the original United Kingdom version of...
, a double-album compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of remixed singles, B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
s and outtakes (including the entirety of the Life Is a Long Song EP, which closes the album), with the third side recorded live in 1970 at New York's Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
concert.
In 1973, while in tax exile
Tax exile
A tax exile is one who chooses to leave a country with a high tax burden and instead to reside in a foreign nation or jurisdiction which takes a lower portion of earnings. Going into tax exile is a means of tax mitigation or avoidance.-Legal status:...
, the band attempted to produce a double album at France's Château d'Hérouville
Château d'Hérouville
The Château d'Hérouville is a French château of the 18th century located in the village of Hérouville, in the Oise valley near Paris. The castle was built in 1740 by Gaudot, an architect of the school of Rome. In the 19th century, it was used as courier relay station and stabled a hundred...
studios (something The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
among others were doing at the time), but supposedly they were unhappy with the quality of the recording studio and abandoned the effort, subsequently mocking the studio as the "Chateau d'Isaster". An 11-minute excerpt was released on the 1988 20 Years of Jethro Tull boxed set, and the complete "Chateau d'Isaster Tapes" were finally released on the 1993 compilation Nightcap, with overdubbed flute lines where the vocal parts were missing. They returned to England and Anderson rewrote, quickly recorded, and released A Passion Play
A Passion Play
A Passion Play is a concept album, and the sixth studio album, released by Jethro Tull. Apparently concerning the spiritual journey of one man in the afterlife, it is similar to Thick as a Brick in that it is one long track split across both sides of the LP vinyl record, save for the interruption...
, another single-track concept album, with allegorical lyrics focusing on the afterlife. Just as "Thick as a Brick" had, A Passion Play contained instrumentation rather uncommon in rock music. The album also featured an interlude, "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles", which was co-written (along with Anderson and Evan) and narrated by bassist Hammond. A Passion Play sold well but received generally poor reviews, including a particularly damning review of its live performance by Chris Welch of Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
.
Around this time, the band's popularity with critics began to wane but their popularity with the public remained strong. 1974's War Child
War Child (album)
War Child is the seventh studio album by Jethro Tull, released in October 1974.Originally meant to accompany a film project , it was reinstated as a ten-song, single-length rock album after failed attempts to find a major movie studio to finance the film.The "War Child" movie was written as a...
, an album originally intended to be a companion piece for a film, reached number two on the Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
and received some critical acclaim, and produced the radio mainstays "Bungle in the Jungle
War Child (album)
War Child is the seventh studio album by Jethro Tull, released in October 1974.Originally meant to accompany a film project , it was reinstated as a ten-song, single-length rock album after failed attempts to find a major movie studio to finance the film.The "War Child" movie was written as a...
" and "Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day)". It also included a song, "Only Solitaire", allegedly aimed at L.A. Times rock music critic Robert Hilburn
Robert Hilburn
Robert Hilburn is a pop music critic and author. As critic and music editor of the Los Angeles Times from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays and profiles have appeared in hundreds of publications around the world...
, who was one of Anderson's harsher critics. The War Child tour also featured a female string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
playing along with the group on the new material.
In 1975, the band released Minstrel in the Gallery
Minstrel in the Gallery
Minstrel in the Gallery is the eighth studio album by British band Jethro Tull, released in September 1975.Ian Anderson's lyrics and subject matter show an introspective and cynical air, possibly the byproduct of Anderson's recent divorce from first wife Jennie Franks and the pressures of touring,...
, an album which resembled Aqualung in that it contrasted softer, acoustic-guitar-based pieces with lengthier, more bombastic works headlined by Barre's electric guitar. Written and recorded during Anderson's divorce from his first wife Jennie Franks
Jennie Franks
Jennie Franks is an English photographer, actress, and playwright. She may be best known as Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson's first wife, from 1970 to 1974. She is a lyricist and wrote the lyrics to the Jethro Tull song "Aqualung"....
, the album is characterised by introspective, cynical, and sometimes bitter lyrics. Critics gave it mixed reviews, but the album came to be acknowledged as one of the band's best by longtime Jethro Tull fans, even as it generally fell under the radar to listeners familiar only with Aqualung.
For the 1975 tour, David Palmer
Dee Palmer
Dee Palmer is an English composer arranger and keyboardist best known for having been a member of the rock group Jethro Tull.Palmer studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music with Richard Rodney Bennet,winning the Eric Coates Prize and The Boosey and Hawkes Prize...
, who had long been the band's orchestra arranger, officially joined the band on keyboards and synthesisers. After the tour, bassist Hammond quit the band to pursue painting. John Glascock
John Glascock
John Glascock was the bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and occasional lead vocalist for the progressive rock band Carmen. He was also the bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the progressive rock band Jethro Tull from December 1975 until August 1979...
, who earlier was playing with flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
-rock band Carmen
Carmen (rock band)
Carmen was a British-American band active from 1970–1975. Their style was a fusion of rock music and flamenco music and dance. While the band achieved some success in recording and performance, its greatest significance lies in later contributions of its members to more famous rock...
, a support band on the previous Jethro Tull tour, became the band's new bassist.
1976's Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!
Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!
Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! is the ninth studio album released by British band Jethro Tull. It is widely considered a concept album. The remastered 2002 CD version contains two bonus tracks that were cut from the original LP, "Small Cigar" and "Strip Cartoon"...
was another concept album, this time about the life of an ageing rocker (which Anderson insisted was not autobiographical). Anderson, stung by critical reviews (particularly of A Passion Play), responded on Too Old... with more sharply-barbed lyrics.
1977–79: folk rock trilogy
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
albums, Songs from the Wood
Songs from the Wood
Songs from the Wood is the tenth studio album by Jethro Tull and is considered to be the first of a trio of folk rock albums despite the fact that folk music elements are present in the work of Jethro Tull both before and after this trilogy...
, Heavy Horses
Heavy Horses
Heavy Horses is the eleventh studio album by Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1978. It is considered the second album in a trilogy of folk-rock albums by Jethro Tull, although folk music's influence is evident on a great number of Jethro Tull releases...
, and Stormwatch
Stormwatch (album)
Stormwatch is the twelfth studio album by the rock group Jethro Tull. It is considered the last in the trilogy of folk-rock albums by Jethro Tull...
. Songs from the Wood was the first Tull album to receive generally positive reviews since the release of Living in the Past.
The band had long had ties to folk rockers Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
(Tull were the backing band on Steeleye Span front woman Maddy Prior's solo album Woman in the Wings as a way of repaying her for contributing vocals on the Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! album) and laterly with Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
(Fairport members Dave Pegg
Dave Pegg
Dave Pegg is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, arguably most visible as a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the pre-eminent electric folk band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of important folk and rock groups including The Ian Campbell...
, Martin Allcock, Dave Mattacks
Dave Mattacks
Dave Mattacks is a rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician, and as a performance artist...
and Ric Sanders have all played with Tull at one point or another, as well as folk drummer Gerry Conway
Gerry Conway (musician)
Gerald Conway is an English folk and rock drummer/percussionist, best known for having performed with the backing band for Cat Stevens in the 1970s, Jethro Tull during the 1980s, and currently a member of Fairport Convention as well as his side projects...
who became a Fairport member after playing with Tull). Although not formally considered a part of the folk rock movement (which had actually begun nearly a decade earlier with the advent of Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
), there was clearly an exchange of musical ideas among Tull and the folk rockers. By this time, Anderson had moved to a farm in the countryside, and his new bucolic lifestyle was clearly reflected on these albums, as in the title track of Heavy Horses
Heavy Horses
Heavy Horses is the eleventh studio album by Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1978. It is considered the second album in a trilogy of folk-rock albums by Jethro Tull, although folk music's influence is evident on a great number of Jethro Tull releases...
, a paean to draught horses
Draft horse
A draft horse , draught horse or dray horse , less often called a work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred for hard, heavy tasks such as ploughing and farm labour...
.
The band continued to tour, and released a live double album in 1978. Entitled Bursting Out
Bursting Out
Bursting Out is a 1978 live album by rock band Jethro Tull. It was recorded at various locations during the European Heavy Horses tour of May and June 1978, but it is not certain where each track was recorded...
it featured dynamic live performances from the line-up that many Jethro Tull fans consider comprising the golden era of the band. During the US tour, because of health problems, John Glascock was replaced by Anderson's friend and former Stealers Wheel
Stealers Wheel
Stealers Wheel are a Scottish folk rock/rock band formed in Paisley, Renfrewshire in 1972 by former school friends Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty.The band broke up in 1975 and re-formed without Egan and Rafferty in 2008.-Biography:...
bassist Tony Williams.
Their third folk influenced album Stormwatch
Stormwatch (album)
Stormwatch is the twelfth studio album by the rock group Jethro Tull. It is considered the last in the trilogy of folk-rock albums by Jethro Tull...
was released in 1979; this is considered the end of an era for the classic Tull period as Glascock, after having open heart surgery the previous year, died in his home of heart complications (Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention took the bass responsibilities for the Stormwatch tour). Barlow, depressed and withdrawn after Glascock's death, soon quit the band. Moreover, Palmer and Evan's contracts had expired before the A album.
Jethro Tull was left with Anderson (the only original member) and Barre.
1980–84: electronic rock
Tull's first album of the 1980s, A, was intended to be Ian Anderson's first solo album. Anderson retained Barre on electric guitar, and added Dave Pegg (Fairport Convention) on bass, Mark CraneyMark Craney
Mark Craney was a drummer for the rock band Jethro Tull from June 1980 to May 1981...
on drums, and special guest keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson
Eddie Jobson
Edwin "Eddie" Jobson is an English keyboardist and violinist noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K., and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976-77...
(ex-Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
, UK
UK (band)
U.K. were a short-lived British progressive rock supergroup active from 1977 until 1980.The band was composed of Singer/Bassist John Wetton, formerly of King Crimson, Bryan Ferry's band and Uriah Heep, Keyboardist/Electric Violinist Eddie Jobson, formerly of Curved Air, Roxy Music and Frank Zappa's...
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, and Curved Air
Curved Air
Curved Air are a pioneering British progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classic, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band was a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fusion with classical elements...
). Highlighted by the prominent use of synthesisers, it contrasted sharply with the established "Tull sound". After pressure from Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...
, Anderson decided to release it as a Jethro Tull album. Entitled A (taken from the labels on the master tapes for his scrapped solo album, marked simply "A for Anderson"), it was released in mid-1980.
In keeping with the mood of innovation surrounding the album, Jethro Tull made an early foray into the emerging genre of music video with Slipstream, a film which takes place at London's Hammersmith Odeon (which was used for exterior scenes). However, the main concert footage was actually from an American performance in Los Angeles, California, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (as heard on the Magic Piper ROIO), featuring the A line-up, filmed in November 1980. The video was directed by David Mallet
David Mallet (director)
David Mallet is a British director particularly noted for his work on music videos, including David Bowie's innovative "Ashes to Ashes", Rush's "Distant Early Warning, and Queen's "Radio Ga Ga" and "I Want to Break Free" videos. He has also served as a producer on television programmes including...
, who has directed numerous music videos, including the pioneering "Ashes to Ashes
Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie song)
"Ashes to Ashes" is a single by David Bowie, released in 1980. It made #1 in the UK and was the first cut from the Scary Monsters album, also a #1 hit. As well as its musical qualities, it is noted for its innovative video, directed by Bowie and David Mallet...
" video for David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
. The electronic style of the album was even more pronounced in these live performances and was used to striking effect on some of the older songs, including "Locomotive Breath". The more familiar Jethro Tull sound was brought to the fore in an all-acoustic version of "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day" featuring Jobson on mandolin, Pegg on mandola and Craney on bass.
Jobson and Craney returned to their own work following the A Tour and Jethro Tull entered a period of revolving drummers: Gerry Conway who left after deciding he couldn't be the one to replace Barlow, Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
(as a fill-in for the recently departed Gerry Conway, played with the band at the first Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by Charles, Prince of Wales to help young people. They run a range of training programmes, provide mentoring support and offer financial grants to build the confidence and motivation of disadvantaged young people...
concert in 1982), Paul Burgess (for the US leg of the Broadsword and the Beast tour and who left to settle down with his family) and permanent drummer Doane Perry. The year of 1981 was the first year in their album career that the band did not release an album; however some recording sessions took place (Anderson, Barre, Pegg, and Conway, with Anderson playing the keyboards). Some of these tracks were released on the Nightcap compilation in 1993. In 1982, Peter-John Vettese
Peter-John Vettese
Peter-John Vettese , also known as Peter Vettese, is a British keyboardist, songwriter, arranger and record producer....
joined on keyboards, and the band returned to a somewhat folkier sound – albeit with synthesisers – for 1982's The Broadsword and the Beast
Broadsword and the Beast
The Broadsword and The Beast is the 14th studio album by Jethro Tull, released on April 10, 1982 and according to Ian Anderson in the liner notes of the remastered CD, contains some of Jethro Tull's best music...
. The ensuing concert tour for the album was well attended and the shows featured what was to be one of the group's last indulgences in full-dress theatricality: the stage was built to resemble a Viking longship and the band performed in faux-medieval regalia.
An Anderson solo album (which was in fact an Anderson-Vettese effort) appeared in 1983, in the form of the heavily electronic Walk into Light
Walk into Light
Walk Into Light is the first solo album released byJethro Tull frontmanIan Anderson....
. Although the album featured electronic soundscapes and synthesiser voicings advanced for its time, as well as cerebral lyrics about the alienating effects of technology, the release failed to resonate with long-time fans or with new listeners. However, as with later solo efforts by Anderson and Barre, some of the Walk Into Light songs, such as "Fly By Night", "Made in England" and "Different Germany", later made their way into Jethro Tull live sets.
In 1984, Jethro Tull released Under Wraps, a heavily electronic album with no "live" drummer (instead, as on Walk into Light, a drum-machine was used). Although the band was reportedly proud of the sound, the album was not well received, particularly in North America. However, the video for "Lap of Luxury" did manage to earn moderate rotation on the newly influential MTV music video channel. Also, the acoustic version of the title track, "Under Wraps 2", found some favour over the years and a live instrumental version of the song was included on the A Little Light Music concert CD of 1992. Some long-time Jethro Tull fans regard Under Wraps as one of the band's weaker efforts; however, Martin Barre considers it his favourite (the main riff from the song "Paparazzi" also became a regular part of live sets as a part of Barre's solo spots; however, these were the only parts of the album that remained in the live sets after the Under Wraps tour). As a result of the throat problems Anderson developed singing the demanding Under Wraps material on tour, Jethro Tull took a three-year break, during which Anderson continued to oversee the salmon farm he had founded in 1978, although a single "Coronach" was released in the UK in 1986 after it was used as the theme tune for a Channel 4 television program called "Blood of the British". Vettese quit the band after the tour angry at the critics for bad reviews of BSATB, Walk into Light, and Under Wraps
1987–1994: Hard rock
Jethro Tull returned strongly in 1987 with Crest of a KnaveCrest of a Knave
Crest of a Knave is the sixteenth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1987.The album relied more heavily on Martin Barre's electric guitar than the band had since the 1970s. However, several tracks still featured drum machine instead of a live drummer. Keyboardist Peter-John...
. With Vettese absent (Anderson contributed the synth programming) and the band relying more heavily on Barre's electric guitar than they had since the early 1970s, the album was a critical and commercial success. Shades of their earlier electronic excursions were still present, however, as three of the album's songs again utilised a drum machine. Prior to the Crest Of A Knave tour, keyboardist Don Airey (ex-Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, MSG) joined the band.
The band won the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental was an award presented at the 31st Grammy Awards in 1989 to honor quality hard rock/metal works...
, beating the favourite Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
and their ...And Justice for All
...And Justice for All (album)
...And Justice for All is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on August 25, 1988 through Elektra Records. It is the first full-length Metallica album to feature bassist Jason Newsted following the death of Cliff Burton in 1986...
album. The award was particularly controversial as many did not consider Jethro Tull hard rock, much less heavy metal. On the advice of their manager, who told them they had no chance of winning, no one from the band attended the award ceremony. In response to the criticism they received over the award, the band took out an advertisement in a British music periodical with a picture of a flute lying amid a pile of iron re-bars and the line, "The flute is a heavy metal instrument." In response to an interview question about the controversy, Ian Anderson quipped, "Well, we do sometimes play our mandolins very loudly." In 2007, the win was named one of the ten biggest upsets in Grammy history by Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
In 1992, when Metallica finally won the Grammy in the category, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich is a Danish drummer, and one of the founding members of the American thrash metal band Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark to an upper-middle class family. A tennis player in his youth, Ulrich moved to Los Angeles, California at age sixteen to pursue his training; though rather...
joked, "First thing we're going to do is thank Jethro Tull for not putting out an album this year," a play on a Grammy comment by Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
some years before thanking Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
for the same thing.
The style of Crest has been compared to that of Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
, in part because Anderson no longer seemed to have the vocal range he once possessed and preferred to use the lower registers, while Martin Barre's guitar sound apparently drifted towards Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
's style. Two songs in particular – "Farm on the Freeway" and "Steel Monkey" – got heavy radio airplay. The album also contained the popular live song "Budapest", which depicts a backstage scene with a shy local female stagehand. Although "Budapest" was the longest song on that album (at just over ten minutes), "Mountain Men" became more famous in Europe, depicting a scene from World War II in Africa. Ian Anderson referred to the battles of El Alamein
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery...
and the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
, drawing historic parallels of the angst that women left behind by their warrior husbands might have felt:
They toured this album with "The Not Quite The World, More The Here And There Tour". It was also the first time in the band's history, when it, even though rarely, had two electric guitar players on stage (Anderson played rhythm guitar).
1988 was notable for the release of 20 Years of Jethro Tull
20 Years of Jethro Tull
-Disc two:Flawed Gems and Other Sides Of Tull-Disc three:The Essential Tull-LP Track listing:The track numbers shown below are for the five LP set...
, a five-LP themed set (also released as a three-CD set, and as a truncated single CD version on 20 Years of Jethro Tull: Highlights) consisting largely of rarities and outtakes from throughout the band's history, as well as a variety of live and remastered tracks. It also included a booklet outlining the band's history in detail. Now out of print, it has become a collector's item, although many (but not all) of the outtakes have been included as bonus tracks on remastered releases of the band's studio albums.
Multi-instrumentalist Martin (Maart) Allcock
Maartin Allcock
Maartin Allcock , also known as Martin Allcock, is a multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer.-Biography:...
, who as a member of Fairport Convention, had played as a guest with Tull at the Cropredy festival the previous year, joined the band mainly as keyboard player, starting with the 20th Anniversary tour (this may seem unremarkable, but multi-instrumentalist Allcock – proficient on all manner of stringed instruments with Fairport – had never previously played keyboards professionally with a band), replacing the departed Airey. For some numbers Alcock played the second electric guitar (Anderson reverted to playing acoustic), the last time that the band did this live.
In 1989, the band released Rock Island
Rock Island (album)
Rock Island is the 17th studio album by the British rock group Jethro Tull, released in 1989.The album continued the hard rock direction the band took on the previous effort, Crest of a Knave...
, which met with less commercial and critical success than Crest of a Knave. The lead-off track, "Kissing Willie," featured bawdy double-entendre lyrics and over-the-top heavy metal riffing that seemed to take a satiric view of the group's recent Grammy award win. The song's accompanying video found difficulty in receiving airplay because of its sexual imagery. Although Rock Island was something of a miss for the group, a couple of fan favourites did emerge from the album. "Big Riff and Mando" reflects life on the road for the relentlessly touring musicians, giving a wry account of the theft of Barre's prized mandolin by a starstruck fan. "Another Christmas Song", an upbeat number celebrating the humanitarian spirit of the holiday season, stood out against the brooding and sombre mood of many of the songs on the album and was well received at concerts. It was re-recorded for the 2003 Jethro Tull Christmas Album release.
1991's Catfish Rising
Catfish Rising
Catfish Rising is the 18th studio album by the British rock group Jethro Tull, released in 1991. It is the first Tull album to feature keyboardist Andrew Giddings.-Vinyl edition:Side One# "This Is Not Love" – 3:56# "Occasional Demons" – 3:48...
was a more solid album than Rock Island. Despite being labelled as a "return to playing the blues," the album actually is marked by the generous use of mandolin and acoustic guitar and much less use of keyboards than any Tull album of the Eighties. Notable tracks included "Rocks on the Road", which highlighted gritty acoustic guitar work and hard-bitten lyrics about urban life and "Still Loving You Tonight", a bluesy, low-key ballad.
Allcock, who had played on the Catfish Rising tour, although not the album itself, quit the band at the end of the year to pursue solo work.
1995–present: world music influences
Following the 1992 tour (which included Fairport drummer Dave Mattacks and was documented with A Little Light Music, band's second official live album), Anderson had re-learned how to play the flute (after his daughter, who took up the flute classes at school, discovered that her father often uses the wrong fingering) and begun writing songs that heavily featured world music influences. However, the first Tull releases containing the "relearned" flute were the 25th Anniversary Box which, above the remixes of classic songs and unreleased live material, included a whole CD of old songs from the band's entire career recorded by the current line-up, and a "Nightcap" album containing unreleased studio material (mainly from the scrapped pre-Passion Play album), with multiple flute parts rerecorded.Dave Pegg left the band wishing to concentrate on Fairport Convention and not being keen on the world-music direction the band chose, and was replaced for 1995's Roots To Branches
Roots to Branches
Roots to Branches is the name of the 19th studio album by the band Jethro Tull. It carries characteristics of Tull's classic 1970s art-rock and folk-rock roots alongside jazz and Arabic and Far Eastern influences. All songs were written by Ian Anderson and recorded at his home studio...
album by Steve Bailey
Steve Bailey
Steve Bailey is an American bassist who is famous for his pioneering work with the six string fretless bass. He was voted runner up for "Bass Player Of The Year" in 1994 and 1996....
(a widely recognised session bass player who has been friends with Doane Perry; the interesting thing is that Ian Anderson gave up being involved in the rhythm section arrangements on that record, leaving it fully to two of them), and finally by Jonathan Noyce. Roots to Branches and 1999's J-Tull Dot Com
J-Tull Dot Com
J-Tull Dot Com is the name of the 20th studio album by the band Jethro Tull. J-Tull Dot Com was released four years after their 1995 album Roots to Branches and continues in the same vein, marrying hard-rock and art-rock with Eastern music influences...
were less rock-based than Crest of a Knave or Catfish Rising. Songs on these albums reflect the musical influences of decades of performing all around the globe. In songs such as "Out of the Noise" and "Hot Mango Flush", Anderson paints vivid pictures of third-world street scenes. These albums have reflected Anderson's coming to grips with being an old rocker, with songs such as the pensive "Another Harry's Bar", "Wicked Windows" (a meditation on reading glasses), and the gruff "Wounded, Old, and Treacherous".
In 1995, Anderson released his second solo album, Divinities: Twelve Dances with God
Divinities: Twelve Dances with God
Divinities: Twelve Dances with God is the 2nd solo album by Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson.All 12 tracks are instrumental and are influenced by different ethnical musical traditions: Celtic , Spanish , African and so on.-Track listing:#"In A Stone Circle" – 3:25#"In Sight Of The Minaret" –...
, an instrumental work composed of twelve flute-heavy pieces pursuing varied themes with an underlying motif. The album was recorded with Jethro Tull keyboard player Andrew Giddings and orchestral musicians. Anderson released two further song-based solo albums, The Secret Language of Birds
The Secret Language of Birds
The Secret Language of Birds is the 3rd solo album byJethro Tull frontmanIan Anderson.It is named after the dawn chorus, the natural sound of birds heard at dawn, most noticeably in the spring.-Track listing:...
and Rupi's Dance
Rupi's Dance
Rupi's Dance is a solo album by Jethro Tull frontmanIan Anderson. The album was released around the same timeas Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre's new solo album, Stage Left....
in 2000 and 2003, respectively.
In 2001, Anderson reunited with Cornick, Bunker, and Abrahams for small pub dates. It was the first time the original four members had played together since 1968. "Living With The Past" includes a documentary that features the band on tour, in Britain and America, in 2001. It also has footage of the 2001 reunion of Jethro Tull's first line up—Anderson, Abrahams, Cornick and Bunker—filmed playing in a pub.
2003 saw the release of The Jethro Tull Christmas Album
The Jethro Tull Christmas Album
The Jethro Tull Christmas Album is the 21st studio album released by Jethro Tull, on September 30, 2003 . The songs are a mix of new material, re-recordings of Tull's own suitably themed material and arrangements of traditional Christmas music...
, a collection of traditional Christmas songs together with old and new Christmas songs written by Jethro Tull. The album became the band's biggest commercial success since the 1987 Crest of the Knave.
An Ian Anderson live double album and DVD was released in 2005 called Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull
Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull
Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull is an album and DVD by Jethro Tull frontmanIan Anderson, featuring the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt, conducted by John O'Hara. The DVD was recorded at the Rosengarten in Mannheim on December 8, 2004....
. In addition, a DVD entitled Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970
Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970
Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 is a live album by Jethro Tull, released on 2 November 2004. It was recorded on the fifth and last day of the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, where Jethro Tull were second on the bill between The Moody Blues and Jimi Hendrix.-Track listing:# "My Sunday...
and a live album Aqualung Live
Aqualung Live
Aqualung Live is a live album by Jethro Tull,a live performance of Aqualung before an audience of 40invited guests at XM Studios in Washington, D.C.....
(recorded in 2004) were released in 2005. Included on "Nothing is Easy" is footage from the 1970 Isle of Wight festival, considered by many Tull fans to be a classic Jethro Tull performance.
Ian Anderson performed a version of the song "The Thin Ice," on the 2005 Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
tribute album Back Against the Wall
Back Against The Wall
Back Against the Wall is an album released in 2005 by Billy Sherwood in collaboration with a number of progressive rock artists as a tribute to Pink Floyd's album The Wall...
.
2006 saw the release of a dual boxed set DVD "Collectors Edition", containing two DVD's "Nothing Is Easy" and "Living With The Past". Bassist Jon Noyce left the band in March 2006. Giddings quit the band in July 2006 citing constant touring and less time for family. They were replaced by David Goodier
David Goodier
David Goodier is an English musician. He is currently bassist for the rock band Jethro Tull.Goodier has appeared with many artists from the world of jazz, pop and rock and also worked extensively in theatre pit bands....
and John O'Hara respectively.
March 2007 saw the release of The Best of Acoustic Jethro Tull
The Best of Acoustic Jethro Tull
The Best of Acoustic is a greatest hits album by Jethro Tull. It includes some of the band's biggest acoustic hits from 1969 to the present day.-Track listing:#"Fat Man" - 2:51#"Life Is A Long Song" - 3:18#"Cheap Day Return" - 1:22...
, a 24-song set of Tull and Ian Anderson acoustic performances taken from various albums. Included are a new live acoustic version of "One Brown Mouse" and a live performance of the traditional song (attributed to Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
), "Pastime With Good Company."
In September 2007, Jethro Tull released CD/DVD Live At Montreux 2003. The concert was recorded on 4 July 2003 and featured, among others, "Fat Man", "With You There To Help Me" and "Hunting Girl".
In February 2010, the band were commemorated with a Heritage Award
Heritage Award
The Heritage Award is a ceremonial plaque installed in a public place to commemorate a link between a famous musician or music band and the location they performed their first live gig...
by PRS for Music. A plaque was erected on a Catholic church in Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
where the band performed their first ever gig.
In 2011 while on the Aqualung 40th Tour, Anderson mentioned in an interview that Jethro Tull will be recording a new album this fall/winter with a potential release date set for Spring 2012. This will be their first new studio album in 12 years. Their last studio album of new material was J-Tull Dot Com in 1999. Anderson's solo tours and Jethro Tull have been performing some of the new material on their past tours for the past 2-3 years. 2011 also marks the 40th Anniversary of Aqualung. This new re-issue will be a new remix of the album and include a DVD and unreleased songs. Anderson previously felt Aqualung hadn't been mixed properly and he's always wanted to improve it.
No More Tull Recordings
In an interview in November 2011 Martin Barre stated that there were no plans for future Jethro Tull work. Barre plans assembling new band, which will play only Jethro Tull music, focused on early to mid-seventies albums and will not include a keyboard player. Ian Anderson has scheduled a Thick as a Brick Tour, playing the album in its entirety.Martin Barre said in November, 2011 that Jethro Tull is "on ice" with regard to future live projects, stating he does not foresee any Tull concerts for the next two years, but will instead set up a solo band made up of three or four ex-Tull members. He said that there will be "No more Jethro Tull CDs." Both Barre and Ian Anderson will continue to work on solo projects.
Live history
During the early 1970s Jethro Tull went from a progressive blues band to one of the largest concert draws in the world. In concert, the band was known for theatricality and long medleys with brief instrumental interludes. While early Jethro Tull shows featured a manic Anderson with bushy hair and beard dressed in tattered overcoats and ragged clothes, as the band became bigger he moved towards varied costumes. This culminated with the War Child tour's oversized codpieceCodpiece
A codpiece is a covering flap or pouch that attaches to the front of the crotch of men's trousers and usually accentuates the genital area. It was held closed by string ties, buttons, or other methods...
and colourful costume.
Other band members joined in the dress-up and developed stage personae. Bassist Glenn Cornick always appeared in waistcoat and headband, while his successor Jeffrey Hammond eventually adopted a black-and-white diagonally-striped suit (and similarly striped bass guitar, electric guitar, and string bass). It was a 'zebra look', and at one point a two-manned zebra came out excreting ping pong balls into the audience while both performers moved forcefully around their stage areas. Former Carmen
Carmen (rock band)
Carmen was a British-American band active from 1970–1975. Their style was a fusion of rock music and flamenco music and dance. While the band achieved some success in recording and performance, its greatest significance lies in later contributions of its members to more famous rock...
bassist John Glascock also wore flamboyant clothes on stage, most of which he sewed himself. Keyboard player John Evan dressed in an all-white suit with a neck-scarf of scarlet with white polka-dots; described as a "sad clown" type with extremely oversized shoes, he joined in the theatrics by galumphing back and forth between Hammond Organ and grand piano (placed on opposite sides of the stage in the Thick as a Brick tour) or by such sight-gags as pulling out a flask and pretending to drink from it during a rest in the music. Barriemore Barlow's stage attire was a crimson tank-top and matching runner's shorts with rugby footgear, and his solos were marked by smoke-machines and enormous drumsticks. He also wore a Bucket hat
Bucket hat
A bucket hat, or fishing hat, is a soft cotton hat with a wide and downwards sloping brim which is worn by both men and women. The brim offers shade from the sun for the eyes and face. The hat is usually made from heavy-duty cotton fabric such as denim or canvas...
. Martin Barre was the island of calm amongst the madmen, with Anderson (and sometimes Evan) crowding him and making faces during his solos.
The band's stage theatrics peaked during the Thick As A Brick tour, a performance distinguished by stage hands wearing the tan trench-coat/madras cap ensemble from the album art, extras in rabbit suits running across stage and an extended interlude during which Barre and Barlow entered a beach-tent onstage and swapped pants.
A Passion Play was planned to have a full-length film to go with the stage theatrics. However, from this effort, it seems that only a few excerpts have survived to be re-released on recent commemorative videos of the band, including the interlude "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles."
A similar multi-media effort had been planned for Too Old To Rock and Roll... but was not completed. Thereafter, the emphasis on theatrics was reduced but never eliminated. In 1982's Broadsword and the Beast concerts, the entire stage was transformed into a Viking ship. Anderson often dressed as a country squire on tours in the late 1970s, with the rest of the band adopting the style during their folk phase. The A tour featured the same white jumpsuit uniforms worn by the band on the album cover. Certain routines from the 1970s have recently become ensconced in concerts, such as having a song interrupted by a phone call for an audience member (which Anderson now takes on a cell) and the climactic conclusion of shows including bombastic instrumentals and the giant balloons which Anderson would carry over his head and toss into the crowd.
In 1992, Jethro Tull embarked on a tour titled A Little Light Music
A Little Light Music
A Little Light Music is a Jethro Tull live album. All songs were recorded during the A Little Light Music European concert tour of May 1992. There are two versions of this album. The second version was printed in Italy and is marketed and distributed only in Italy and Greece...
, with most of the show focusing on acoustic songs, many of which they had not played live for years, if at all. A live CD was recorded on this tour and released under the same title later in that year. This was well received by fans because of its different takes on many past compositions, as well as a rendition of the folk song "John Barleycorn
John Barleycorn
"John Barleycorn" is an English folksong. The character of John Barleycorn in the song is a personification of the important cereal crop barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it, beer and whisky...
". As documented by these live performances, Ian's voice had clearly improved since his vocal cord injury in the mid-Eighties. After the CD release, the tour continued as a show of two halves, the Light and Dark Tour.
1993 was marked as the 25th Anniversary of Jethro Tull by the release of various new products, as well as an extensive Anniversary Tour, which started in May 1993 and lasting nearly a year. In keeping with the anniversary theme, this tour again revived a number of older songs.
The 25th Anniversary Box was a four-CD set including new and vintage live recordings, remixed and remastered songs from earlier albums, and re-recordings of old songs by the 90s band. A two-CD Anniversary Collection compilation was also released, containing original tracks remastered, and a video collection included new interviews, promo videos and archive material. The remixed single, Living in the (Slightly more Recent) Past, reached #32 in the UK singles chart. A planned second boxed set of outtakes and rare tracks was scaled down to two discs and released towards the end of the year under the title Nightcap.
In 2006, Jethro Tull performed at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore's
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore is a business school located in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. It was established in 1973 by the Government of India, and is the third Indian Institute of Management to be established .It offers several Post Graduate and Doctoral programmes, as well as...
(IIM-B) cultural fest Unmaad
Unmaad
Unmaad is the flagship annual cultural festival of IIM Bangalore. Spanning a period of three days, Unmaad draws participants from across India and features events like dramatics, music performances, dances, quizzes, debates, street plays, professional concerts and the grand Unmaad fashion show...
in India."In the last 10 years we have seen India blossom in the eyes of the West. We eagerly wait to see the latest offing from Bollywood or the Indian rock bands," Anderson said after the performance.
Their 2008 tour, celebrating 40 years of the band, included many older songs as well as guest appearances from former band members and others.
Jethro Tull and sitarist Anoushka Shankar
Anoushka Shankar
Anoushka Shankar is a British Indian sitar player and composer who lives between the United States, the United Kingdom, and India. She is the daughter of Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar and Sukanya Shankar...
postponed a concert scheduled for 29 November 2008 in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks
2008 Mumbai attacks
The 2008 Mumbai attacks were more than 10 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India's largest city, by Islamist attackers who came from Pakistan...
. They reorganised the performance as A Billion Hands Concert
A Billion Hands Concert
A Billion Hands Concert was a benefit performance held on 5 December 2008 in Mumbai, India, by Anoushka Shankar and Jethro Tull. All proceeds from the concert went to victims of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks....
, a benefit concert for victims of the attacks, and held it on 5 December 2008. Ian Anderson commented on this decision stating that: "Some people might consider it disrespectful that we are having a concert but hopefully a majority will realise what this is about and what it says."
Jethro Tull's 2010 concert tour took them to Austria, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Norway and Switzerland in July and August, Armenia and the UK in September and North America October through November.
Jethro Tull announced a tour of North America in June 2011 in honour of the Aqualung album's 40th anniversary. At every show on this tour, the band plays the Aqualung album in its entirety, however not in order.
Jethro Tull scheduled four concerts in Australia in April 2011, the band's first since 2006. These consisted of two performances at Sydney's State Theatre
State Theatre
- Australia :* State Theatre , Australia* State Theatre , Australia- Romania :* State Jewish Theater , a theater specializing in Jewish-related plays in Bucharest, Romania- United States :...
, one at Melbourne's Palais Theatre
Palais Theatre
The Palais Theatre is a former cinema, now functioning exclusively as a concert venue, located in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. With a capacity of 2,896 people, it is the largest seated theatre in Australia....
, and one performance at the Byron Bay Bluesfest, alongside headliner Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
.
Other musicians
- Black SabbathBlack SabbathBlack Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
guitarist Tony IommiTony IommiAnthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
played guitar for Jethro Tull briefly in 1968 following the departure of Mick Abrahams. The only recording of him with Jethro Tull is on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus although his guitar is not heard as all of the music (except Ian Anderson's vocals and flute) was dubbed in afterwards. It was a one-off performance and he returned to Black Sabbath (then called Earth) in January 1969. - David O'ListDavid O'ListDavid 'Davy' O'List is a rock guitarist, vocalist and trumpeter.Most notably, he played with The Attack, The Nice and Jet.- Career :...
briefly played with Jethro Tull in 1968 after the expulsion of Mick Abrahams. - Genesis' Phil CollinsPhil CollinsPhilip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
was Jethro Tull's drummer for only one gig: the Prince's Trust Gala on 7 July 1982 at London's Dominion Theatre. During this time, Jethro Tull had the position of drummer to fill after the departure of drummer Mark CraneyMark CraneyMark Craney was a drummer for the rock band Jethro Tull from June 1980 to May 1981...
. Phil Collins played on three songs, and two of them ("Jack in the Green" and "Pussy Willow") are on an official video release of the Prince's Trust Gala, although this may not have been released in all countries. - Bassist Tony Williams filled in for part of a tour when John Glascock's health failed. He then returned to session playing.
- Bassist Matthew Pegg – Dave's son – is credited with playing bass on Catfish Rising when his bald father was "washing hair." He also filled in on several dates in the early 1990s. He is currently a session musician, and was also a permanent member of Procol HarumProcol HarumProcol Harum are a British rock band, formed in 1967, which contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale"...
. - Bassist Steve BaileySteve BaileySteve Bailey is an American bassist who is famous for his pioneering work with the six string fretless bass. He was voted runner up for "Bass Player Of The Year" in 1994 and 1996....
appeared on the Roots to BranchesRoots to BranchesRoots to Branches is the name of the 19th studio album by the band Jethro Tull. It carries characteristics of Tull's classic 1970s art-rock and folk-rock roots alongside jazz and Arabic and Far Eastern influences. All songs were written by Ian Anderson and recorded at his home studio...
recording due to Dave Pegg's scheduling conflicts and following departure from the band. He was never an official member of the band. - James Duncan has frequently appeared with the band from 2006 forward, as well as on Anderson's solo tours. Surgery performed on Perry required him to cease playing for some time, and while he has returned to the band, Duncan continues to play some shows. Duncan is Ian Anderson's son.
- Florian Opahle, a German guitarist who has played on Anderson's solo tours, as well as with Greg LakeGreg LakeGregory Stuart "Greg" Lake is an English musician, songwriter and producer, best known as a vocalist and bassist of King Crimson, and the bassist, guitarist, vocalist, and lyricist of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.-1960s: King Crimson:...
, has recently filled in for Barre on occasion, most notably due to the latter's recuperation from surgery, and in 2009, his playing in "Excalibur: The Celtic Rock Opera". - Mark Mondesir is a British drummer mostly noted for his jazz work. He is currently drumming with Tull and Ian Anderson as a fill-in for James Duncan, who broke a shoulder whilst skiing.
- Guitarist Joe BonamassaJoe BonamassaJoe Bonamassa is an American blues rock guitarist and singer.-Early life:Bonamassa was born and raised in New Hartford, United States. His parents owned and ran a guitar shop. He is a fourth-generation musician...
guested with Jethro Tull for the encore of their performance at High Voltage 2011. - Scott Hammond a British jazz drummer has replaced Mark Mondesir for Ian Andersons 2011 concerts.
Discography
- This WasThis Was*The 2001 remastered CD added three bonus tracks and extensive liner notes.40th Anniversary Collectors' Edition*A deluxe two-CD fortieth anniversary edition was released in 2008...
(1968) - Stand UpStand Up (Jethro Tull album)2010 Deluxe EditionCD 1: Stand Up# "A New Day Yesterday" [2001 Digital Remaster]# "Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square" [2001 Digital Remaster]# "Bourée" [2001 Digital Remaster]# "Back to the Family" [2001 Digital Remaster]...
(1969) - BenefitBenefit (album)Benefit is the third album by Jethro Tull. It was released in April 1970. It was the first album to include pianist and organist John Evan , and the last to include bass guitarist Glenn Cornick. It reached #3 in the UK album charts.The album has more hard rock than its predecessor, Stand Up...
(1970) - Aqualung (1971)
- Thick as a BrickThick 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...
(1972) - Living in the PastLiving in the Past (album)Living in the Past is a double album quasi-compilation collection by Jethro Tull which contains album tracks, outtakes, the "Life Is A Long Song" EP, and all of their singles non-lp tracks except "Aeroplane", "Sunshine Day", "One For John Gee", "17" and the original United Kingdom version of...
(1972) - A Passion PlayA Passion PlayA Passion Play is a concept album, and the sixth studio album, released by Jethro Tull. Apparently concerning the spiritual journey of one man in the afterlife, it is similar to Thick as a Brick in that it is one long track split across both sides of the LP vinyl record, save for the interruption...
(1973) - War ChildWar Child (album)War Child is the seventh studio album by Jethro Tull, released in October 1974.Originally meant to accompany a film project , it was reinstated as a ten-song, single-length rock album after failed attempts to find a major movie studio to finance the film.The "War Child" movie was written as a...
(1974) - Minstrel in the GalleryMinstrel in the GalleryMinstrel in the Gallery is the eighth studio album by British band Jethro Tull, released in September 1975.Ian Anderson's lyrics and subject matter show an introspective and cynical air, possibly the byproduct of Anderson's recent divorce from first wife Jennie Franks and the pressures of touring,...
(1975) - M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull (1976)
- Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! is the ninth studio album released by British band Jethro Tull. It is widely considered a concept album. The remastered 2002 CD version contains two bonus tracks that were cut from the original LP, "Small Cigar" and "Strip Cartoon"...
(1976) - Songs from the WoodSongs from the WoodSongs from the Wood is the tenth studio album by Jethro Tull and is considered to be the first of a trio of folk rock albums despite the fact that folk music elements are present in the work of Jethro Tull both before and after this trilogy...
(1977) - Repeat – The Best of Jethro Tull – Vol II (1977)
- Heavy HorsesHeavy HorsesHeavy Horses is the eleventh studio album by Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1978. It is considered the second album in a trilogy of folk-rock albums by Jethro Tull, although folk music's influence is evident on a great number of Jethro Tull releases...
(1978) - StormwatchStormwatch (album)Stormwatch is the twelfth studio album by the rock group Jethro Tull. It is considered the last in the trilogy of folk-rock albums by Jethro Tull...
(1979) - A (1980)
- The Broadsword and the BeastBroadsword and the BeastThe Broadsword and The Beast is the 14th studio album by Jethro Tull, released on April 10, 1982 and according to Ian Anderson in the liner notes of the remastered CD, contains some of Jethro Tull's best music...
(1982) - Under Wraps (1984)
- A Classic CaseA Classic CaseA Classic Case is the 16th album by Jethro Tull, playing with the London Symphony Orchestra, released in 1985. The music was arranged and conducted by David Palmer. The album features band members Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, Dave Pegg and Peter-John Vettese.The album was recorded during the...
(1985) - Original MastersOriginal MastersOriginal Masters is a greatest hits album by Jethro Tull released under Chrysalis Records in 1985. It was the band's third such effort, the first two being M.U. - The Best of Jethro Tull and Repeat - The Best of Jethro Tull - Vol II...
(1985) - Crest of a KnaveCrest of a KnaveCrest of a Knave is the sixteenth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1987.The album relied more heavily on Martin Barre's electric guitar than the band had since the 1970s. However, several tracks still featured drum machine instead of a live drummer. Keyboardist Peter-John...
(1987) - Rock IslandRock Island (album)Rock Island is the 17th studio album by the British rock group Jethro Tull, released in 1989.The album continued the hard rock direction the band took on the previous effort, Crest of a Knave...
(1989) - Catfish RisingCatfish RisingCatfish Rising is the 18th studio album by the British rock group Jethro Tull, released in 1991. It is the first Tull album to feature keyboardist Andrew Giddings.-Vinyl edition:Side One# "This Is Not Love" – 3:56# "Occasional Demons" – 3:48...
(1991) - A Little Light MusicA Little Light MusicA Little Light Music is a Jethro Tull live album. All songs were recorded during the A Little Light Music European concert tour of May 1992. There are two versions of this album. The second version was printed in Italy and is marketed and distributed only in Italy and Greece...
(1992) - Roots to BranchesRoots to BranchesRoots to Branches is the name of the 19th studio album by the band Jethro Tull. It carries characteristics of Tull's classic 1970s art-rock and folk-rock roots alongside jazz and Arabic and Far Eastern influences. All songs were written by Ian Anderson and recorded at his home studio...
(1995) - J-Tull Dot ComJ-Tull Dot ComJ-Tull Dot Com is the name of the 20th studio album by the band Jethro Tull. J-Tull Dot Com was released four years after their 1995 album Roots to Branches and continues in the same vein, marrying hard-rock and art-rock with Eastern music influences...
(1999) - Living with the PastLiving with the PastLiving with the Past is a live album by Jethro Tull. Disc one contains material from the Hammersmith Apollo performance on November 20, 2001 and features songs from different eras of Tull's history as well as two pieces from Ian Anderson's solo albums: "The Habanero Reel" from The Secret Language...
(2002) - The Jethro Tull Christmas AlbumThe Jethro Tull Christmas AlbumThe Jethro Tull Christmas Album is the 21st studio album released by Jethro Tull, on September 30, 2003 . The songs are a mix of new material, re-recordings of Tull's own suitably themed material and arrangements of traditional Christmas music...
(2003) - Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 is a live album by Jethro Tull, released on 2 November 2004. It was recorded on the fifth and last day of the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, where Jethro Tull were second on the bill between The Moody Blues and Jimi Hendrix.-Track listing:# "My Sunday...
(2004)
External links
- Jethro Tull official website
- Tull Press – hundreds of original press articles, interviews, and photographs covering Jethro Tull from 1967 to 2001
- A Billion Hands – Join The Fight Against Terror and For A Better Tomorrow – MumbaiMumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, 5 December 2008 - Penny Black Music Interview with Ian Anderson, published May 2010