Jethro Tull (band)
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- For the inventor of the seed drill, see Jethro Tull (agriculturist).
Jethro Tull is a rock band that formed in Blackpool, England in the 1960s. Their music is marked by the quirky vocal style and unique lead flute work of frontman Ian Anderson and by unusual and often complex song construction. Their music, though starting with blues rock with an experimental flavour, has incorporated elements of classical, Celtic folk music, and art rock. Anderson has attributed the marked difference between their music and the music of their contemporaries to the group's avoidance of narcotics. While other music groups did influence them in their early years, they quickly developed a unique, instantly recognisable sound.
- 1 History
- 1.1 1963–1967: Origins
- 1.2 1968: Blues phase
- 1.3 1969–1971: Developing their own style
- 1.4 1972–1976: Progressive rock
- 1.5 1977–1979: Folk rock trilogy
- 1.6 1980–1984: Electronic rock
- 1.7 1987–1992: Hard rock
- 1.8 1995-present: World music influences
- 2 Discography
- 3 Band member history
- 4 External links
History
1963–1967: Origins
Ian Anderson's first band, started in 1963 in Blackpool, was known as The Blades. It had developed by 1966 into a seven-piece white soul band called the John Evan Band (later the John Evan Smash), named for pianist/drummer John Evans, who dropped the final "s" from his name to make it sound less ordinary. At this point, Barriemore Barlow was the band's drummer, as he would later be for Tull itself beginning in early 1971. However, after moving to London, most of the band quit, leaving Anderson and bassist Glenn Cornick to join forces with blues guitarist Mick Abrahams and his friend, drummer Clive Bunker, both from the band "McGregor's Engine". At first, they had trouble getting repeat bookings and took to changing their name frequently to continue playing the London club circuit. Band names were often supplied by the staff of their booking agents, one of whom, a history buff, eventually christened them Jethro Tull after the 18th-century agriculturist who invented the seed drill. This name stuck simply by virtue of the fact that they were using it the first time a club manager (namely, John Gee of the Marquee Club, London) liked their show enough to invite them to return.1968: Blues phase
After an unsuccessful single (an Abrahams-penned pop tune called "Sunshine Day" on which the band's name was misspelled "Jethro Toe", making it a collector's item), they released the bluesy album This Was in 1968. Accompanying music written by Anderson and Abrahams was the traditional arrangement "Cat's Squirrel", which highlighted Abraham's blues-rock style. The Rahsaan Roland Kirk-penned jazz piece "Serenade to a Cuckoo" gave Anderson a showcase for his growing talents as a flute player, which he started learning to play only half a year before the release of the album. Earth/Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi took on guitar duties for a short time, appearing in "The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus" (in which the group mimed "A Song For Jeffrey") in 1968, but returned to Earth/Black Sabbath after the performance.Following this album, Abrahams left (forming 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.
1969–1971: Developing their own style
After auditions for a replacement guitarist, Anderson chose former Motivation, Penny Peeps and Gethsemane member Martin Barre, who impressed Anderson with his persistence more than anything else: he was so nervous at his first audition that he could hardly play at all, and then showed up for a second audition without a cord to connect his guitar to an amplifier. Nevertheless, Barre would become the second longest-standing member of the band after Anderson and Abrahams' permanent replacement on guitar.
This new line-up released Stand Up in 1969, the band's only UK number-one album. Written entirely by Anderson—with the exception of the jazzy rearrangement of J. S. Bach's Bourrée—it branched out further from the blues, clearly evidencing a new direction for the group, though not yet approaching the up-and-coming style of progressive rock being developed at the time by groups such as King Crimson, The Nice and Yes. Stand Up feels, instrumentally, not entirely unlike a jazz-tinged early Led Zeppelin album, with a heavy and slightly dark sound. The "Living in the Past" single of the same year reached number three in the UK chart, and though most other progressive groups actively resisted issuing singles at the time, 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 (although technically he was only a guest musician at this stage) and released the album Benefit which has a continuity owing as much to studio technique as to compositional skill.
Bassist Cornick left following Benefit, replaced by Jeffrey Hammond, a childhood friend of Anderson whose name appeared in the songs "A Song for Jeffrey", "Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square", "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey, and Me", and who also is the writer of "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" featured in the A Passion Play album. Jeffrey was often credited on Tull albums as "Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond", but the extra "Hammond" was phony (it was an inside joke regarding the fact that Hammond's mother's maiden name was also "Hammond", no relation to his father.)
This line-up released Tull's best-known work, Aqualung in 1971. On this album, Anderson's writing voiced strong opinions about religion and society. The title character of "Aqualung" is a homeless alcoholic ephebophile, and the focus of the song "Cross-eyed Mary" is an underage prostitute. "My God" is a full-frontal assault on ecclesiastic excesses: People what have you done/locked Him in His golden cage./Made Him bend to your religion/Him resurrected from the grave./He is the god of nothing/if that's all that you can see. In contrast, the gentle acoustic Wond'ring Aloud is a love song. Due to these controversial topics, Aqualung was/is adored and reviled in equal amounts. Nevertheless, the title track and "Locomotive Breath" remain staples of most classic rock stations.
1972–1976: Progressive rock
Because of the heavy touring schedule and his wish to spend more time with his family, drummer Bunker left the band after the Aqualung album, and was replaced by Barriemore Barlow in early 1971. 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. This was a concept album consisting of a single track 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 (and occasionally turns up in modern classic-rock programming as a "deep" or "rare" cut). Thick as a Brick was the first Jethro Tull album to reach number one on the (U.S.) 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 – was Tull's longest-standing lineup, enduring until the end of 1975.
1972 also saw the release of Living in the Past, a double-album compilation of singles, B-sides and outtakes (including the entirety of the "Life Is a Long Song" EP, which closes the album), with a single side recorded live in 1970 at New York's Carnegie Hall. Fans regard the album as arguably the band's best compilation. Inspired by jazz musician Dave Brubeck's "Take Five," the title track remains one of their more enduring singles, though Anderson reportedly wrote it in 5/4 time with the intent of preventing its ascent to the pop charts.
In 1973, the band attempted to record a double album in tax exile at 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 from these recordings was released on the 1988 20 Years of Jethro Tull boxed set, and the complete sessions were finally released on the 1993 compilation Nightcap, with the contemporarily overdubbed flute lines where the vocal parts were missing.) Instead they quickly recorded and released A Passion Play, another single-track concept album with very allegorical lyrics, focusing on the afterlife. 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.[link]
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 mainstay "Bungle in the Jungle". 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.
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 Jenny, the album is characterized 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 Tull fans, even as it generally fell under the radar to listeners familiar only with Aqualung. Following this album, bassist Hammond left the band, replaced by John Glascock, who earlier was playing with the band Chicken Shack, which played on some gigs as a support band before Jethro Tull.
1976's [[Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!]] was another concept album, this time about the life of an aging rocker. Anderson, stung by critical reviews (particularly of A Passion Play), responded with more sharply-barbed lyrics. The press seemed oblivious to the ploy, and instead asked if the title track was autobiographical — a charge Anderson hotly denied. Curiously, the sleeve for the album featured a comic strip with a lead character (Ray Lomas) that looked very similar to Anderson. [link] [link]
1977–1979: Folk rock trilogy
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 unanimously positive reviews since the release of Benefit and Living in the Past.The band had long had ties to folk-rockers Steeleye Span. 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. Also, by this time Anderson had moved to a farm in the countryside, and his new bucolic lifestyle is clearly reflected on these albums. A stellar example is the title track of Heavy Horses, a paean to draft horses.
The band continued to tour, and released a live double album in 1978. Entitled Bursting Out it featured dynamic live performances from the lineup that many Tull fans consider comprising the golden era of the band. It also features Anderson's often-ribald stage banter with the audience and band members. ("David's gone for a pee. Ah, he's back. Did you give it a good shake?") The vinyl LP contains three tracks not found on the initial single-disc CD edition: Martin Barre's guitar solo tracks "Quatrain" and "Conundrum" and a version of the 1969 UK single hit, "Sweet Dream". (These tracks were restored in a re-mastered double-CD edition released in 2004.) During part of the tour, because of health problems, John Glascock was temporarily replaced by Anderson's friend Tony Williams.
During this time, David Palmer (now known as Dee Palmer), who had long been the band's orchestra arranger, formally joined the band on keyboards. Bassist Glascock died in 1979 following heart surgery and Stormwatch was completed without him (Anderson contributed bass on a few tracks). The following tour featured Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention on bass guitar. After this tour, Anderson decided to record his first solo album.
Evolution of live shows during the 1970's
During the early 1970s 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 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 codpiece and colorful costume. Other band-members joined in the dress-up, with Jeffrey Hammond dressed in a black and white diagonally striped outfit (and similarly striped bass guitar), John Evans dressed in a white suit, etc. Live shows featured interactive interludes including on-stage phone calls, brief films, and performance art such as costume play "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles". As the band moved to a more settled style in the late 1970s, so too did Anderson and the crew move towards more serene outfits and stage antics. Anderson often dressed as a country squire on tours in the late 1970s. However, the climactic conclusion of shows still included bombastic instrumentals and the famous giant balloons which Anderson would carry over his head and toss into the crowd.
1980–1984: Electronic rock
Anderson's solo album recorded in 1980 featured Barre on electric guitar, Dave Pegg (Fairport Convention) on bass, and Mark Craney on drums. The album had a heavy electronic feel, contributed by guest keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson (ex-Roxy Music, UK). 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, Tull made an early foray into the emerging genre of music video with Slipstream, a film of their concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon in September, 1980 featuring the A lineup. 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 Tull sound was brought to the fore in an all acoustic version of "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day" featuring Pegg on mandolin. "Slipstream", long a rarity on VHS, was included as a bonus DVD with the 2004 remastered edition of the A album.
Jobson and Craney departed following the A tour and Tull entered a period of revolving drummers (Gerry Conway, Paul Burgess, and Doane Perry). 1981 marked 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 a 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 Broadsword and the Beast. 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. As with later solo efforts by Anderson and Barre, some of these songs later made their way into Tull live sets.
In 1984 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. Longtime Tull fans generally regard it as the band's weakest effort; however, Martin Barre considers it his favorite. As a result of the throat problems Anderson developed singing the demanding Under Wraps material on tour, Tull took a three-year break, during which Anderson continued to oversee his salmon farm which he founded in 1978.[link]
1987–1992: Hard rock
Tull returned strongly with 1987's Crest of a Knave. 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 utilized a drum machine. The band won the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, beating favorites Metallica. The award was particularly controversial as many did not consider Jethro Tull hard rock, much less heavy metal. Under advisement from their manager, no one from the band turned up to the award ceremony. In response to the criticism they received over the award, the band then took out an advert in a British music periodical with the line, "The flute is a heavy metal instrument!". [link] The style of Crest has been compared to that of Dire Straits, in part because Anderson seemed to no longer have the vocal range he once possessed. The album contains the popular live song "Budapest", which depicts a backstage scene with a shy local female stagehand.1988 was notable for the release of 20 Years of Jethro Tull, a five-LP themed set (also released as an unthemed three-CD set, and as a truncated single CD version on 20 Years of Jethro Tull: Highlights) consisting largely of 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 the remasters of the band's studio albums.
In 1989, the band released Rock Island, essentially a weaker clone of Crest of a Knave. The lead-off track, "Kissing Willie," is generally reviled among Tull fans for its uncharacteristically crude sexual double entendres. [link] One of the better songs from Rock Island, "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 stage-struck fan.
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.
1992's A Little Light Music was a mostly-acoustic live album which was well received by fans due to 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 throat injury in the mid-Eighties.
1995-present: World music influences
After the 1992 tour, Anderson re-learned how to play the flute and began writing songs that heavily featured world music influences. Dave Pegg also left the band at this time; his replacement was Jonathan Noyce. 1995's Roots to Branches and 1999's J-Tull Dot Com are much less rock-based than Crest of a Knave or Catfish Rising. These most recent original Tull efforts 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 comprised of twelve flute-heavy pieces pursuing varied themes with an underlying motif. The album was recorded with current Tull keyboard player Andrew Giddings.
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.
As of April 2005, according to the official Tull website, Anderson says the band has no plans to record any new studio albums in the near future and that he would prefer to dedicate his time to touring with both Tull and his solo Rubbing Elbows band. He would also like to make more guest appearances with other musicians, live and in the studio. Furthermore, Anderson's voice seems to have regained some of its previous range.
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.
Ex-drummer Mark Craney, from the short-lived 1980-1981 line-up, died of diabetes and pneumonia on November 26 2005. He had suffered through a history of health problems including kidney ailments, paralysis, and a heart condition; a number of Tull members (including Anderson) contributed to a recent charity album, Something With a Pulse, to help Craney pay medical bills and return to health.
The band has discussed the possibility of recording a new studio album by October 2006.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Info | Chart Statistics | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 |
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| Island Records | ||
| 1969 |
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| Island Records | ||
| 1970 |
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| Island Records | ||
| 1971 |
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| Island Records | ||
| 1972 |
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| Island Records | ||
| 1972 |
|
| Island Records | ||
| 1973 |
|
| Island Records | ||
| 1974 |
|
| Island Records | ||
| 1975 |
|
| Island Records | ||
| 1976 |
|
|
| Island Records | |
| 1977 |
|
| Island Records | ||
| 1978 |
|
| Island Records | ||
| 1978 |
|
| Island Records | ||
| 1979 |
|
| Island Records | ||
| 1980 |
|
| Island Records | ||
| 1982 |
|
| Chrysalis Records | ||
| 1984 |
|
| Chrysalis Records | ||
| 1985 |
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| RCA Records | ||
| 1987 |
|
| Chrysalis Records | ||
| 1989 |
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| Chrysalis Records | ||
| 1991 |
|
| Chrysalis Records | ||
| 1992 |
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| Chrysalis Records | ||
| 1993 |
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| Chrysalis Records | ||
| 1995 |
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| Chrysalis Records | ||
| 1999 |
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| Fuel 2000 | ||
| 2002 |
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| Eagle Records | ||
| 2003 |
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| Fuel 2000 | ||
| 2005 |
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| RandM Records |
Compilations
- M.U. - The Best of Jethro Tull (1976)
- Repeat - The Best of Jethro Tull - Vol II (1977)
- Original Masters (1985)
- 20 Years of Jethro Tull (1988) (boxed set)
- [[20 Years of Jethro Tull: Highlights]] (1988)
- 25th Anniversary boxed set (1993)
- [[The Best of Jethro Tull: The Anniversary Collection]] (1993) (2-CD compilation)
- Through the Years (1998)
- The Very Best of Jethro Tull (2001)
- Essential Jethro Tull (2003)
Additional live recordings
- Live at Hammersmith '84 (1990) (live)
- In Concert (1995) (live)
- [[Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970]] (2004) (live)
Videos
- Slipstream (1981)
- 20 Years of Jethro Tull (1988)
- 25th Anniversary Video (1994)
- Living with the Past (2002)
- A New Day Yesterday (2003)
- [[Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970]] (2005)
Band member history
| 1968 - 1969 | |
|---|---|
| 1969 - 1970 | |
| 1970 - 1971 | |
| 1971 - 1975 | |
| 1975 - 1976 | |
| 1976 - 1979 | |
| 1979 - 1980 | |
| 1980 - 1981 | |
| 1982 - 1984 | |
| 1984 - 1985 | |
| 1985 - 1987 | |
| 1987 - 1988 | |
| 1988 - 1991 | |
| 1991 - 1992 | |
| 1992 - 1995 | |
| 1995 - present | |
- Black Sabbath guitarist Toni Iommi played guitar for Jethro Tull briefly in 1969 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 (excepting Ian Anderson's vocals and flute) was dubbed in afterwards.
External links
- [Jethro Tull official site]
- [Cup Of Wonder -- fan site with in-depth analyses of Tull lyrics]
- [Collecting Tull]
- [TullPress -- Hundreds of original press articles, interviews and photographs covering the history of Jethro Tull from 1967 to 2001]
- [Annotated Passion Play plus comprehensive setlists from throughout the years]
| Jethro Tull |
|---|
| Ian Anderson | Barriemore Barlow |
| Discography |
| Albums, EPs and compilations: Aqualung | Thick as a Brick | J-Tull Dot Com |
Trivia:
The scene in the 2004 movie Anchorman where Will Ferrell's character, Ron Burgandy plays jazz flute, is filled with Jethro Tull references. The most obvious being Burgandy shouting the lyric, "Hey Aqualung!" a lyric from the 1971 Jethro Tull song "Aqualung."
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