Jethro Tull
This is a direct excerpt from UNCLE JOE'S RECORD GUIDE - PROGRESSIVE ROCK, Copyright (c) 1989 by J. Benson Unlimited. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
Jethro Tull has always been different from any other rock & roll band - progressive or otherwise.
Like Genesis and Pink Floyd, the earliest, most successful permutations of Jethro Tull consisted of musicians who had been friends since their adolescent school days. Unlike the Moody Blues and Yes, Jethro Tull was always driven by the vision of one man - singer/songwriter Ian Anderson. In fact, to this day, most fans consider Ian to be Jethro Tull.
Although they got their start as a strange little blues band with much British success, Jethro Tull was headed in a totally unique musical direction by their second album. The only constants through Jethro Tull's early career were the band's connection with the fans (who kept buying Tull's records by the millions), a distinct lack of drug abuse and a drive to consistently excel. Only the record sales have varied throughout the years.
While meeting the benchmarks of progressive rock - superior musicianship and eclectic songwriting - Jethro Tull's music was always more "organic." Backing tracks and melodies were always written and recorded for pure musicality, rarely following any conventional songwriting practice. Anderson's lyrics were rarely finished before the backing tracks were completed, instead he would write around the music. By surrounding himself with a constantly shifting line-up of talented musicians, Anderson also created a unique synergy of musical styles. Jazz-like riffs could show up in the middle of a Celtic folk song as easily as a few bars of 15/8 improvisation could appear partway through a 4/4 verse. Heavy metal guitars could play against acoustic folk music as often as the flute (never a rock & roll instrument before Tull) might take the lead. Songs could easily start with a chorus instead of the pop-standard verse. While Ian's lyrical treatments often spoke for individuals while addressing the concerns of society as a whole, he might also relate a humorous parable-like story. Tull's highest American charting single, "Living In The Past," was written in an unusual 5/4 time signature, and it is unlikely that any audience could ever clap along to the intricate crowd-pleaser "Songs From The Wood."
For several years, Jethro Tull experimented with different formats of presentation. Concept albums evolved into album-length songs of inter-connected musical themes; stage shows eventually incorporated films and various theatrics as Anderson metamorphosed from a flute player standing on one leg into a very flamboyant on-stage persona.
The most recent incarnation of Jethro Tull has seen a revitalization of their career - musically and commercially. One of the most progressive bands in the world has entered the second 20 years of their career as healthy and intriguing as ever.
**Special Note: Throughout the early phases of the band's career, Tull-humor involved little games with members' names. John Evans was the leader of several early Tull permutations, including the John Evan Smash and the John Evan Band. Upon joining Tull, Jeffrey Hammond added another Hammond to his surname, and he later encouraged Barrie Barlow to adopt Barriemore as a first name.
Jethro Tull Birth Dates (line-up #)
Mick Abrahams (#1) - 4/7/43
Don Airey (#12) - 6/21/48
Martin Allcock (#13) - 8/5/58
Ian Anderson (all) - 8/10/47
Barriemore Barlow (#5-#8) - 9/10/49
Martin Barre (#2-#13) - 11/17/46
Clive Bunker (#1-#3) - 12/12/46
Gerry Conway (#10) - 9/11/47
Glen Cornick (#1-#2) - 4/24/47
Mark Craney (#9) - 8/26/52
John Evans (#3-#8) - 3/28/48
John Glascock (#7) - 5/2/51-11/17/79
Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond (#4-#6) - 7/30/46
Eddie Jobson (#9) - 4/28/55
David Palmer (#6-#8) - 7/2/37
David Pegg (#8-#13) - 11/2/47
Doane Perry (#12-#13) - 6/16/54
Peter-John Vettese (#10-#11) - 8/15/56
Joe and Jan Benson and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.
Jethro Tull
Aqualung (21-22)
4th LP, released 4/71. At the age of 23, group leader Ian Anderson composed this concept album around a theme of organized religion's role in society. A few songs on Tull's previous Benefit album had touched on that idea, but no rock band ever dealt with the subject so thoroughly as Jethro Tull did on Aqualung. One of the most cohesive concept albums ever recorded, Aqualung featured amazing use of dynamics and Jethro Tull's least subtle and most complicated music to date.
After the departure of bassist Glen Cornick at the conclusion of the Benefit tour in December 1970 to form his own group, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond (who'd played in Ian's first band and been mentioned in three different Tull songs) was brought in as the new Tull bassist. Guitarist Martin Barre, keyboardist John Evans and drummer Clive Bunker completed the fourth Tull line-up that recorded this album during the first three months of 1971. The band had perfected several of the "heavy" songs live on stage before the Aqualung concept was put together. As usual for Tull's early albums, virtually all of this material had been written in motel rooms while on the road, and the backing tracks were recorded before the lyrics were finished. Once again, Ian handled the production. John Burns (who later produced Genesis) engineered the sound on this.
As soon as Aqualung was released, the band was back on the road - which proved to be too much for original drummer Clive Bunker. At the end of a brief swing through the U.S. in early May, Bunker left to get married and form a band called Jude with Robin Trower. For his replacement, group leader Ian Anderson recruited another old friend from the John Evan Band days, Barriemore Barlow (who would also later work with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page). The group immediately recorded the Life Is A Long Song EP, then hit the concert trail again. Three weeks after joining Jethro Tull, Barrie played his first performance with the band in front of 10,000 in Salt Lake City.
Aqualung took the world by storm, reaching #4 on the British charts and becoming the band's first Top 10 American release at #7. This classic rock album is considered to be Jethro Tull at their finest.
** Special Notes: The Aqualung title came about when Anderson's wife, Jenny, saw a street person who closely resembled the character Ian was discussing in some of these songs. When she mentioned to Ian that the street person's breathing sounded like the aqualung on the TV show Sea Hunt, the name stuck. (That sound is common in people with congestive heart failure - they don't pump enough blood to clear their lungs.) As this album was being released, the American Aqualung Company threatened a lawsuit over the unauthorized name usage, but never followed through.
This side was subtitled "Aqualung" and spoke of a spiritual equity between radically different people. The songs on this side of the album were, for many years, among the most-played on rock & roll radio.
- "Aqualung" was co-credited to Ian Anderson's first wife, Jenny (who still collects royalties). This track was used as the flipside of the "Hymn 43" single.
- "Cross-Eyed Mary"
- "Cheap Day Return" was the British name for the discounted train ticket that required a return on the day of departure.
- "Mother Goose"
- "Wond'ring Aloud" was based on the song "Wond'ring Again," which had been recorded during the Benefit tour in June 1970 and was later released on Living In The Past.
- "Up To Me"
This side was subtitled "My God."
- "My God" became a Tull concert highlight for many years. Ian described the song as "...blues for God."
- "Hymn 43" reached #91 on the U.S. charts in September 1971. Ian described this as "...blues for Jesus."
- "Slipstream" was about dying.
- "Locomotive Breath" compared life to a train chugging along. Released in March 1972, in conjunction with the band's first greatest hits compilation, this track charted at #62 in America.
- "Wind-Up"
