Jethro Tull is the best. Jethro Tull

Fact No. 3638

Ian Anderson loves Russia and is interested in the news of our country. On his 2000 solo album you can find an instrumental track called Boris Dancing. The composition was inspired by the image of Boris Yeltsin dancing, which Anderson saw on the news on CNN. Yeltsin was running for a second term, and as part of the election campaign he danced on stage with Yevgeny Osin.

“I saw footage of Yeltsin captured on Red Square: sweating profusely, with a bright red face, he danced furiously with a young Moscow rock band. He almost died of a heart attack a couple of days later,” Anderson recalled.

Anderson claimed that he always had a soft spot for Yeltsin. And the instrumental consists of pieces played in different sizes (which is quite difficult to perform) in order to convey the “strange and unique” manner of dancing Yeltsin: he was completely out of tune.

Source: Anderson's Album Commentary

Fact No. 4256

Ian Anderson has played many concerts in cathedrals, but does not always speak of them with enthusiasm: “Cathedrals have different acoustics - from pleasant to unbearable. Moreover, the more beautiful the cathedral, the harder it is to play in it. Canterbury is quite difficult, Salisbury and Exeter too It wasn't easy, and in some cases, like Liverpool and Coventry, I just couldn't afford to charge people for a gig. It's impossible to have long reverberation and a lot of echo there. It's just a nightmare! You can't play rock music there, "It immediately turns into a cacophony. A different, gentler approach is needed here."

Fact No. 4257

For many years now, Ian Anderson has been recording solo albums, but continues to perform with the band: “Frankly speaking, musically, there is not much difference between my solo concert and the Jethro Tull concert. However, when I am billed as Jethro Tull, I I feel some pressure. As if I have to play hard rock, because on the radio, especially in America, our heavier stuff is always played. So some part of the audience thinks that Jethro Tull should sound like that. And if they even come to the concert "A hundred people like that, they'll ruin it for everyone else, they'll whistle and hoot and they're usually drunk. But if I show up like Ian Anderson, those hundred idiots don't show up because they don't even know who Ian Anderson is."

Source: Article by Johnny Black, Classic Rock magazine, December 2011

Fact No. 5439

Jethro Tull leader Ian Anderson once amazed audiences with multi-minute flute solos, which he performed while standing on one leg. His silhouette in a heron pose even became the band's trademark. Once, during one of these performances, the musician fell unsuccessfully and spent the next few concerts sitting in a wheelchair.

Such troubles do not prevent Ian from continuing his career: he plans not to part with music as long as his health allows and as long as there are obstacles that he wants to overcome. And then, Anderson says, you can retrain as an artist, writer, or find another outlet for your creative whim. According to him, even death can be alluring, but retirement is not.

Source: In rock magazine, January 2000

Fact No. 5499

JethroTull keyboardist David Palmer underwent gender reassignment surgery in April 2004 and became known as Dee. Dee said that the awareness of belonging to a different sex came at the age of three. At the time, only David’s mother and Maggie, the girl he married and became the father of two children, knew about it. After the death of his wife and mother, Palmer felt that he could no longer tolerate existence as a man; It was studied by two of the country's leading psychiatrists and came to the conclusion that the sudden loss of loved ones brought back problems that went away with childhood.

Scott Hammond Former
participants Cm.: j-tull.com Jethro Tull at Wikimedia Commons

The group was named after Jethro Tull, an agricultural scientist who lived in England at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries and became famous for inventing an improved model of the plow-seeder. A remarkable fact is that the design of this device used the principle of operation of a musical instrument - an organ.

Despite the fact that Jethro Tull were always far from the mainstream, used extremely complex arrangements and wrote unusual, intricate lyrics, in the 1970s they also enjoyed significant commercial success: 5 albums of the group received platinum status, 11 - gold, in total in the world The group's albums have sold over 60 million copies.

Story

1963-1967: Origins

Ian Anderson's first band, formed in 1963 in Blackpool, was called The Blades. In 1966, the name was changed to John Evan Band, named after the pianist and drummer of the group, John Evan. This group included Barry Barlow, who would later become a member of Jethro Tull.

In search of a better fate, the group moved to the outskirts of London - to the city of Luton. We often visited Liverpool. However, the team failed to achieve great success, and very soon most of its members went back to Blackpool. Only Ian Anderson and bass player Glenn Cornick remained. Soon they joined forces with blues guitarist Mick Abrahams and drummer Clive Bunker, who played in the local team McGregor's Engine.

At first, things did not work out for the new ensemble, and they were rarely invited more than once to the same establishment. The musicians considered the best way out of the situation to be to constantly change the name of the group in the hope that the club owners would not remember their faces. The names changed so often that the team members simply ran out of imagination, and they asked the technical support guys to come up with the next version. One of them, a history buff, suggested the option “Jethro Tull” in honor of the pioneering English agronomist of the 18th century. The only reason why this name was firmly attached to the group was the fact that it was under this name that the first director of the Marquee club, John Gee, saw it. John Gee), who more or less liked the musicians’ performance, and therefore they were invited to perform again. They entered into an agreement with the thriving Ellis-Wright agency ( Ellis-Wright) and thus became the third group whose affairs were managed by the company that soon turned into the Chrysalis empire.

1968: Progressive Blues

Jethro Tull's first single, produced by Derek Lawrence ( Derek Lawrence), never gained much public recognition (it was a rather cheesy composition "Sunshine Day", written by Abrams), but became a valuable prize for collectors, since the band's name was misspelled on the cover of the record: "Jethro Toe". Soon the team released their debut album in the blues style This Was(1968). On this disc, in addition to the original creations of Anderson and Abrams, there was a version of the famous song “Cat’s Squirrel”, the performance of which clearly showed Abrams’ blues-rock inclinations. Anderson got the opportunity to fully demonstrate his talent as a flutist in the jazz composition “Serenade to a Cuckoo” by Roland Kirk. Anderson first picked up the flute just six months before the album's release. Anderson defined the general style of the group of that period as “a kind of mixture of progressive blues with a pinch of jazz.”

After this album, Abrams left the band and founded his own, Blodwyn Pig. There were several reasons for his departure: Abrahams was an ardent supporter of classic blues, while Anderson wanted to explore other musical styles; mutual hostility between Cornick and Abrahams; there was not too much desire to travel, especially abroad, and play more than three times a week, while all the other team members wanted to see the world and gain fame outside their homeland.

Due to Abrams' departure, the band had to look for a new guitarist. Many candidates were looked at, one of whom was Tony Iommi, who later rose to fame with Black Sabbath. The latter, although he appeared with the team on the recording of the famous TV show The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (where all members of Tull, except Anderson, had to perform to a soundtrack), never took root in the group (the exact reason for leaving is unknown, among the versions: musical disagreements, Iommi's addiction to marijuana, Tony's desire to continue working with his team).

1969-1971: In search of my own style

After long and painful auditions, Anderson cast guitarist Martin Barr ( Martin Barre). Most of all, he impressed Anderson with his persistence: he was so nervous at the first audition that he could not play at all, and when he showed up for the second audition, he forgot to grab the cord to connect the guitar to the amplifier. Despite these misunderstandings, it was Martin Barr who became Abrahams' permanent replacement in Jethro Tull and the real long-liver of the group, playing in it for so long that in this indicator he is second only to Anderson himself.

The group recorded an album with a new lineup Stand Up(1969) This album became the only one in the history of Tull that managed to climb to the top of the British popularity chart. All music, with the exception of a jazz arrangement of Bach's "Bourée", was composed by Ian Anderson. In fact, it was no longer a blues album at all - the musical style in which the group began to play can rather be defined as progressive rock. Also in 1969, the group released the single "Living in the Past", which reached number 3 in the UK charts. And although the release of singles at that time was quite rare for musicians performing prog rock, Jethro Tull did not stop there and consolidated their success with several more similar compositions: “Sweet Dream” (1969), “The Witch's Promise” (1970) ), "Life Is a Long Song" (1971). In 1970, John Ewen returned to the group (at first as a guest musician), and together with him the band released the album Benefit.

After recording Benefit Bass guitarist Cornick left the band, and Anderson invited his childhood friend Jeffrey Hammond to replace him. Jeffrey Hammond), after whom songs such as "A Song For Jeffrey", "Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square" and "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey, and Me" were named. Jeffrey would later play the role of narrator in the production of “The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles”, which appears on the album A Passion Play. On CD covers and during live performances, Jeffrey was often referred to as Hammond-Hammond, it was a kind of inside joke. This joke alludes to the fact that Jeffrey's mother's maiden name was the same as his father's, Hammond, but they were not related.

With the same line-up, Tull released their most famous album in 1971. Aqualung. The work turned out to be very deep in poetic content; In the lyrics, Anderson expressed his strong opinions about the religious and social realities of the time. Despite the fact that the album consists of very diverse songs, there is a certain connection between them, which allows critics to call Aqualung conceptual work. The main character of the album is a despicable tramp who wanders the streets and drools lustfully at the sight of little girls. The heroine of the song “Cross-Eyed Mary” was a schoolgirl prostitute. The composition “My God”, written before the album’s release Benefit, which has already become an important part of the band’s concert performances, is also included in this album. This song became a kind of slap in the face for Christian bigots: “People, what have you done?! They locked Him in a golden cage, bent Him to their religion, the One who rose from the dead...” In complete contrast, “Wond’ring Aloud” is a gentle acoustic ballad. The most popular song was “Locomotive Breath”, which is still regularly heard on radio stations, and Jethro Tull rarely performs without it.

1972-1976: Progressive rock

Ian Anderson, 1978

At the beginning of 1971, unable to withstand the heavy touring schedule and wanting to spend more time with his family, drummer Banker left the group. Barrymore Barlow ( Barriemore Barlow). His debut as a full-fledged member of the group took place on the 1972 disc recording Thick as a Brick. This album was already conceptual without any reservations, and essentially consisted of one composition lasting 43 minutes 28 seconds. For that time, this was a real revelation. Some fragments of this composition were heard quite often on the radio then, and even today they are played with pleasure as classics of rock music. Thick as a Brick was Jethro Tull's first real contribution to progressive rock, as well as their first disc to reach the top spot on the American charts. The second and last was the band's next album A Passion Play, which was published in 1973. The Anderson-Barr-Evan-Hammond-Barlow quintet existed until 1975.

In 1972, the group published a collection of compositions from previous years, which for various reasons were not included in the albums. It received a symbolic name Living in the Past(Living in the past). One of its sides contained a recording of a 1970 concert in New York Carnegie Hall. The title track of the disc became one of the group's most successful singles. Experiencing serious problems due to exorbitant taxes in their homeland, musicians Jethro Tull decided to record their next album in France. To do this, they rented a studio in which such stars as Elton John and the Rolling Stones had worked before them. However, during the work, Anderson turned out to be completely disappointed with the quality of the equipment provided, and as a result, rehearsals were interrupted. Recordings of the infamous session first appeared in 1988 on the compilation 20 Years of Jethro Tull (Chateau D'Isaster Tapes). After returning to England, the group quickly recorded new material, which became the basis for the next conceptual creation of Jethro Tull - the album A Passion Play. Anderson chose reflections on the topic of life after death as the main theme this time. Musically, controversial experiments with sound were continued, in particular on the disc, noticeable attention was given to the saxophone. A Passion Play sold quite well, but Anderson's mood was significantly spoiled by music critics. The reviewer made a special effort in this regard Melody Maker Chris Welch, who tore the group to smithereens for its not very convincing, in his opinion, concert performance. Despite serious criticism, "A Passion Play" was ranked number 3 on PopMatters' list of the 25 Best Progressive Rock Songs of All Time.

As clearly as leader Jethro Tull's relationship with criticism deteriorated, the attention and love for the group from listeners clearly increased. This trend was confirmed by the 1974 album War Child. Most of her compositions were originally intended for the film of the same name, which was never released. The disc eventually reached second place in the magazine's popularity list. Billboard, and the songs “Bungle In The Jungle” and “Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day” became radio hits. Another notable song on the album was a kind of rebuke to the sharks of the pen “Only Solitaire”, dedicated to one of Anderson’s ardent critics, a music columnist for the publication L.A. Times to Robert Hilburn.

In 1975, the group presented their next creation to the public. Minstrel in the Gallery, which generally resembled Aqualung, combining gentle acoustic pieces with edgier compositions based on Barr's electric guitar passages. The album's songs were filled with sad reflections, sometimes bordering on outright cynicism, which is explained by Anderson's certain personal crisis caused by a divorce from his first wife. Critical reviews were mixed, but fans were generally positive about the new work of their favorites. In general, subsequently Minstrel... was recognized as one of the best discs of Jethro Tull's entire career, despite the fact that it is clearly inferior in popularity to the group's other classic work, the album Aqualung. Soon after the release of the record, the team again suffered losses in its lineup. This time, bassist Hammond said goodbye to the group, deciding to quit music and concentrate entirely on painting. John Glascock was called upon to fill the vacancy. John Glascock), who previously played in the flamenco rock group Carmen, which accompanied Jethro Tull on a previous tour.

1977-1979: Folk-rock trilogy

Three albums connected with folk themes brought the turbulent decade to a close: Songs from the Wood, Heavy Horses And Stormwatch(the first of the mentioned discs received a generally positive assessment from music critics for the first time since Benefit). There was nothing surprising in this genre turn, since, firstly, the group had long been considered part of the circle of folk rockers (in particular, they had close friendly relations with the famous team of this direction Steeleye Span), and secondly, by this time the leader Jethro Tull Ian Anderson settled on a country farm and the quiet rural life clearly affected his subsequent work.

A double live album was released in 1978 Bursting Out, which contained bright and dynamic performances by the group. The composition of the participants of this particular period is considered “golden” by the majority of fans of the ensemble. Anderson's direct manner of communication with the public and colleagues gave a special flavor to Jethro Tull's performances. Ian, with his characteristic harsh humor, often teased his comrades (“David went to take a leak. But he’s already back. Did you remember to give it a good shake, buddy?”). While touring the United States, bassist John Glascock developed serious health problems; Anderson asked his friend Tony Williams to fill the vacant position ( Tony Williams, ex-Stealers Wheel).

In 1977, a new keyboard player appeared in the group. It was David Palmer ( David Palmer), who previously collaborated with the group as a concert arranger. Glascock finally left the band in the summer of 1979 due to progressive illness; in the fall of the same year, he died during a complex heart surgery. Dave Pegg became the band's new bass player. Dave Pegg) from Fairport Convention. Together with him, Jethro Tull went on a tour, at the end of which Barlow left the group, depressed by the death of Glascock.

Concert performances

Jethro Tull. Performance with a symphony orchestra.

During the first half of the 1970s, Jethro Tull not only significantly changed their stylistic direction in music, but also made significant progress in the content of their stage performances. The band's live performances were quite theatrical and featured lengthy improvisations with various solo parts included. At first, the only bright character on stage was frontman Anderson with his tousled hair and torn clothes, however, later other members of the group became active participants in the show.

All Jethro Tull musicians presented certain images on stage. Bassist Glenn Cornick always appeared dressed in a vest and headband, while his successor Jeffrey Hammond preferred to dress in a black and white striped suit (all of his instruments were styled the same way). In addition to the "zebra-like" Hammond, at certain points two actors appeared on stage portraying a zebra who "defecated" ping-pong balls directly into the enthusiastic audience. John Evan played in a white suit with a bright red scarf around his neck. Playing the role of a “sad clown,” he hobbled around the stage in his huge shoes, moving from the piano to the Hammond (deliberately placed at opposite ends of the stage), and during breaks, he took a flask out of his pocket, supposedly filled with alcohol, and pretended to drink from her. Drummer Barlow's attire consisted of a crimson T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms, as well as rugby boots; His equipment also included enlarged drumsticks, and during the drummer’s solo parts, the stage was enveloped in thick clouds of smoke. The only personification of decency among all this crazy farce was Martin Barr, who was constantly “kicked” by Anderson and Evan; they made faces in every possible way when the guitarist performed his passages.

A striking example of extravagant performances were Jethro Tull's concerts in support of the album. Thick as a Brick. During the musicians' performance, actors dressed as rabbits ran around the stage, and during the intermission, band members Barr and Barlow changed clothes in a beach cabin installed right on the stage. Disc included Passion Play Initially, it was planned to include a film containing theatrical performances, but the idea ultimately failed. Only later, fragments of this video were included in the memorable Jethro Tull compilation (including the interlude Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles). Album Too Old to Rock'N'Roll... became Anderson's next attempt to create a multimedia project, but this time the plans were not destined to come to fruition.

At a concert in 1998

Stage experiments, albeit to a lesser extent, continued in subsequent decades. In 1982 during a concert tour Broadsword and the Beast the stage was set up in the shape of a huge Viking ship. In the late 1970s, Anderson appeared on stage dressed as an Esquire; the rest of the band also brought their stage costumes in line with the folk theme of the period. At concerts in support of the album A all Jethro Tull musicians were dressed in exactly the same white overalls that were present on the cover of the disc. Some stage tricks typical of concerts in the 70s have survived to this day. For example, during the performance of another song, a loud telephone rings in the hall (this joke has become especially relevant in our time with the advent of cell phones). At the end of the performance, the group traditionally plays a powerful coda and huge balloons appear on stage, which Anderson raises above himself and throws into the audience.

1980-1984: Electronic rock

Album released in 1980 was originally planned as Anderson's solo album. In addition to Barr and Pegg, the recording of the disc included drummer Mark Craney and special guest keyboardist Eddie Jobson ( Eddie Jobson), who previously worked with Roxy Music, and Frank Zappa. The heavy emphasis on synthesizers brought new nuances to Jethro Tull's sound. Another innovative move was the shooting of a video for one of the songs on the new album “Slipstream”. David Mallett was invited as director David Mallet), creator of David Bowie's groundbreaking video "Ashes to Ashes". Changes in the traditional sound of Jethro Tull became even more noticeable at the concerts of the group, which made full use of the latest advances in electronics.

After Craney left the team, the search began for a suitable drummer. During this period, several famous musicians alternately performed with Jethro Tull, including Phil Collins ( Phil Collins). 1981 was the first year that did not see the release of another studio album by the group. In 1982 it was published Broadsword and the Beast, on which the sound again takes on a folk flavor, although synthesizers were not forgotten either. The subsequent concert tour became very successful. Musicians dressed in medieval costumes performed on a stage designed in the shape of a Viking ship.

In 1983, Anderson finally released his first solo album. It got the name Walk Into Light, was heavy on electronics and dealt with alienation in a modern technological society. The work did not cause much resonance either among old fans or the new generation of listeners. However, several tracks from the disc were subsequently included in the Jethro Tull concert program (“Fly by Night”, “Made in England”, “Different Germany”).

The apotheosis of the passion for electronics was the disc Under Wraps, which features a drum machine instead of a live drummer. Although the musicians stated that they were generally satisfied with their new sound, their next creation again did not delight either critics or fans. One can only note the rather noticeable presence on air of the recently formed MTV video of the group “Lap of Luxury”. Soon, leader Jethro Tull developed serious throat problems and the group took a three-year break. Anderson devoted all this time to the treatment and development of his salmon farm, which he acquired in 1978.

1987-1991: Hard rock

In 1987, Jethro Tull returned. It was done brilliantly. Their new album Crest Of A Knave was a return to the more familiar "Tall" sound of the 1970s and received an enthusiastic response in the press. The band's musicians were awarded the highest musical award Grammy in the category “Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance”, beating strong competitors in the form of the Metallica team. The voting results were controversial, as many observers did not consider Jethro Tull to be either a hard rock band, or even less a metal band. The band members themselves did not believe in their victory so much that not one of them was at the awards ceremony. In one of the British music publications, on the occasion of Jethro Tull’s victory, an illustration was published in which a flute lay in a pile of reinforcement, and the subtitle read: “The flute is a heavy metal instrument” (a play on words, the translation “flute is a metal instrument” is also possible). Style Crest Of A Knave was quite close to Dire Straits, which was partly due to a change in Anderson's vocal range. The most popular songs on the album were “Farm on the Freeway” and “Steel Monkey”, which were often heard on the radio. It is also worth noting the concert composition “Budapest”, which contained an episode with a local shy girl and sounded for more than 10 minutes. The song “Mountain Men”, dedicated to military themes, received the greatest popularity in Europe. The text referenced the World War II Battle of El Alamein and the Falkland Islands, drawing parallels between the grief of wives and their fighting husbands. “Those who died in the trenches at El Alamein, who died in the Falklands on TV.”

A collection was released in 1988 20 Years of Jethro Tull, which contained mainly previously unreleased recordings, as well as concert numbers and reworked compositions. Inside the set was a booklet detailing the history of the group. Needless to say, the publication immediately became a rarity among Jethro Tull fans. In honor of the 20th anniversary, a tour was organized, on which the team members were joined by multi-instrumentalist Martin Allcock, who previously performed in the famous group Fairport Convention. At concerts he mainly performed keyboard parts.

Subsequent studio work Rock Island(1989) was inferior to the previous album Crest Of A Knave. One of the tracks on the disc, “Kissing Willie,” was distinguished by vulgar lyrics and deliberately heavy guitar sound, which apparently was supposed to serve as a satirical response by the group to criticism about receiving Grammy. A video clip was released for the song, which had problems with airing due to the presence of erotic scenes in it. Despite the fact that Rock Island was not an outstanding work overall, it contained a number of recordings that Jethro Tull fans loved. "Big Riff And Mando" talked about the hardships of constantly touring musicians, and also mentioned the fact that one of Tull's fans stole Barr's mandolin. The Christmas anthem “Another Christmas Song” stood out for its uplifting quality amidst the generally gloomy material.

In 1993, the group widely celebrated a quarter century of its existence. Collections called The 25th Anniversary Boxed Set(at 4) and Nightcap: The Unreleased Masters 1973-1991(on 2), which featured rare and previously unreleased studio and concert recordings, as well as remixes and new versions of the group's famous hits performed by musicians in the 1990s. Thus, the single with a new version of the song “Living in the Past” reached number 32 in the British charts.

1995-2014: World music influence and breakup

Anderson and Barr, 2006

After 1992, Anderson somewhat changed his style of playing the flute, and the presence of ethnic motifs became noticeable in his songs. During the same period, Dave Pegg temporarily left the band to concentrate on his work with Fairport Convention. He was replaced by Jonathan Noyce. The group's albums released in the second half of the 1990s Roots to Branches(1995) and J-Tull Dot Com(1999) did not sound as harsh as their predecessors. They were based on impressions from numerous tours around the world. In songs such as "Out of the Noise" and "Hot Mango Flush," Anderson vividly conveys his impressions of life in third world countries. The new albums also featured songs in which frontman Jethro Tull reflected on the topic of aging (“Another Harry’s Bar,” “Wicked Windows,” “Wounded, Old and Treacherous”).

In 1995, Anderson released his second solo album Divinities: Twelve Dances with God. The album contained twelve instrumental compositions, in which Ian once again demonstrated his virtuoso flute skills. New Jethro Tull keyboardist Andrew Giddings took part in the album's production. Andrew Giddings), as well as specially invited orchestral musicians. Anderson subsequently recorded two more solo albums: The Secret Language of Birds() And Rupi's Dance ().

In 2003, a Christmas collection was released Christmas Album. There were both English folk songs performed by the group and original compositions by Jethro Tull. In 2005, two concert recordings were released on DVD: Live at the Isle of White() And Aqualung Live(2005). In the same year, Ian Anderson recorded his version of the famous Pink Floyd composition “The Thin Ice”, which was included in the album Back Against the Wall, dedicated to the work of the group.

The year 2006 pleased us with several new publications. A collection was released in DVD format Collectors Edition, which features a recording of one of Jethro Tull's best live performances at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. This collection also includes the best fragments of the band's performances during the 2001 tour of Britain and America. The highlight of the publication was a video recording of a joint performance by members of the original Jethro Tull line-up Anderson, Abrams, Cornick and Bunker.

In March 2007, a collection of the group's best acoustic works was published. It included 24 compositions from albums of various years, as well as a new concert performance of “One Brown Mouse” and the popular English song “Pastime with Good Company”, authored by King Henry VIII. In September of the same year, another concert DVD was released Live at Montreux 2003. It included, among other things, live performances of such famous songs as "Fat Man", "With You There to Help Me" and "Hunting Girl".

Jethro Tull musicians toured extensively. In 2008, a tour dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the group took place. In 2011 - a tour to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the album “Aqualung”. At the Jethro Tull concert in Perm on April 12, 2011, in connection with the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's space flight, a video broadcast from the International Space Station was used, in which American astronaut Catherine Coleman, who was at the station in a state of weightlessness, greeted the audience in Russian and congratulated the audience and musicians Jethro Tull on Cosmonautics Day. After which, Coleman performed the flute part in the composition “Bourée” to the accompaniment of the band’s musicians on stage.

At the end of 2011, Martin Barr announced that he would be leaving the group for at least two years. The 2012 tour in support of Anderson's solo album Thick As a Brick 2: Whatever Happened To Gerald Bostock? passed without his participation.

According to statistics published in late 2006 on the website http://www.ministry-of-information.com, Jethro Tull have performed a total of 2,789 concerts since 1968, an average of 73 performances per year for 38 years.

In September 2013, Jethro Tull gave concerts in Minsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar.

In 2014, Ian Anderson announced the breakup of the team.

2017–present: Reunion

In September 2017, the group announced a reunion in honor of their 50th anniversary. This Was and about touring plans, as well as the release of a new album in 2018. The new lineup of the group included Anderson, Hammond, Opale, O'Hara and Goodier. All of these musicians were previously part of Anderson's solo band.

Video on the topic

Compound

Current composition

Ian Anderson - vocals, acoustic guitar, flute, harmonica, mandolin (1967-2014, 2017-present)
John O'Hara - keyboards (2006-2014, 2017-present)
David Goodier - bass guitar (2006-2014, 2017-present)
Florian Opale - lead guitar (2017-present)
Scott Hammond - drums (2017-present)

Former members

Mick Abrahams - lead guitar, backing vocals (1967-1968)
Martin Barr - lead guitar, mandolin, flute (1969-2014)
Glenn Cornick - bass guitar (1967-1970)
Clive Bunker - drums (1967-1970)
John Evan - keyboards (1970-1979)
Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond - bass guitar (1970-1975)
Barrymore Barlow - drums (1970-1979)
John Glascock - bass guitar (1975-1979)
David Palmer - keyboards (1976-1979, 1986)
Dave Pegg - bass, mandolin (1979-1994)
Eddie Jobson - keyboards, violin (1979-1981)
Mark Craney - drums (1979-1981)
Geri Conway - drums (1981-1982)
Peter-John Wetess - keyboards (1981-1986)
Paul Burgess - drums (1982-1983)
Don Airey - keyboards (1986-1987)
Martin Alcock - keyboards (1987-1990)
Dave Mattacks - drums (1990-1991)
Doane Perry - drums (1984-1990, 1991-2014)
Andy Giddings - keyboards (1990-2006)
Jonathan Noyce - bass guitar (1994-2006)

Guest musicians

Tony Iommi - lead guitar (at the Rolling Stones Rock 'n' Roll Circus concert)
Tony Williams - bass (temporary replacement for Glascock) (1978-1979)

In the history of music, there are many movements that were popular during a certain period of time. In our case, the story will be about a group that has been proving for several decades that rock is alive. So, the group.

Jethro Tull band: history of the band

The group's origins date back to 1963, when The Beatles were just starting out. At this time, the band The Blades appeared in Blackpool, in which the still unknown Ian Anderson participated. Over time, the group changed its composition and residence, moved to Luton and played from time to time in various clubs. But due to the fact that their music did not attract enough attention, they changed their name often until they settled on . It is worth saying that this name did not come out of nowhere. This is the name of an 18th century English inventor. Under this name they finally got lucky with the public (it was in the famous London club Marquee) and they entered into an agreement with the Ellis-Wright agency.

Jethro Tull: path to glory

She started out in the blues style, but soon began to look for herself in new directions. The first album was recorded in 1968 and after its release, guitarist Abrams left the band, who wanted to play exclusively blues. At this time, Tony Iommi, known for Black Sabbath, performed with the group for a short time. The new guitarist was Martin Barr, who came to the first audition without a guitar, and to the second without an amplifier. However, his desire to play with Anderson resulted in their collaboration. The band recorded Stand Up - their only UK number 1. Soon Jeffrey Hammond took over as bassist.

The team records the album Aqualung, which critics regard as conceptual and encourages Anderson to take up writing truly conceptual creations. Aqualung becomes their first platinum album.

Soon the group changes drummer, and Jethro Tull releases Thick as a Brick - a unique creation at that time, consisting of ONE song and it is not surprising that it received huge recognition and even became No. 1 in the USA.

In the first half of the 70s, the group was at the peak of its popularity, its albums took first place in the charts and received gold status, but soon clouds began to gather. At this time, Hammond leaves the train.

Jethro Tull: change of sound

After the release of the album in 1976, which told the story of an old rock musician, in whom critics saw the image of the leader of the group, the band’s style changed somewhat, smoothly moving from progressive to folk. At this time, 3 albums were released, which were based on folk motifs. At this time, the group was undergoing an almost complete change of lineup, and the previous bass guitarist John Glascock died shortly after leaving during heart surgery.

In the 70s, the group experimented during their concerts, trying to keep up with their progressive colleagues. But unlike them, they relied not on a light show, but on unusual stage images, which, however, were not overly extreme like Peter Gabriel from Genesis. Afterwards, the costumes were changed as the sound of the band changed.

Early 80's band Jethro Tull makes another turn in his creativity, using synthesizers to a significant extent and, in fact, playing electronic rock. This stage of their work, however, did not arouse much interest in their work and the group takes a short break from performances, after which it returns with a new sound, closer to hard rock. At this time, the band received a Grammy Award for “Best Metal Performance,” which came as a real shock to fans of metal music and caused a mixed reaction. However, the musicians themselves were also pretty surprised and did not even attend the award ceremony.

In the early 90s, Jethro Tull began to perform more ethnic music. In general, in recent years the group has been releasing live albums and DVDs, and the last album with new material was released in 2003.

Jethro Tull Albums

In total, the group has 29 albums, 21 of which contain new material. Here are all the studio ones JethroTull albums, released over the years of creativity:

1968 – This Was
1969 Stand Up
1970 – Benefit
1971 – Aqualung
1972 – Thick as a Brick
1973 – A Passion play
1974 – War child
1975 – Minstrel in the Gallery
1976 - Too Old to Rock "n" Roll: Too Young to Die!
1977 – Songs from the wood
1978 – Heavy horses
1979 – Stormwatch
1980 – A
1982 - The Broadsword and the Beast
1984 – Under Wraps
1987 – Crest of a knave
1989 – Rock island
1991 – Catfish rising
1995 – Roots to Branches
1999 – J-Tull Dot Com
2003 - The Jethro Tull Christmas Album

Now many members of the group are engaged in solo projects.

The importance of the group for the development of music is enormous, Jethro Tull expanded the range of rock sounds in general and proved that you can be a successful band not only within the narrow confines of one style.

In search of a better fate, the group moved to the outskirts of London, and more precisely to the city of Luton. They often visited Liverpool. However, the team failed to achieve great success, and very soon most of its members went back to Blackpool. Only the most persistent remained: Anderson himself and bass guitarist Glen Cornick ( Glenn Cornick). They did not despair, and soon joined forces with blues guitarist Mick Abrahams and drummer Clive Bunker, who played in the local band McGregor's Engine.

At first, things did not work out for the new ensemble, and they were rarely invited more than once to the same establishment. Naturally, the best way out of the situation was to constantly change the name of the group in the hope that the owners of the clubs would not remember their faces. The names changed so often that the team members simply ran out of imagination, and they asked the technical support guys to come up with the next version. And then one day, one of them, a history buff, suggested the option “Jethro Tull” in honor of the English innovating agronomist of the 18th century. The only reason why this name was firmly attached to the group was the fact that it was under this name that the first director of the club saw it, who more or less liked the musicians’ performance, and therefore they were invited to perform again. The director's name was John Gee ( John Gee), and the club was the famous Marquee. They entered into an agreement with the thriving Ellis-Wright agency ( Ellis-Wright) and thus became the third group whose affairs were managed by the company that soon turned into an empire

1968: Progressive Blues

Jethro Tull perform in the famous show Rock'N'Roll Circus

Jethro Tull's first single, produced by Derek Lawrence ( Derek Lawrence), never gained much public recognition (it was a rather cheesy composition "Sunshine Day", written by Abrams), but became a valuable prize for collectors, since the band's name was misspelled on the cover of the record: "Jethro Toe". Soon the team released their debut album in the blues style This Was(). On this disc, in addition to the original creations of Anderson and Abrams, there was a version of the famous song “Cat’s Squirrel”, the performance of which clearly showed Abrams’ blues-rock inclinations. Anderson got the opportunity to fully demonstrate his talent as a flutist in the jazz composition “Serenade to a Cockoo” by Roland Kirk. By the way, Anderson first picked up the flute just six months before the release of the album. Anderson defined the general style of the group of that period as “a kind of mixture of progressive blues with a pinch of jazz.”

After this album, Abrams left the group and founded his own - Blodwyn Pig. There were several reasons for his departure: Abrams was an ardent supporter of classic blues, while Anderson wanted to explore other musical styles; mutual hostility between Cornick and Abrams; there was not too much desire to travel, especially abroad, and play more than three times a week, while all the other team members wanted to see the world and gain fame outside their homeland.

1969-1971: In search of my own style

Album cover “Stand Up”

After long and painful auditions, Anderson confirms the role of guitarist Martin Barr ( Martin Barre). Most of all, he impressed Anderson with his persistence: he was so nervous at the first audition that he could not play at all, and when he showed up for the second audition, he forgot to grab the cord to connect the guitar to the amplifier. Despite these misunderstandings, it was Martin Barr who became Abrams' permanent replacement in Jethro Tull, and the real long-liver of the group, playing in it for so long that in this indicator he is second only to Anderson himself.

The group recorded an album with a new lineup Stand Up() This album became the only one in Tull history that managed to climb to the top of the British popularity chart. All music, with the exception of a jazz arrangement of Bach's "Bourée", was composed by Ian Anderson. In fact, it was no longer a blues album at all, and a sophisticated listener will immediately understand that the musical style in which the group began to play can rather be defined as progressive rock. Also in 1969, the group released the single "Living in the Past", which reached number 3 in the British charts. And although the release of singles at that time was quite rare for musicians performing prog rock, Jethro Tull did not stop there and consolidated their success with several more similar compositions: “Sweet Dream” (1969), “The Witch's Promise” () , “Life Is a Long Song” (). In 1970, John Ewen returned to the group (at first as a guest musician), and together with him the band released the album Benefit.

In 1972, the group published a collection of compositions from previous years that were not included in the albums for various reasons. It received a symbolic name Living in the Past(Living in the past). One of its sides contained a recording of a 1970 concert in New York Carnegie Hall. The title track of the disc became one of the team's most successful singles. Experiencing serious problems due to exorbitant taxes in their homeland, musicians Jethro Tull decided to record their next album in France. To do this, they rented a studio in which such stars as Elton John and the Rolling Stones had worked before them. However, during the work, Anderson turned out to be completely disappointed with the quality of the equipment provided, and as a result, rehearsals were interrupted. In 1993, recordings from the infamous session were released as a separate album, Nightcap. After returning to England, the group quickly recorded new material, which became the basis for the next conceptual creation of Jethro Tull - the album A Passion Play. Anderson chose reflections on the topic of life after death as the main theme this time. Musically, controversial experiments with sound were continued, in particular on the disc, noticeable attention was given to the saxophone. A Passion Play sold quite well, however, as always, Anderson’s mood was significantly spoiled by music critics. The reviewer made a special effort in this regard Melody Maker Chris Welch, who tore the group to smithereens for its not very convincing, in his opinion, concert performance.

1977-1979: Folk-rock trilogy

Album cover “Songs From The Wood”

Three albums connected with folk themes brought a line under the turbulent decade: Songs From the Wood, Heavy Horses And Stormwatch(the first of the mentioned discs received a generally positive assessment from music critics for the first time since Benefit). There was nothing surprising in this genre turn, since, firstly, the group had long been considered part of the circle of folk rockers (in particular, they had close friendly relations with the famous team of this direction Steelye Span), and secondly, by this time the leader Jethro Tull Ian Anderson settled on a country farm and the quiet rural life clearly affected his subsequent work.

After Craney left the team, the search began for a suitable drummer. During this period, several famous musicians alternately performed with Jethro Tull, including Phil Collins ( Phil Collins). marked the first year that did not see the release of another studio album from the group. In 1982 it was published Broadsword and the Beast, on which the sound again takes on a folk flavor, although synthesizers were not forgotten either. The subsequent concert tour became very successful. Musicians dressed in medieval costumes performed on a stage designed in the shape of a Viking ship.

1987-1991: Hard rock

Flute - heavy metal instrument

In 2003, a Christmas collection was released Christmas Album. There were both traditional songs performed by the band and original compositions by Jethro Tull. In -m on ) and Aqualung Live(). In the same year, Ian Anderson recorded his version of the famous Pink Floyd composition “The Thin Ice”, which was included in the album Back Against the Wall, dedicated to the work of the group.

The year 2006 pleased us with several new publications. A collection was released in DVD format Collectors Edition, which features one of Jethro Tull's finest live performances at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. This collection also includes the best fragments of the band's performances during the 2001 tour of Britain and America. The highlight of the publication was a video recording of a joint performance by members of the original Jethro Tull line-up Anderson, Abrams, Cornick and Bunker.

In March 2007, a collection of the group's best acoustic works was published. It includes 24 compositions from albums of various years, as well as a new concert performance of “One Brown Mouse” and a dedication to King Henry VIII “Pastime With Good Company”. In September of the same year, another concert DVD was released Live At Montreux 2003. It included, among other things, live performances of such famous songs as "Fat Man", "With You There To Help Me" and "Haunting Girl".

Jethro Tull toured extensively in 2007 and also began recording a new album. The group performed some fragments from the new material at concerts last fall. If nothing interferes with the plans of Anderson and his colleagues, the new disc will become the first studio release in the last 8 years.

The song Aqualung was included in the soundtrack to the film Fallen. Ride the sky for the Billy Marks video.

Compound

Ian Anderson (1968 - still) - harmonica, guitar, flute, lead vocals;
Mick Abrams ( Mick Abrahams; 1968) - guitar, lead vocals
Glen Cornick ( Glenn Cornick; 1968-1970) - bass guitar;
Clive Bunker ( Clive Bunker; 1968-1971) - drums;
Tony Iommi ( Tony Iommi; 1968) - guitar (at the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus concert)
Martin Barr ( Martin Barre; 1969 - until now) - guitar, mandolin, flute;
John Evan ( John Evan; 1970-1979) - keyboards, organ;
Geoffrey Hammond-Hammond ( Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond; 1970-1975) - bass guitar;
Barrymore Barlow ( Barriemore Barlow; 1971-1979) - drums;
John Glascock ( John Glascock; 1975-1979) - bass guitar;
Tony Williams ( Tony Williams; 1978-1979) - bass guitar (temporary replacement for Glascock);
David Palmer ( David Palmer; 1976-1979) - keyboards;
Dave Pegg ( Dave Pegg; 1979-1995) - bass guitar, mandolin;
Eddie Jobson ( Eddie Jobson; 1980-1981) - keyboards, violin;
Mark Craney ( Mark Craney; 1980-1981) - drums
Paul Burgess ( Paul Burgess; 1981-1983) - drums (only for one tour)
Geri Conway ( Gerry Conway; 1982, 1987) - drums
Peter-John Vetess ( Peter-John Vetesse; 1982-1985) - keyboards, synthesizers;
Doane Perry ( Doane Perry; 1984 - until now) - drums;
Don Airey ( Don Airey; 1987-1988) - keyboards
Martin Alcock ( Martin Allcock; 1988-1992) - keyboards;
Dave Mattacks ( Dave Mattacks; 1991-1992) - drums;
Andy Giddings ( Andy Giddings; 1991 - until now) - keyboards;
Jonathan Noyce ( Jonathan Noyce; 1995 - until now) - bass guitar.

Discography

This Was ()
Stand Up ()
Benefit ()
Aqualung ()
Thick as a Brick ()
Living in the Past (1972)
A Passion Play ()
War Child ()
Minstrel in the Gallery ()
M.U. - The Best of Jethro Tull() (collection)
Too Old to Rock And Roll, Too Young to Die (1976)
Repeat - The Best of Jethro Tull - Vol II(1977) (compilation)
Heavy Horses ()
Stormwatch ()
A ()
Broadsword and the Beast ()
Under Wraps ()
Live at Hammersmith "84() (live recording)
Original Masters() (collection)
A Classic Case(1985) (orchestral covers album)
Cross of a Knave (

Original composition:

Ian Anderson (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion, flute, b. 1947),

Mick Abrahams (guitar)

Glenn Cornick (bass guitar)

Clive Bunker (drums).

Ian Anderson first performed in the Blackpool group "John Evan Band" in 1966, whose members later formed the core of Anderson's legendary project "Jethro Tull". And at first, only Ian Anderson and bassist Cornick broke away from the Blackpool band: in December 1967, they arrived in London and announced a recruitment of musicians. In the spring of 1968, the new ensemble successfully performed at the Windsor Jazz Festival. Critics described him as a rising art-rock star, and the Island producers offered Anderson a three-year contract.

The first disc of the group, led by the best flautist in rock music, appeared at the end of 1968. This is the only Jethro Tull project whose compositions are based on blues guitar (this is the style of Mick Abrahams). Leader Ian Anderson, however, gravitated towards a slightly different form of musical expression, namely art rock in the spirit of minstrel ballads with significant hard rock influences. For this purpose, the most suitable guitarists were Tony Yommi and Martin Barre. Yommy soon founded Black Sabbath, and Barre successfully established himself in Jethro Tull and soon became one of the most virtuoso rock guitarists. So, instead of Abrahams, who went to the Blodwin Pig group (along with former Yes guitarist Peter Banks), Martin Barre firmly took the place of the lead guitarist in Jethro Tull.

Starting from the second album, Jethro Tull's style became stronger within the framework of "heavy" art rock with pronounced guitar riffs and amazing improvisations of Anderson's flute. This has never happened in the history of rock music, and the ensemble very quickly took a place in the symbolic top five of the most innovative groups in the world, along with the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Genesis and Led Zeppelin.

Since 1970, Jethro Tull's products have had great success in all developed countries, but from disc to disc the group's compositions became more complex and deep, which (despite the highest quality of the musical material of those years) in 1973 led to a conflict with critics music publications who accused the ensemble of being too “pretentious” and “abstruse.” In response to this accusation, “Jethro Tull” only once tried to return to an accessible and simple manner of presenting their songs (1974 disc), but then the listeners were indignant, who expected further “serious” developments from the group. As a result, the musicians rightly took the opinion of their fans as a basis, and the ensemble’s further output until 1980 consisted of high-quality art albums with amazing music, which no one has yet attempted to imitate. From the discography between 1970 and 1980, it is difficult to single out any one disc as the best. It’s easier to point out those that are a little weaker: this is the 1974 disc and the 1979 album (sold in the USSR, made in Poland). Conceptually, the most profound philosophical works are those of 1972, 1973, 1975, 1978 and 1980.

During the heyday of Jethro Tull, Ian Anderson's former colleagues from the John Evan Band returned to the band (see line-up changes), which contributed to stability for many years. The crisis overtook this wonderful band only in the early 80s: the albums of 1982 and 1984 were too “loaded” with orchestrations with elements of electronic sound, and the lead guitar somewhat faded into the background. The forces for revival were found by Anderson in the middle of the decade. The group's last two albums (especially 1989) will undoubtedly rank among the masterpieces not only in the group's discography, but also in the history of rock music as a whole. Today, in a period of almost complete despondency in the art-rock camp, the album "Rock Island" is truly an island of salvation in a sea of entertaining commercial products.

Lineup changes:

1969: - Abrahams, + Martin Barre (guitar);

1970: + John Evan (keyboards);

1971: - Cornick, + Jeffrey H. Hammond (bass);

1972: - Bunker, + Barrymore Barlow (drums, now all the old friends from the John Evan Band have gathered in Jethro Tull);

1977: - Hammond, + John Glascock (bass), + David Palmer (keyboards);

1979: - Palmer, - Evan, - Glascock (died after unsuccessful heart surgery), - Barlow, + Dave Pegg (bass), + Mark Craney (drums), + Eddie Jobson (keyboards, violin);

1981: - Jobson, - Craney, + Peter John Wittes (keyboards), + Gerry Conway (drums);

1985: - Wittez.

Ian Anderson has one solo album to his credit (1983).

Current lineup:

Anderson (vocals, flute, keyboards, acoustic guitar, percussion drums, synth bass),

Martin Barre (lead guitar),

Dave Pegg (bass)

plus guest appearance by Gerry Conway (drums).

Recording companies:

until 1970 - "Aylevd",

all others are "Chrysalis".

Producers:

Ian Anderson, Robii Black.

"Farm", "Air", etc.

A collection of songs by the group from 1969 to 1977 was released in the USSR.

Original discography:

"This was" -1968,

"Stand up" - 1969,

"Aqualang"-1971,

"Thick as a brick" - 1972,

"A passion play" - 1973,

"War child" - 1974,

"Minstrel in the gallery" - 1975,

"Too old to rock" n "roll; too young to die" - 1976,

"Songs from the wood" - 1977,

"Heavy horses" - 1978,

"Stormwatch" - 1979,

"The broadsword and the beast" -1982,

"Under wraps" - 1984,

"Crest of a knave" - 1987,

"Rock island" - 1989,

"Catfish rising" - 1991.

Lan Anderson - solo.