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- Herausgeber: Pocket Essentials
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
The Legendary Jethro Tull - How many rock bands from the sixties can you name that are still around today? Probably not that many. There are a few - the Rolling Stones, Yes, Santana but most have broken up, stopped recording, and reappear only for the ubiquitous 'reunion' tours. Jethro Tull is one band that formed in 1968 and is still going strong, thanks to the leadership, vision, and extraordinary talent of its leader, Ian Anderson. Named after the 17th Century inventor of the seed drill, Jethro Tull has always been controversial, challenging, and completely impossible to categorize. Are they rock? Blues? 'Progressive'? English folk? These labels merely begin to describe Jethro Tull's eclectic and imaginative music. Over thirty-five years Tull's music has gone through many styles and periods, just as the group has undergone several personnel changes. Nevertheless, the band has always produced distinctive 'Tull Music.' Author Raymond Benson looks at this legendary rock band and analyzes its place in pop music history. He examines every Jethro Tull album - track listing, personnel, cover art, recording history, and content. A handy rating system informs Tull newbies where to start and provides longtime fans with fodder for debate. A book for both the casual and hard-core fan, Jethro Tull is an insightful companion to enhance one's listening pleasure.
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Raymond Benson
JETHRO TULL
POCKET ESSENTIALS
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Ian Anderson for his help in the preparation of this book.
Sources used in the writing of this book were conversations and correspondence with Ian Anderson; Jethro Tull—A History Of The Band, 1968-2001 by Scott Allen Nollen (McFarland & Company, Inc., 2001); Flying Colours—The Jethro Tull Reference Manual by Greg Russo (Crossfire Publications, 1999); the official Jethro Tull website (www.j-tull.com); A New Day, the Jethro Tull fan magazine (published by David Rees); and the complete catalogue of Jethro Tull albums and videos.
CONTENTS
Introduction: Let Me Bring You Songs From The Wood
1: The Early Years (1947 – 1967)
2: The Birth Of Jethro Tull (1968 – 1970)
3: Supergroup (1971 – 1976)
4: Salmon Farmer And Rock Star (1977 – 1979)
5: New Decade, New Directions (1980 – 1990).
6: The Legend Lives On (1991 – 2002)
7: The Solo Albums, The Compilations, Singles And Videos
References
Rating System And Author’s Note
Throughout the book, the author rates Jethro Tull’s albums using the criteria below. Of course, any ten Jethro Tull fans will have ten different opinions!
5/5: Excellent! Brilliant! A classic! A must-have not only for Tull fans but also for any serious rock enthusiast!
4/5: Great! Among the best of Jethro Tull’s albums. Any serious Tull fan should own this one.
3/5: Very good! While not as consistently fantastic as a 4 or 5 rated entry, the more than casual fan should own it.
2/5: Fair to good, but simply not up to snuff in comparison with the stronger works. Some nice tracks mixed with some dodgy ones.
1/5: Just okay. A weaker effort but there’s no such thing as a ‘bad’ Jethro Tull album! For the Tull completist only.
Jethro Tull compilation albums, i.e. ‘best of’ collections, are treated briefly and separately in chapter 7. If a compilation album contains a significant amount of unreleased material (such as Living In The Past), then it is included chronologically in the main text and thoroughly discussed.
Introduction: Let Me Bring You Songs From The Wood...
How many rock bands from the 60s can you name that are still around today? Probably not many. There are a few—the Rolling Stones, Santana, Yes...—but most have broken up, stopped recording and reappear only for the ubiquitous ‘reunion’ tours.
Jethro Tull formed in 1968 and is still going strong, thanks to the leadership, vision and extraordinary talent of its leader Ian Anderson (who is often mistakenly identified by the ignorant and uninformed as a man named ‘Jethro Tull’). Jethro Tull is the name of the band, not the moniker of the dynamic frontman; but it’s actually not terribly surprising why this confusion occurs. Ian Anderson, for all intents and purposes, really is Jethro Tull. It’s his band, his lyrics, his music and his personality that drive the machine. One might say that Jethro Tull is made up of Ian Anderson and whoever happens to be playing with him but this is not exactly true. One other musician is essential to the mix and that is lead guitarist Martin Barre. Without the combination of these two men, Jethro Tull would not exist. In fact, Ian Anderson has recorded solo albums and toured with a variety of musicians under his own name. It’s only when Martin Barre joins him that we have Jethro Tull. While the other members of the band are certainly important and many have made names for themselves in their own right, they are for the most part expendable. After all, Anderson and Barre have been the two constants in the group for 34 years.
Jethro Tull, which celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2003, has always been controversial, challenging and completely impossible to categorise. Are they rock? Are they blues? Are they ‘progressive’? Are they English folk? These labels merely begin to describe Tull’s eclectic and imaginative music. In the three and a half decades of the band’s life, Tull’s music has gone through many styles and periods, just as the group has experienced numerous personnel changes. Nevertheless, the band has always produced distinctive ‘Tull Music.’ No other band plays hard rock with mandolins and flutes. No other voice sounds like Ian Anderson’s—one that conjures up images of soothsayers and travelling minstrels of yore. The Jethro Tull sound is totally unique and rarely imitated and that in itself is a rarity in pop music.
Another factor that distinguishes Jethro Tull from many of today’s acts is that Ian Anderson has consistently gone his own way without regard for critics, industry awards and popular trends. During the punk and new wave eras of rock music, the music press deemed that Jethro Tull was ‘old fashioned’ or, in Anderson’s own words, “too old to rock ‘n’ roll.” Anderson thumbed his nose at the press then and he continues to do so today, forging ahead with the steadfast intention of expressing himself the way he sees fit and of pleasing his long-time, loyal fans. He cares not a whit that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame conveniently ignores Jethro Tull year after year. When the band won the controversial ‘Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal’ Grammy Award in 1987 he was just as surprised as the audience present at the event.
In the early to mid-70s, Jethro Tull was one of the most popular bands in the world and had the clout to fill arena-sized venues. Even though the ‘supergroup’ status may no longer apply, Tull can still easily pack respectably large concert halls and theatres, selling out show after show all over the globe. Nearly all of their 30+ albums have gone gold and many platinum. Tull has had its share of commercial success but it’s not the sole motivation that keeps Anderson and company together. Jethro Tull has endured because Anderson loves it. His dedication and passion comes through with every verse, with every strum of the guitar and with every note from that unmistakable signature flute.
The Real Jethro Tull
Believe it or not, there really was a bloke named Jethro Tull. He was an agricultural pioneer born in England in 1674. Jethro Tull originally set out to become a lawyer but instead spent several years on the Continent studying soil, culture, vegetable growing, plowing, planting and reaping. He abandoned the bar and became a full-fledged farmer. His biggest claim to fame was to invent a machine that could plant seeds in rows with any desired spacing. Thus, in 1701, a device known as the seed drill came into existence. It was horse-drawn and had three blades that cut spaced rows for seeds in the soil. Funnels behind the blades directed seeds from a seed box mounted on the drill. Tull’s invention proved to be a huge success and he eventually documented his farming techniques in a book entitled The Horse-Hoeing Husbandry, Or An Essay On The Principles Of Tillage And Vegetation...Vineyard Culture Into The Cornfields (first published in 1731).
Coincidentally, the 17th Century Jethro Tull was also a musician. In his spare time he played the organ and purportedly mastered the instrument.
A Jethro Tull Overview
What do we think of when we hear the name Jethro Tull? What is ‘Tull Music?’ Casual fans might immediately think of songs such as ‘Living In The Past,’ ‘Teacher,’ ‘Aqualung,’ ‘Cross-Eyed Mary,’ ‘Locomotive Breath,’ or ‘Bungle In The Jungle.’ It’s a fact that these songs are probably the most popular, in America anyway, and are often heard on FM radio ‘classic rock’ stations.
Some people might have a fondness for a very early Jethro Tull that specialised in the type of British blues pioneered by the original Fleetwood Mac and John Mayall. Those who do remember this period are probably old enough to be grandparents. It was a short-lived incarnation, lasting less than twelve months and represented by one album.
Then came the interval of what could be described as ‘poetic rock.’ Through a collection of clever, humorous and engaging songs, Jethro Tull found its voice and began to amass a following of considerable potency. They became stars in the UK, found critical approval, toured non-stop and recorded prolifically.
The era of concept albums and the heyday of Progressive Rock followed. This is when Jethro Tull found its American audience and earned the superstatus label, produced number one albums, played concerts in arenas and introduced opening acts such as Yes, Gentle Giant and Renaissance. Their stage shows became legendary for being innovative. Spectacular and theatrical, they incorporated costumes, sets, props, imaginative lighting effects and multimedia add-ons. Unfortunately, the music critics curiously never warmed up to Progressive Rock and thus Jethro Tull fell out of favour with the press. The legion of fans, however, grew even larger.
When musical tastes and fashions changed in the second half of the 70s, Jethro Tull’s sound developed into a style that encompassed English folk and rock. It thematically embraced country life, no doubt influenced by Ian Anderson purchasing salmon farms and investing in his home country of Scotland. Again, wit and an infectious self-awareness were key ingredients to the music. There are fans that insist that this was Jethro Tull’s best period.
The 80s brought changes in direction as Jethro Tull experimented with technology by bringing in synthesisers, drum machines and paring down the act to focus on the songs rather than the theatricality. Tull continued to successfully please their sizeable following of fans but had sadly lost the attention of the mainstream. This trend shifted in 1987, when Jethro Tull won the ‘Hard Rock/Heavy Metal’ Grammy Award, beating such acts as Metallica and AC/DC. Suddenly, Jethro Tull was fashionable again and the band was perceived to be ‘grand old masters’ of classic rock.
As Tull celebrated 25th and 30th anniversaries, the band gained a reputation of being one of the most successful touring outfits working in the 90s. Tull always seemed to be on the road, playing to full houses on six continents. While today some might think of them as a ‘nostalgia’ band, this label couldn’t be further from the truth. One only has to examine the demographics of Tull’s audiences. People of all ages attend the concerts, from ageing hippies to young teenagers. Tull attracts bikers, classical music enthusiasts, yuppies, housewives and head bangers. As new music continually pours out of the band, new fans are recruited. Every year a fresh generation discovers the unique and special music of Jethro Tull.
Today, Jethro Tull encompasses all of the various styles and eras the band has gone through. In an interview for the band’s 25th anniversary video, Ian Anderson stated that the current incarnation had a really tough time trying to live up to all of the stylistic variances associated with Jethro Tull. Anderson is not the same guy that he was in 1968, but he is aware that he must live up to certain expectations when the band steps on stage. Many songs have been rearranged for today’s audience, simply because the current band could never recapture the musical style of, say, the 1972 touring outfit. What’s important is that it doesn’t matter. A commonality exists through all of the various Tull line-ups: the combination of flute, electric and acoustic guitars and the unmistakable voice and wit of Ian Anderson.
Ian Anderson, The Impressionist
When asked how a song is developed from his original idea to a full-fledged recording, Ian Anderson stated: “I really wish there were a standard process—sort of a factory assembly line process—in which a song idea could go in one end, be arranged and developed, go through quality assurance and pop out packaged and ready to be delivered to the public. However, that is not the reality. I suppose I try to vary it with every song; I like to make the process different each time. The type of song and subject matter dictates what that process will be. Sometimes I might be strumming the guitar and I’ll come up with a phrase and a line of lyric comes to mind. When I’m comfortable with the basic structure of a song, I’ll present it to one or two guys in the band, maybe all of them and we work it out together. Other times I’ll be playing the flute and a melody comes into my head and the song is born that way. Recently I was strolling through the Berlin zoo and a piece of song formed in my head. I spent a little over an hour there and as I was leaving I had an entire song completed!
“The lyrics don’t always come first. Usually they come later; sometimes they arrive at the same time as the music. Very often the title comes first. An idea for a title might arise and that’s the inspiration for the song. That was the case with Too Old To Rock ‘N’ Roll—Too Young To Die. The title came first and I thought it would make a good song. I suppose I would describe myself as a painter, but not of emotions. I’m not a painter of abstracts or expressionistic works—although a bit of my work ventures into that territory. I’m more of a painter of people and landscapes. I’m an impressionist, you might say. Sometimes it’s just landscapes without the people. I’m an observer and I write about what I see.”
Anderson’s impressionistic approach to songwriting is easily discernible. He writes about eccentric city characters, the foibles of schooling and organised religion, the plight of the farmer, the dangers of conformity and other topics that have interested him in his travels around the world. Added to this observational stance, Anderson brings in an eclectic array of musical motifs from around the world. There is a little American rhythm and blues mixed with English folk and classical music, a touch of Indian or African sensibility and perhaps a blend of some Russian or Eastern European ethnicity. One hesitates to place a ‘World Music’ label on Jethro Tull’s music but that is what it is. While much of Anderson’s work is rooted in solid British ground, Jethro Tull embraces the entire world, borrows elements from it, commingles those components and then presents totally singular results.
There is no other band quite like Jethro Tull.
1: The Early Years (1947 – 1967)
The genius behind Jethro Tull is that fellow who often stands on one leg and plays the flute. He was once described by the press as ‘a mad-dog Fagin,’ was known for wearing a codpiece throughout a tour or two and was once very hirsute but isn’t now.
Ian Scott Anderson, born 10 August 1947 in Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland, moved to Edinburgh with his family when he was four years old. Much has been written about young Ian’s early years and his rebellion against wearing a kilt at age eight and his aversion to attending Sunday School. His parents apparently forced religion upon him at a young age and this no doubt had an influence on some of the lyrics he would write later on. Songs like ‘My God,’ ‘Hymn 43,’ ‘Wind-Up’ and several others deal with what Anderson perceives as the absurdity of organised religion.
His parents apparently enjoyed the big bands and encouraged young Ian to learn to play the guitar. After attempting to do so on a toy ukulele, Ian persuaded his father to buy him a real guitar when he was eleven. It was around that time that the Anderson family moved to Blackpool, a seaside town in the north of England. There, the Andersons managed a boarding house and a neighbourhood grocery store. Ian enrolled in Blackpool Grammar School for Boys and had a knack for math and sciences. For a while he considered pursuing a career in those disciplines but this was not to be.
Early Bands
The year 1963 proved to be a catalyst of some sort. Anderson met fellow student Jeffrey Hammond (born 30 July 1946) and immediately found that they shared an interest in music. Hammond was all for starting a band. Since Ian was keen to play the guitar, Hammond picked up a bass. They soon found a drummer in the guise of another schoolmate, John Evans (born 28 March 1948). Not only could Evans play the drums, he was a fine pianist as well. Legend has it that it was Evans who introduced The Beatles’ music to Anderson.
The three boys rehearsed in John’s garage and soon dubbed themselves The Blades, named after the London club frequented by James Bond in Ian Fleming’s popular spy novels. Anderson naturally fell into the role of lead singer and The Blades soon found themselves playing their first gig at The Holy Family youth club. Before long, they were performing weekly in churches and other youth clubs and attracting the attention of young females—which was more of a priority at the time than making any money.
After a while, Michael Stephens, a guitarist from a rival band called The Atlantics, joined The Blades. In 1964, the band advertised in the local paper for a drummer because Evans preferred playing keyboards and kept hurting his hands on the drum kit. Barrie Barlow (born 10 September 1949) answered the call. Experienced as a school band drummer, Barlow got the job and Evans purchased a portable organ. Throughout the rest of the year, The Blades built a local reputation playing pop and blues songs that they had learned by listening to records.
