Jethro Tull | Artist
Jethro Tull is a British rock band formed 1967 in Blackpool, Lancashire, by Ian Anderson (vocals, flute, acoustic guitar), Clive Bunker (drums), Mick Abrahams (guitar) and Glenn Cornick (bass). Ian Anderson, Jeffrey Hammond, and John Evan, who would later become members of Jethro Tull, attended grammar school together in Blackpool. Abrahams departed after the first album to form Blodwyn Pig and Cornick left in 1970 to form Wild Turkey. Before Martin Barre became Tull's signature guitarist, Tony Iommi played for a brief period before going on to form Black Sabbath. The band's sound filled-out in 1970 with the addition of John Evans on keyboards. Tull started as a blues-based rock band but soon found their unique Progressive-Folk sound under the leadership of frontman and flautist Ian Anderson. Their debut album This Was (1968) was largely a platform for guitar and bass virtuosos Abrahams and Cornick's blues-jazz workouts, and was described by one critic as "Bluesbreakers with a flute". Their second album Stand Up (1969) captured their signature sound and remains one of the finest albums of the late '60s period. The albums Stand Up, Benefit, Aqualung and Thick as a Brick, released between 1969-1972 are Jethro Tull's masterpieces. Stand Up and Benefit contain many of Tull's most memorable songs, highlighted by the sublime bass-work of Glen Cornick. Aqualung remains to this day Tull's best straight-ahead rock album, while Thick as a Brick is one of greatest concept albums of the '70s, even though it was meant as a parody of concept albums. The late '70s was a slightly mix-bag recording wise for Tull, with the exception of three excellent folk-tinged albums: Minstrel in the Gallery (1975), Songs From the Wood (1977) and Heavy Horses (1977), which are all excellent. Their last solid album was Stormwatch from 1979, after which the band never recaptured their early magic. Other releases worthy of note include A Passion Play (1973), Live: Bursting Out (1978), the excellent compilation Living in the Past (1972), and the archival set Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 released in 2004. After the band ceased touring in 2011 both Anderson and Barre have continued to record and tour as solo artists. Jethro Tull made a rare film appearance in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus on 11th December 1968, where they played "A Song for Jeffrey." Tull's lineup included guitarist Tony Iommi, who was briefly in the band prior to the appointment of long-term member Martin Barre, who had previously been in Noel Redding's band Fat Mattress. The band of course takes its name from the English agriculturalist Jethro Tull, born 1674 in Berkshire, who helped bring about the British Agricultural revolution by inventing a horse-drawn seed drill that economically sowed seeds in neat rows.
Artist Website: jethrotull.com
Featured Albums: Jethro Tull
Related Artists: Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, Blodwyn Pig, Mick Abrahams, Wild Turkey, Paris, Black Sabbath
