Jethro Tull

Jethro Tull, prog-rock pioneers. Membership: Ian Anderson, fit., gtr., sax., lead voc. (b. Edinburgh, Scotland, Aug. 10, 1947); Mick Abrahams, gtr., voc. (b. Luton, Bedfordshire, England, April 7, 1943); Glenn Cornick, bs. (b. Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England, April 24, 1947); and Clive Bunker, drm. (b. Blackpool, Lancashire, England, Dec. 12, 1946). Abrahams left in early 1969, to be replaced by Martin Barre (b. Nov. 17, 1946). Glenn Cornick left in 1971, to be replaced by Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond (b. Blackpool, England, July 30, 1946). John Evan, kybd. (b. Blackpool, England, March 28, 1948) joined in 1971. Clive Bunker left in late 1971, to be replaced by Barriemore Barlow (b. Blackpool, England, Sept. 10, 1949). Hammond-Hammond left in December 1975, to be replaced by John Glascock (b. London, England, 1952; d. there, Nov. 17, 1979). Glascock was replaced by Dave Pegg (b. Birmingham, England, Nov. 2, 1947).

Ian Anderson moved to Blackpool, Lancashire, at the age of 12 and formed the Blades in 1963 with bassist Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond and keyboardist John Evan. Performing on the northern England club circuit, the group became the John Evan Band in 1965, with Glenn Cornick replacing Hammond-Hammond. In late 1967, the band moved to Bedfordshire to establish themselves on the nearby London club circuit, but the rest of the group soon left, leaving Anderson and Cornick to persevere. They quickly formed a new band with Mick Abrahams and Clive Bunker, with Abrahams and Anderson as the principal songwriters.

Adopting the name Jethro Tull, the group became an immediate success on the club circuit, gaining a residency at London’s Marquee club in June 1968. Well received at August’s Sunbury Jazz and Blues Festival, they signed with Island Records (Reprise in the U.S.). Their blues-oriented debut album This Was sold well in Great Britain but only modestly in the U.S. However, in late 1968, Abrahams departed to form Blodwyn Pig. Briefly replaced by future Black Sabbath guitarist Tommy Iommi and former Nice guitarist Davy O’List, Abrahams’s permanent replacement was guitarist Martin Barre.

Ian Anderson effectively took over as Jethro Tull’s leader, developing his songwriting talents for highly melodic folk and classically influenced songs often featuring wry, off-beat lyrics. “Living in the Past” became a smash British hit in the summer of 1969 and Stand Up was dominated by Anderson’s songwriting, containing group favorites such as the instrumental “Bouree,” “Look into the Sun,” and “We Used to Know.” Jethro Tull soon scored smash British hits with “Sweet Dream” and “Witches Promise”/“Teacher.”

By 1970, Jethro Tüll was established as one of the top concert attractions in the U.S. through regular tours, perhaps to the detriment of their British popularity. Keyboardist John Evan joined Jethro Tull to record Benefit, their last blues-based album, and accompanied the others with Jeffrey Hammond- Hammond on their subsequent American tour. Glenn Cornick left the group in late 1970 to form Wild Turkey, later resurfacing in Bob Welch’s power trio Paris in 1975. He was replaced on bass by Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, formerly of The John Evan Band, and Evan himself joined the group on a permanent basis.

Jethro Tuli convincingly broke through in the U.S. as an album band with Aqualung, their first “concept” album and certainly their best-known work. Although attacked by some critics as bombastic and pretentious, the album sold well in both Great Britain and the U.S. and included concert and FM radio favorites such as “Hymn 43” (a minor American hit), “Cross-Eyed Mary,” “Locomotive Breath,” and “Aqualung.”

Clive Bunker departed Jethro Tuli in mid-1971 to form Jude with Robin Trower, Frankie Miller, and Jim Dewar, later reemerging with the re-formed Blodwyn Pig. He was replaced on drums by Barriemore Barlow. Jethro Tuli conducted extensive tours of the U.S. in 1971 and 1972, and Thick as a Brick, essentially an album-long ballad without individual cuts, sold spectacularly, staying on the American album charts for nearly a year. Living in the Past assembled live performances and early songs unreleased in the U.S. on Jethro Tull’s new label Chrysalis, yielding the group’s first major American hit, “Living in the Past,” their British hit from 1969.

Jethro Tull’s final concept album, A Passion Play, was critically lambasted by virtually every rock critic and sold poorly in Britain but massively in the U.S. The subsequent American tour featuring the theatrically oriented performance of the album was greeted by record-breaking, sellout crowds. However, the group, road weary and disillusioned by hostile press reviews, announced their “retirement” from live performance in August 1973. The group retreated to Switzerland, where they recorded the largely orchestral War Child as the soundtrack to a movie. The movie was eventually abandoned as too costly, but the album yielded the group’s second (and last) major American hit with “Bungle in the Jungle.”

Jethro Tuli continued to record best-selling American albums through the 1970s, including Minstrel in the Gallery and Songs from the Wood, which revealed a decidedly folk-rock orientation. By early 1976, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond had been replaced by John Glascock. The group conducted their first British tour in three years in February 1977 and added keyboardist David Palmer, the orchestrator of virtually all of Jethro Tull’s albums, in May. Ian Anderson subsequently became involved in salmon farming. In the fall of 1979, Dave Pegg, a member of Fairport Convention, replaced ailing John Glascock on bass. On Nov. 17, 1979, Glascock died during open-heart surgery in a London hospital at the age of 27.

In 1980, Ian Anderson dismissed Barriemore Barlow, John Evan, and David Palmer. He then recorded A, perhaps his most fully realized folk-rock album, with Barre, Pegg, and violinist-keyboardist Eddie Jobson, who left after a single tour. With Anderson, Barre, and Pegg as mainstays, Jethro Tuli continued to tour and record in the 1980s. In the meantime, Ian Anderson recorded the solo album Walk into Light and rerecorded a number of Jethro Tuli classics with David Palmer conducting the London Symphony Orch., released as A Classic Case. In 1987, the group recorded their best-selling album in years, The Crest of a Knave, and toured for the first time in three years, with Fairport Convention as the opening act. Jethro Tull’s 1992 world tour produced the acoustic album A Little Light Music. In 1995, Anderson recorded the solo instrumental album Divinities for Angel Records. The following year, Martin Barre recorded The Meeting for Imago Records.

Discography

early jethro tull:This Was (1969); Stand Up (1969); Benefit (1970). blodwyn pig (with mick abrahams):Ahead Rings Out (1969); Getting to This (1970). mick abrahams:Mick Abrahams (1971). wild turkey (with glenn cornick):Battle Hymn (1972). jethro tullAqualung (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); Bursting Out (1978); Stormwatch (1979); “A” (1980); The Broadsword and the Beast (1982); Under Wraps (1984); The Crest of a Knave (1987); Rock Island (1989); Catfish Rising (1991); A Little Light Music (1992); Roots to Branches (1995); In Concert (1995). ian anderson:Walk into Light (1983); Divinities: Twelve Dances with God (1995). the london symphony orchestra:A Classic Case: The Music of Jethro Tuli (1986). martin barre:The Meeting (1996).

—Brock Helander