Jethro Tull (Jethro Tull) - English rock band from the city of Blackpool, was formed in 1967. The music of this group goes beyond one genre: it is blues rock and jazz, hard rock and folk. The band's songs often feature an acoustic guitar, and, of course, the flute of the inimitable vocalist - Ian Anderson. In more than forty years of career, Jethro Tull has sold over 60 million albums.
early years
In 1963, Ian Anderson and his friends Jeffrey Hammond and John Ewan, then Blackpool High School students, organized a musical project called The Blades. The following year, new musicians joined the band, and the band's name was changed to "John Evan Band".
In 1967 the group moved to London, but then the guys had problems with concerts due to the large number of bands similar to them. The team often changed their name, acting under the names of the concert organizers. The band once called themselves Jethro Tull. This name stuck.
At the end of 1968, a new guitarist, Martin Barre, joined the band, and the following year, 1969, Jethro Tull's first album, "Stand Up", was released. This disc was the only one to reach the first position in the UK charts. All songs on this album, except for "Bourée", were written by Ian Anderson. After that, the group released several successful singles: "Living in the Past", "Sweet Dream", "The Witch's Promise", "Life Is a Long Song".
In 1970, the band recorded the album Benefit, after which bassist Kornik left the group. He was replaced by Jeffrey Hammond, to whom songs such as "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey, and Me", "A Song For Jeffrey" and "Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square" are dedicated.
Creation
With a renewed line-up in 1971, Jethro Tull released their most famous album "Aqualung". Despite the varied compositions of this disc, it is perceived as a whole, which allowed critics to call the album a conceptual one. In addition, this work was distinguished by a deep poetic component of Anderson's texts. The most popular song of the album "Aqualung" was "Locomotive Breath", which is still played on the air of radio stations and at the performances of Jethro Tull.
In the early seventies, Jethro Tull toured a lot. The performances of the group were distinguished by the presence of short instrumental preludes and a variety of song arrangements. Their own stage image gradually developed, in which each musician had a recognizable style. The group also began to actively use the scenery, adding even more theatricality to their performances.
In 1975, the band released the album "Minstrel in the Gallery", which generally resembled "Aqualung". He combined gentle acoustic compositions with harder ones, based on Martin Barr's electric guitars. Subsequently, this work was recognized as one of the best in the entire creative career of Jethro Tull, although it is clearly inferior in popularity to the album "Aqualung".
From 1977 to 1979, Jethro Tull released three folk rock albums: Songs from the Wood, Heavy Horses, and Stormwatch. This period is considered the end of the era of the classic Jethro Tull, as bassist John Glascock passed away as a result of postoperative complications. Dave Pegg took his place.
In 1983, Ian Anderson released his first solo album, Walk Into the Light, which was full of electronics and talked about human alienation in modern society.
Jethro Tull's "Under the Wraps", which plays a drum machine instead of a live drummer, became the apogee of his passion for electronics. This creation was received quite coolly by both critics and fans.
Jethro Tull leader Ian Anderson soon developed serious voice problems, and the group took a three-year hiatus, during which time Anderson took care of his salmon farm, which he bought in 1978.
In 1987 the band returned to the stage with success. The music of the new album "Crest Of A Knave" sounded closer to the classic albums of the 70s. The new release received rave reviews in the press. Jethro Tull received a Grammy Award for Best Performance in Rock and Metal. The most popular songs on the album "Farm on the Freeway" and "Steel Monkey" were often played on radio stations.
In 1988, for the band's 20th anniversary, the compilation "20 Years of Jethro Tull" was released, which includes mostly previously unreleased recordings, as well as reworked compositions and concert numbers. At this time, multi-instrumentalist Martin Allcock joined the band, performing mainly keyboards at concerts.
The next studio work of the group - a record called "Rock Island", released in 1989, gave way to the sound of the previous album, but in general the fans liked it.
After 1992, Ian Anderson's manner of playing the flute changed slightly. The albums of the second half of the 90s "Roots to Branches" (1995) and "J-Tull Dot Com" (1999) sounded less harsh than the previous ones.
In the first decade of the 21st century, Jethro Tull is releasing great compilations and continues to tour a lot. So, in 2007, a collection of the best acoustic tracks of the group, consisting of 24 works, was published. 2008 was marked by a tour dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the group, and 2011 - a tour in honor of the 40th anniversary of the album "Aqualung".
In 2013, Jethro Tull gave concerts in Minsk, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar. The following year, Ian Anderson announced the termination of the group. However, in 2017, the band announced a reunion, marking 50 years of the album "This Was".
Personal life
Ian Anderson's first wife was named Jenny Franks. She was an actress, photographer and playwright. The couple was married from 1970 to 1974, then the family broke up. In 1976, Anderson met Sean Learyd, who became his second wife. The couple had two children.
