Jethro Tull

[monkeysarefunny]

I like them, how about you?

[wordsmith]

......first heard them way after their heyday......all mad, but boy could they play. Ian Anderson's eyes? More to those than meets the.........A phenomenal frontman, a passion beyond belief.......Livin' in the Past? Cannot put that one in a genre.
There are many of similar ilk.......we have the net, so all can discover. Time well spent.
I will take a moment of your time to tell you something about Poland. I am what they call a 'native speaker'....I just chat (at 20 dollars an hour). A lot of the students are into music...no surprise....but one in particular I will never forget. He is a trombone player in the Polish army. During a conversation, I asked him about Chuck Berry.
'Who?' he asked. He is 24.
You see, this stuff never gets on the radio, and unless you have a friend to point you in the right direction, there's no way of finding out about anything.
Hence I have a mission.....a week later he told me he had bought a CD of Chuck's greatest hits, and that he and his wife were very happy with it. Doubtless their friends will hear it sometime.........

PS ......My partner's best friend from early childhood had for several years the honour of looking after Miles Davies when he came to Poland for the annual Jazz Jamboree. I arrived here too late to meet Miles, but I have seen two of his original artworks on a wall in a forest house. Poland is not completely backwards! A titbit of info.......Miles insisted his towels were black............as I was informed. I personally trust the source.

[Banksia]

Jethro Tull came along at a time when European rockers were asking "Why should our Rock be based on American traditional folk music - blues- when we have our own traditional musics to draw from. Bands like Pentangle and Fairport Convention had shown that traditional English music could be presented in a modern context successfully. There was a wave of non-blues-based rock bands: Yes, Focus, ELP, King Crimson. I think Tull were definitely a successful exponent. I still play Aqualung and Locomotive Breath on guitar. This era produced many fine musicians but I'm less certain about the quality of the longer-term output of some bands of the era.

[Marcos Zarevich]

I might be a weird case but Jethro Tull are among my favourite bands. Maybe I should say that most of my favourite records are about my age or older, long live the 70s rock!
BTW I was listening just the other day to Thick as a Brick, that, to me, is timeless MUSIC

[derek]

I saw them live in the 88 when they put out Crest of a Knave, shortly followed by their 20 Years of JT. Great live show. Their music holds up quite well after all this time, and I think that is one of the big gauges of the quality of a band's/artist's work.

[Tom K]

I saw them in 69, after they had just recorded "Stand Up". Great fun - but later they started to get on my nervers, and I lost interest.

I love Stand Up, and Minstrel in the Gallery. Martin Barre had such a beautiful thick tone, you could pave your driveway with it!

After Stormwatch I gave up on them. I saw them on that tour: one of two concerts I fell asleep at. The other was Van Morrisson.

[RAQ]

Originally Posted by chitlinsonrye

I love Stand Up, and Minstrel in the Gallery. Martin Barre had such a beautiful thick tone, you could pave your driveway with it!

After Stormwatch I gave up on them. I saw them on that tour: one of two concerts I fell asleep at. The other was Van Morrisson.

I spent two years working with a Tull fan who played them all day long, every day - after two years of that I couldn't help but be converted. In fact for years after I couldn't listen to anything else, other bands sounded bland and unimaginative somehow. But I agree there's been a slow decline after Stormwatch (with a few odd exceptions). My interest in jazz developed through me trying to find something more challenging and creative than Tull to listen too. I've bought into the theory that Tull's decline has come about by Ian Anderson (undoubtedly the creative driving force behind the band) coming to think he IS the band - by coming to think that Jethro Tull is Ian Anderson with sessions musicians. He's dumped some good people, in unpleasant circumstances - starting with John Evan after Stormwatch, to Andrew Giddings; and each time the quality of the band has been affected by the loss of their contributions. The classic line-up from 1968-80 (up to Stormwatch) produced some great stuff though.

R.

[sbaker]

Thick as a brick.. THe second best rock-opera after Tommy!

[pineapple]

I like very much 'This was'. Listen to 'Someday the sun won't shine for you': a great blues. And listen to their version of the 'Serenade to a Cuckoo': pure jazz. I remember I did not like Mike Abrahams leave the band. But I enjoyed to see them in 1970 (or '71), together with the Gentle Giant!

[Marcos Zarevich]

Originally Posted by pineapple

I like very much 'This was'. Listen to 'Someday the sun won't shine for you': a great blues. And listen to their version of the 'Serenade to a Cuckoo': pure jazz. I remember I did not like Mike Abrahams leave the band. But I enjoyed to see them in 1970 (or '71), together with the Gentle Giant!

obviously Roland Kirk was a significant influence in Ian Anderson's flute playing! though I haven't seen this mentioned often

[pineapple]

Originally Posted by Marcos Zarevich

obviously Roland Kirk was a significant influence in Ian Anderson's flute playing! though I haven't seen this mentioned often

Obviously!

[leslie crosby]

I've been an obsessed Jethro Tull fan for about 4 decades now. At one point, it was also the only music that I wished to listen to on a regular basis because it was so ingenious, witty, and complex. It inspired me to pick up my old band instrument and learn to improvise on my flute---way back in the 70's. I learned to play Ian's solos from a book and by playing along with the cassette tape. All this time, I've been looking for someone with the ability to play the guitar and/or bass parts to any Jethro Tull songs and only found a few...but what's cool is: my 20-year old son is almost as big a fan of the group as me and he is also a musician. I just gotta teach him the chords and he takes off with it! I really want to get him to play the 'jazz' guitar part on Serenade to a Cuckoo, so somebody help us out and post 'em.
With you there to help me.........

[perfischer]

Funny you should ask
The very first vinyl album I bought was Aqualung (back in 1977) - I've still got it, and I still listen to their albums once in a while, even though nobody else I know shares the taste. You have to have respect for people who can actually play their instruments.
I was lucky to watch them live at an outdoor Danish music festival (early 90s) - only Anderson and Barre were left from the original setup, but it was the best live experience I've had. Superb. Professional.
Ian Anderson is still going strong and DJ'ing on Planet Rock Radio.

[Markyboy]

I like very much 'This was'. Listen to 'Someday the sun won't shine for you': a great blues. And listen to their version of the 'Serenade to a Cuckoo': pure jazz.

Yes, 'This Was' is also my favourite and Serenade to a cuckoo was my pointer to Jazz

[pineapple]

Originally Posted by leslie crosby

I've been an obsessed Jethro Tull fan for about 4 decades now. At one point, it was also the only music that I wished to listen to on a regular basis because it was so ingenious, witty, and complex. It inspired me to pick up my old band instrument and learn to improvise on my flute---way back in the 70's. I learned to play Ian's solos from a book and by playing along with the cassette tape. All this time, I've been looking for someone with the ability to play the guitar and/or bass parts to any Jethro Tull songs and only found a few...but what's cool is: my 20-year old son is almost as big a fan of the group as me and he is also a musician. I just gotta teach him the chords and he takes off with it! I really want to get him to play the 'jazz' guitar part on Serenade to a Cuckoo, so somebody help us out and post 'em.
With you there to help me.........

These should be the chords used by Jethro Tull (some difference vs the original Kirk's version)

Gm Gm7 EbMaj7 D7(#9) (D7(#9) not in the original)
/ / / /
/ / / /
/ / / /

Cm F7
BbMaj7 EbMaj7
Am7(b5) Dm7 (instead of D7)
D7(#9) Gm7 (maybe G7)

[Soco]

Transcribing some Jethro Tull for a student, great stuff.