Views from 40 Years of Jethro Tull 1968-2008

I saw the War Child tour in Feb 75 at the LA Forum. My first concert! I was 10. Had 14th row floor seats! $7.50 each! I was HEAVILY into them. My friend had young parents, and they had Aqualung, Passion Play and Brick. I bought the War Child 8-track with my allowance. I was absolutely mesmerized by the experience. It was loud, theatrical (for the time), and the string section was comprised of women in afro wigs- which baffled me. I do remember someone in a rabbit costume running around onstage after the line "You're a rabbit on the run" from Skating Away. Also, there was someone dressed up like a zebra who pooped out white balls that JHH juggled. (Really!!! I was close, so I saw it all!) And of course, JHH's great black & white diagonally striped suit! Still have the program!!

 

Aqualung meant big news, when it came out. Just as Deep Purple IN ROCK was the most exciting music a year before - Aqualung spoke to me personally - am i crazy ? LOL. i mean - the whole concept with religion and dog-god, that underwater sounds on the titletrack, the madness in Locomotive Breath, the sound and look of that Group with the Flute as Solo instrument was very exciting and struck a chord with my young personality.... i was so much of a Tull Fan that i hitchiked with a buddy to a city 60 miles from my place in he middle of the week only to find out the Show was sold out.... i was maybe 15 at that time....

 

So I didn't know your personal history and degree of tullness and gave you what I thought was just a piece of information. Did I need to tag emoticons myself to show that I was not laughing at you? No upset! What is the "poutine police"?

 

a very good friend of mine introduced me to Tull via his moms collection when we were young. starting with Aqualung and eventually ending up on his copy of the 20 years vinyl box set .

i had a copy of Aqualung on cassette that i played over and over. it had this little warble towards the end of side one, which also played towards the beginning of side two, that altered the song ever so slightly. i knew the album so when that when i finally got a CD copy of the album i always expected that warble to be there. been awhile since ive listened to that casette though (or Aqualung), so its kind of passed into memory.

that friend comitted suicide when we were teens and we never got to see Tull in concert together. i did get to see them with mutual friends though.

i saw Tull only once regrettably, and it was one of the finest concert going experiences of my life. it was the Rock Island album (which i oddly never did purchase). it was on Halloween night (forget what year...) in at the New Haven Coliseum in NH Connecticut.

the one thing that really stood out at that show was the folk jam they did with all acoustic instruments. guitars, mandolins, and possibly some other more esoteric acoustic instuments. it was truly wonderful.

my favorite Tull releases are:

Benefit- #1 for me. i discovered it pretty late in my Tull collecting phase, but it really works for me. i adore this album.

Stormwatch- not the best album they ever did, but it has some really great tunes, and ive always been kind of fond and fascinated by it. the cover of course, and certain songs are just kind of haunting. they stick with you. i find Orion popping into my head when i see the constellation in the sky.

20 years Of- awesome collection of stuff. i love a lot of the odball older tunes that would otherwise have bearely seen the light of day, like March the mad Scientist, and Strip Cartoon. I have a real thing for the Chateau D'Isaster tapes too.

i dont own anything past Crest of a Knave and i know for a fact that im missing out on some great stuff (like that uh 25 years box set thing that a friend of mine got. ive listened to that a bunch but never picked it up). i wonder what else ive missed. besides seeing them in concert again. i missed their CT stop in the last year and was kicking myself when i found out about it.

 

In my school too, along with other releases that had a buzz goin' around before you even heard them such as Led Zep IV, Dark Side Of The Moon. Best of all, my Dad was going on a business trip to England in 1971 and asked me what I wanted from there. I said a record so he brought back Aqualung. The cover had canvas-like texture. I no longer have it.

 

Phone call for Lloyd Bridges...

 

per:Glenn Cornick

- it seems that 'Sunshine Day' was recorded on Saturday 6th January 1968.

The decision to name the band once and for all was apparently on the agenda at a record company / band meeting of some sorts two days later, on Monday 8th January 1968. Either on that night or at some point over the following 5 days, 'Jethro Tull' was decided upon.

So, still, the first real recording made by the group under the Tull name was the sessions for 'This Was' in the summer.

(Thank you Andrew Jackson)

 

more January Tull events

Jan. 17, 1975: Tull opens the WarChild tour at the Civic Center in
Nashville, Tennessee, the first of nearly 100 U.S. shows in 1975,
Jan. 21, 1971: First Tull show in Austria, at the Konzerthaus in
Vienna.

Jan. 30, 1971: Tull plays Switzerland for the first time, playing at
Montreux.
Jan. 31, 1975: In an attempt to satisfy demand after selling out five
shows in Los Angeles, Tull begins a two-night stand at the Sports Arena
in San Diego.

Jan. 1976: M. U. The Best Of JT is released.
Jan. 1988: Keyboardist Martin Allcock joins Tull, replacing Don Airey.

 

more February

Feb. 13, 1969 A four-night stand at the Boston Tea Party begins during
Tull's first visit to America.

1994 First-ever Tull concert in India at the Rang Bhawan in
Bombay.

Feb. 21, 1970 Fans riot and smash up the glass-walled Jahrunderthalle
venue at Tull's first-ever German show, in Frankfurt.

Feb. 23, 1994 First ever Hong Kong concert at the Ko Shan Theatre.

Feb. 24, 1981 "A" tour ends with a concert at the Palais Des Sports in
Lyons, France, followed by a 14-month hiatus.

Feb ?? 1981 Tull performs "Crossfire" and "Fylingdale Flyer" on the
British "Rockpop" TV show.

Feb. 26&27, 1994 At the Magog Motorcycle Club 20th anniversary Tull
performs in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

 

March

March 6, 1971: Jethro Tull appears on the cover of Record Mirror mag.

March 9, 1976: Tull guests on BBC-TV's Old Grey Whistle Test.

March 9, 1992: Rocks On The Road single is released.

March 13, 1969: Tull debuts at San Francisco's Filmore West.

March 13, 1992: Drummer Dave Mattacks and keyboardist Andy Giddings
make their first live appearance with Tull at the Pavilion in Plymouth,
England. It is the first of three separate tours for 1992.

March 16, 1985: In honour of J.S. Bach's 300th birthday, Tull plays
Bach's "Double Violin Concerto" in Berlin. Keyboardist/violinist Eddie
Jobson is reuinited with the band for this performance.

March 21, 1996: Tull plays its first Bolivian concert at the Estadio
Silas in La Paz.

March 25, 1996: Following Anderson's knee injury in Peru, Tull starts
the 11-show U.S. wheelchair tour, at the Electric Factory in
Philadelphia.

March 27, 1975: In a Rolling Stone interview, Anderson tells of ordering
his now-legendary codpiece for his medieval minstrel costume.

March 28, 1947: John Spencer Evans is born in Blackpool, England.

More March Stuff....

1976: Anderson tells the Comment newspaper that Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll
began as a musical for Adam Faith, but the project was abandoned.

1996: While on tour in South America, almost all members of the Tull
tour entourage are stricken with food poisoning. One member of the road
crew is hospitalized in serious condition.
Also on this tour, Anderson injures his left knee which subsequently
requires surgery.

-tootull

 

Seen Jethro Tull in St. Louis at the Checkerdome where the St Louis Blues Hockey Played at the time. This was Oct 1980 on the "A" Tour with the Fantastic Eddie Jobson playing keyboard and Electric Violin. Whitesnake opened for Tull. They were great that night and I enjoyed that show tremendously!
I also met Glenn Cornick in the early 90's at a Record Show where he was the special guest at the event that day. Anyway I have photo of him which he signed that day that was being sold there. He was a very nice gentleman but didn't have much to say as there was quite a few people waiting around the table to say hi and meet him too.

 

April



April 1, 1982: Drummer Gerry Conway and keyboardist Peter-John Vettese
debut live with Tull in Oslo, Norway.
April 1, 1975: Ian Anderson badly twists an ankle on stage at a concert
near Kiel, Germany.
April 5, 1970: John Evan makes his first appearance with Tull in
Germany.
April 6, 1977: In California, at the Anaheim Convention Centre, Jethro
Tull plays Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" second and fourth movements,
abridged.
April 10, 1979: Dark Haiti bootleg is recorded in Seattle.
April 15, 1975: Tull performs in Yugoslavia for the first time.
April 16, 1987: Clive Bunker tells an interviewer that he gave
then-future Tull drummer Doan Perry his first drum lesson when Perry was
14 years old.
April 19, 1970: My God bootleg is recorded in Long Beach Arena in
California.
April 21, 1991: Martin Barre runs the London Marathon.
April 22, 1985: Ian Anderson is the subject of an article in People
magazine, entitled, "Rocker Ian Anderson as a Salmon Farmer."
April 27, 1993: Tull celebrates its 25th anniversary and the 25th
anniversary of WMMR-FM radio, by playing at the Spectrum in
Philadelphia.
April 1980 Tull plays "North Sea Oil" and "Old Ghosts" on the show
Rockpop.

April 23 - Glenn Cornick's birthday

 

May

May 01, 1976: Bassist John Glascock's first performance with Tull.
May 01, 1979: John Glascock performs for the last time with Tull.

May 02, 1982: Jethro Tull is featured on Italian TV on a show called
'Roma 7up'.
May 08, 1969: Tull's first performance at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

May 09, 1978: Heavy Horses video aired on 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' on
BBC2.
May 13, 1982: Tull's concert at Wembley Arena in London is heralded by
the Daily Telegraph newspaper as the group's most skillfully executed
show in ten years.
May 24, 1970: Tull's first Canadian show, at the Autostade in Montreal.
May 28, 1969: Tull's first Irish show, at the National Stadium in
Dublin.
May 29, 1982: German TV broadcasts Rockpop '82, featuring Tull's
performance at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund.
May 30, 1973: I had a wonderful time as I enjoyed Tull's performance at
Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens.

May 1971: Ian Anderson appears on the front cover of Hit Parader Mag.
May 1973: Creem mag.: The cover teaser is "Jethro Tull in Vietnam?"
May 1980: Drummer Mark Craney becomes the first non-British member of
Jethro Tull, replacing Barriemore Barlow.
May 1996: During an Australian tour, Ian Anderson develops a blood clot
in his leg and is hospitalized. This stems from surgery to repair his
knee injury suffered weeks earlier in Peru.

corrections welcome
mayhem, maybe
-tootull

 

June/July

June
01, 1988: Martin Allcock makes his live debut with Jethro Tull at the
Shoreline Amphitheatre in California, USA.
02, 1983: A documentary on Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull airs on BBC2,
called "Food and Drink".
07, 1982: Jethro Tull performs on "Late Night with David Letterman."
(NBC)
10, 1971:Jethro Tull concert at Red Rocks near Denver, Colorado, USA,
fans riot, and are tear-gassed, many are arrested or injured.
12, 1994: At a festival in Bucharest, Jethro Tull plays Romania for the
first time.
14, 1997: At the Amphitheatre in Presov, Jethro Tull plays it's first
show in the Slovak Republic.
15, 1982: Ian Anderson guests on the "Cleveland Afternoon Exchange" TV
program.
16, 1954: Doane Ethredge Perry is born in Mt. Kisco, NY, USA.
17, 1993: The Utrecht Music Center in Holland hosts a concert by Jethro
Tull. 1996: Aqualung 25th anniversary edition is released. The CD is
remastered from the original version and includes an interview track.
19, 1976: Jethro Tull performs on the "Midnight Special" TV show on
NBC-TV.
20, 1991: David Palmer performs at the "Montreal International Festival
of Music" in Canada.
26, 1992: Gerry Conway returns for a Jethro Tull show in Zurich,
Switzerland.
27, 1988: The Crest of a Knave tour banner is stolen after a concert at
The Pier in NY, USA, Anderson issues a plea for its return.
30, 1986: Jethro Tull performs its first show in Israel, at Yarkon Park
in Tel Aviv.
June 1970: Ian Anderson appears in "Life" mag. 1994 Drummer Marc Parnell
fills in for Doane Perry during Jethro Tull concerts this month.

July
02, 1986: At the MKT Stadium in Budapest, Jethro Tull plays its
first-ever show in Hungary.
05, 1972: At the Town Hall in Auckland, Jethro Tull plays its first-ever
show in New Zealand.
07, 1972: At the Festival Hall in Melbourne, Jethro Tull plays its
first-ever show in Australia.
10, 1963: Andrew Giddings is born in Pembury, Kent, England.
15, 1971: Jonathan Mark Thomas Noyce is born in Sutton, Coldfield,
England.
15, 1972: Jethro Tull plays its first show in Japan, in Tokyo.
19, 1988: Clive Bunker plays drums on "Fat Man" at the Wembley Arena in
England, celebrating the bands 20th ann..
20, 1991: Jethro Tull plays for the first time in Estonia, at a festival
in Tallinn.
21, 1982: Phil Collins plays drums for Jethro Tull at the Prince's Trust
charity concert in London's Dominion Theatre.
22, 1971: Ian Anderson gets his picture on the cover of the "Rolling
Stone" magazine.
23, 1976: Jethro Tull plays to 55,000 fans at Shea Stadium, NY.
24, 1992: Dave's son, bassist Matthew Pegg, makes his live debut with
Jethro Tull in Switzerland at the Nyon festival.
25, 1970: Ian Anderson stops a performance in Miami, Florida, to collect
donations for bailing out fans, police had busted.
26, 1988: Jethro Tull plays "Girl From Ipanema" in Belo, Horizonte,
Brazil, during the band's first-ever South American show.
30, 1947: Bassist Jeffrey Hammond is born.
More July--1979: Bassist Dave Pegg joins Jethro Tull. 1995: Dave Pegg
leaves Jethro Tull because of a heavy workload and conflicts with
Fairport Convention.

-tootull

 

One of my favorite bands ever, still great. My fondest memory was the Roots to Branches show in Atlanta at the Fox where Ian had to perform from a wheelchair due to his knee injury. Didn't matter. They tore it up.

Dave

 

>Jan. 17, 1975: Tull opens the WarChild tour at the <

Tootull, you mean the >US< leg of the War Child tour, unless the link below is wrong:

http://www.ministry-of-information.co.uk/setlist/74.htm

 

18/6/71 LA Forum Inglewood, Ca. USA
23/6/72 LA Forum Inglewood, Ca. USA
22/7/73 LA Forum Inglewood, Ca. USA

I was there.

 

Start of WarChild US tour.

I attended...23/2/75 Convention Center Niagara Falls, NY. USA

"The show was delayed because, when making his 'big' entrance, Martin tripped on a cable, damaging the stage rig. Lights and sound were restored within 15-20 mins."
further... at Niagara Falls, NY (Two level stage) great entrance by Ian Anderson above the band, looking like the WarChild cover, then I attended 7/10/75 Maple Leaf Gardens Toronto, Canada.

Maple Leaf Gardens setlist:
Thick As A Brick (excerpt), Minstrel In The Gallery, Wond'ring Aloud/Again, To Cry You A Song, A New Day Yesterday (w. flute solo, incl. Bourée & Living In The Past), Skating Away..., Ladies (w. drum solo), 'WarChild Suite', Cross-Eyed Mary, The Hare... (intro), Aqualung, Guitar Solo, Wind Up, Back-Door Angels, Locomotive Breath/Hard-Headed English General/Back-Door Angels (reprise)

Both concerts featured a performance of "How Much is That Doggie in the Window?" ...it was funny the first time and the second time I remember thinking they could be performing a Tull tune, why this?
http://www.ministry-of-information.co.uk/setlist/75.htm

 

August-September

Aug. 03, 1970 Tull plays Central Park in New York
Aug. 09, 1968 20,000 attend as Tull performs at the Sunbury Jazz & Blues festival, England.
Aug. 10, > Ian Anderson’s birthday
Aug. 30, 1969 “Stand Up” tops the British Top 20
Aug. 30, 1970 Tull plays at the legendary Isle Of Wight festival.
Aug. 30, 1984 …after a two-year absence Tull performs at Caird Hall, Dundee, Scotland.
August 1973 “A Passion Play” reaches #1 on the American charts.

Sept. 01, 1990 Jethro Tull on a bill with Fleetwood Mac - 80,000 attend London’s Wembley Stadium
Sept. 03, 1991 The album “Catfish Rising” is released.
Sept. 04, 1995 The album “Roots To Branches” is released.
Sept. 16, 1995 “Roots To Branches” tour begins at the Sands Centre in Carlisle, England
Sept. 18, 1989 Start of the “Rock Island” tour
Sept. 20, 1969 Pop poll-Melody Maker votes Tull most popular British group behind the Rolling Stones
Sept. 27, 1969 Ian Anderson lost his coat to wild fans at the National Stadium in Dublin, Ireland –The Album “Stand Up” is released.

More September stuff:
1975 Recorded in Monte Carlo “Minstrel In The Gallery” is released. “Minstrel In The Gallery” is my favourite album.

1979 “Stormwatch” recorded at Ian Anderson’s London studio is released.
1980 “A” is released as a Jethro Tull album-in the beginning it was intended to be a solo project of Ian Anderson.
1984 …from Ian Anderson’s home studio “Under Wraps” is released.
1987 …first studio album in three years, Hard Rock Grammy winner “Crest Of A Knave" is released.
1989 “Rock Island" is released. Recorded at Dave Pegg’s home studio and Ian Anderson’s home studio.

-tootull

 

Also in Feb.

Feb. 03, 1975 The first of five soldout concerts at the Los Angeles Forum, drawing a record crowd of 93,000 people.

Feb. 10, 1975 Crowd noise at the LA Forum causes Anderson to stop playing and he urges everyone to scream for awhile and get it out of their systems. 1977 The "Sight&Sound" TV recording is done at "The Golden Green Hippodrome" in London.

Feb. 11, 1970 The "Witch's Promise" single reaches No. 3 on the U.S. charts.

Feb. 1969 "This Was" is released in America.

 

For those of you in the tri-state area, Jethro Tull will be at Jones Beach on Saturday, August 9th. Tickets go on sale February 8th.

 

and even more Jan.

Jan. 08, 1994: Ian Anderson plays an acoustic solo set at the Tull
convention in Altenkirchen, Germany.
Jan. 09, 1969: The show billed with Jimi Hendrix at the Konserthaus in
Stockholm, Sweden, was the second time playing outside England for Tull.
Jan. 10, 1969: Tull plays its second Denmark show, at the Falconer
Center in Copenhagen,
Jan. 11, 1971: Tull plays its first show in Norway, at the Konserthuset
in Oslo.
Jan.11, 1980: BBC2 broadcasts a one - hour Tull documentary on the
program Arena.
Jan. 16, 1977: At the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, formal
black tie dress is required in the 471-seat Founders Circle for a Tull
show.

 

I saw Tull at least 3 times, probably more like 4 times in the 70's. I had every one of their albums and had to see them when they came near me.

I remember Ian Anderson's energy which, a thought that just occurred to me, was not unlike the amount of energy that Bruce Springsteen or Mick Jagger put into the show. Ian went from stage left to right many times with his flute and had some almost maniacal flute solos that amazed me. It was really interesting to see the sounds with power that he could get from the flute.

The band was amazing as well, and the songs were so much better live. I had some great concert experiences with Tull, and the "show" was as good as any concert of the time.

 

I saw them 4 times so far, all in Montreal, Qc:

- April 14, '72, Forum: wonderful TaaB show, with April Wine opening. A packed place for my very first "big international star" rock concert, at age 14, WOW!!! Jeffrey standing frozen like a stick though...

- June 2nd, '73, Forum: formidable & full aPP show - this time everyone in the band, including Jeffrey, has turned into mexican jumping beans! And at one point Martin Barre in full drag queen attire for one chorus or two of "Rock Around The Clock"!!
My top favourite of my four shows!!

1974 no War Child show for the province of Quebec: (((

- Sept. 16 or 18, Forum: great MitG show. Although they opened with the full title track version, which is always the most exciting for me (when a band opens proud with its new material), I was a little diappointed that this felt a bit like a best-of shows. Not a note from aPP, and just two songs from WC, unless I'm wrong.

- November 1997, at the St-Denis theater, with my son in his young teens for his first time Tull and big show, a fond memory if just for that. Mostly loved the RtB and solo Ian material.

 

October

October 27, 1977 Ian Anderson purchases Strathaird, a 15,000-acre estate on Scotland's Isle of Skye.

October 03, 1969 “Sweet Dream” single released
October 09, 1978 Madison Square Garden, New York is broadcast by satellite around the world, (Jethro Tull was the first rock group to appear ‘live’ from the USA to UK television).
October 12, 1979 Ian Anderson receives a rose in the eye from a female fan during a Madison Square Garden NY show. Anderson wears a patch and two shows are canceled.
October 20, 1972 Release Of “Living In The Past”
October 21 1985 “Original Masters” is released
…in October
1968 “This Was” released in England
1974 “WarChild” is released
1978 “Bursting Out” live is released
1997 “Thick As A Brick” 25th 9 (plus live) anniversary edition is released in the USA.
1997 Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs release a complete version of “Living In The Past”