Views from 40 Years of Jethro Tull 1968-2008

Ministry Tull Tour updates:

http://www.ministry-of-information.co.uk/setlist/08.htm


5/8/08 Bank Of America Pavilion Boston, Ma. USA
6/8/08 Filene Center (Wolf Trap) Vienna, Va. USA
7/8/08 Musikfest Bethlehem, Pa. USA

Performing on the main stage.
May be 3 August.
8/8/08 Mann Center Philadelphia, Pa. USA
9/8/08 Nikon at Jones Beach Theater Wantagh, NY. USA

With Peter Frampton.
10/8/08 Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, Ct. USA
12/8/08 Red Rocks Amphitheater Morrison (Denver), Co. USA
14/8/08 Harrah's Rincon Valley Center (San Diego), Ca. USA
16/8/08 Fantasy Springs Resort Casino Indio, Ca. USA
17/8/08 Greek Theater Berkeley, Ca. USA
21/8/08 Am Weserufer Beverungen, Germany

20:00 start.
22/8/08 Kurpark Bad Brückenau, Germany

20:00 start.
23/8/08 Amphitheater Hanau, Germany
24/8/08 Museumsmeile Bonn, Germany

 

ugh..the "casino tour" again in California

 

Bank of America Pavilion in Boston is a fun venue, I think I'll try to make this show.

 

Interview: David Pegg of Fairport Convention

http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/lei...terview_david_pegg_of_fairport_convention.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Pegg

 

The Moscow News Weekly

http://mnweekly.ru/concerts/20080214/55309576.html

 

Italian shows announced June 30 - July 6

http://www.j-tull.com/news/siteupdates.html

http://www.ministry-of-information.co.uk/setlist/08.htm

 

Very cool to read all the great Tull stories....one of my favs.....1st tour I was able to catch was the "A" tour......was wondering if there was any info on recent lineup changes with the band, I think I read bassist Jonathan Noyce, and keyboardist Andrew Giddings are no longer with the band? Particularly enjoyed Giddings performances and thought he added some life to the bands stage show the past few times I have been able to catch them (Roots To Branches and dotcom)....

 

Current Band Members

http://www.j-tull.com/musicians/index.html

 

Friday, February 22, 2008 / Updated Moscow Time

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2008/02/22/104.html


40 Years of Jethro Tull
By Sergey Chernov

Ian Anderson founded Jethro Tull in 1968. Martin Barre joined a year later.

In the run up to its 40th anniversary tour of Britain in April, the veteran art rock band Jethro Tull is returning to Russia to give two concerts in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Named after an 18th-century agriculturist, the maverick band was formed by flautist, singer and songwriter Ian Anderson in Luton in 1968. It became famous for its performances at London's legendary Marquee Club on Wardour Street in Soho.

The band recorded classic albums including "This Was" (1968), "Stand Up" (1969), "Benefit" (1970), "Aqualung" (1971) and "Thick as a Brick" (1972).

Jethro Tull remains popular with largely conservative Russian rock audiences. It most recently toured Russia in 2006.

The latest concerts are "part of the anniversary year. It's just a brief outing to start things off before we start our U.K. tour in April and May," Anderson said in a recent phone interview.

Jethro Tull, whose musical style has undergone several changes over the years, will perform more early material than usual at the anniversary concerts, Anderson said. "We'll try to include some things from our very first album, and we'll try to make sure that we play a reasonable mixture of music, particularly from the first three or four albums."


The band's music is "very widely based on all kinds of traditions of classical music, folk music, blues, jazz," he said. "Every concert I play, I try to strike the right balance between old and new music and music of the different styles. I try to make sure I represent the different kinds of music that Jethro Tull has played over the years."

Jethro Tull's second longest-serving member, guitarist Martin Barre, is not coming to Russia because he is recovering from shoulder surgery and won't be able to rejoin the band until April. Florian Opahle, a younger guitarist whom Anderson has collaborated with over the last three years, will be standing in.

Drummer Doane Perry has been playing with the band for 23 years. The keyboard player John O'Hara and bassist David Goodier have both played with Anderson and Jethro Tull for five years.

London-based rock violinist Anna Phoebe will be a special guest; she will perform several of her own pieces and join the band for some of the Jethro Tull songs.

The band's last album of new material was "The Jethro Tull Christmas Album" in 2003. Last year, it released a compilation album called "The Best of Acoustic Jethro Tull." An in-depth documentary called "The Story of Jethro Tull," featuring interviews with many ex-members, will be released in two months, Anderson said.

Last year, Anderson was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire award) for his contribution to music

"It's like winning a Grammy or been given any kind of award," said Anderson, whose band won a Grammy for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" in 1989.

"You quietly receive it and you're very happy, but you don't walk around wearing medals or showing things off. I think that's a bit like having gold albums hanging on a wall of your home," he said.

"I'm just thinking about the future. I'm not interested in seeing the trophies of the past."

 

Anyone have this Peter Mew remastered CD and can comment on the sound quality?

 

What Martin's up to: http://www.martinbarre.com/home.htm

 

http://www.pollstar.com/news/viewnews.pl?NewsID=9439

 

New Tull Website Open for Testing

http://prod.whinc.net/tullrevision/

 

No seeds of doubt about evening with Jethro Tull

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/leis...s_of_doubt_about_evening_with_jethro_tull.php

 

Not sure if "Under Wraps" could be considered a "hit album" exactly ( tho' it remains a fave of mine), but great article

 

5 weeks on the UK chart, reaching #18 & #76 in the USA.

 

ok "hit-ish" then.

 

any new details on career spanning dvd?

 

Come on tootull, seeing as how this is the all inclusive Jethro Tull thread,
I'm going to re-ask a question that I posted in a different thread but nobody could definitively answer at that time.
I saw Tull in January 1969 and they still dressed in bum like clothing and had their hair powdered gray, ala the cover of This Was. When did they STOP doing this ?

 

No seeds of doubt about evening with Jethro Tull

By Martin Hutchinson
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/leis...s_of_doubt_about_evening_with_jethro_tull.php


On the one hand you have Ian Anderson; mad staring eyes, wild hair, hands gesticulating and occasionally playing a breathy flute on one leg, sometimes dressed in a ragged overcoat and sometimes sporting a cod-piece, and of course, the man behind one of the most successful and long-lasting rock bands - Jethro Tull. On the other hand you have Ian Anderson; country squire and former owner of Scottish fish farms that were so successful that he was awarded the Scottish Businessman of the Year Award in 1997, and is a conservationist and charity worker. Also, he has just received an MBE for Services to Music.

Yes, it's hard to believe, but these two men are one and the same.

"The enduring thing though, is that I'm a musician. I'm not involved in fish farming at all now. I've profited by seeing another side of life. Musicians tend to live in a rarified world and it's good to be able to do other things," he says.
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Although Scottish by birth, Ian Anderson formed Jethro Tull from the ashes of a Blackpool-based band and moved to London and gained a residency at the prestigious Marquee Club. This band, erroneously labelled Jethro Toe' on its' first single, is celebrating it's 40th Anniversary this year with a 29 date tour of the UK. Ian is taking this opportunity to thank Tull fans for their continued support over the past four decades. "The loyalty of our fans keeps us in work and pocket money. Some artists have fickle fans but the more loyal and committed fans ensure that the work of bands like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Stones and us won't fade away," he said.

Apart from their bluesy first albums like This Was, Stand Up (a UK chart topper), and Benefit, the band has notched up over two dozen hit albums including Aqualung, Heavy Horses and Under Wraps. Two albums hit the top of the charts in America, a Grammy Award was earned in 1989, and their UK singles tally is in double figures with hits such as Living in the Past and The Witch's Promise.

With all this, I asked Ian to describe the music of Jethro Tull - was it folk rock, prog rock or something else? "It's all and none of those. Someone once said that Tull is Bach meets the Blues'. Our music has the discipline and formal musicality exemplified by Bach, yet there is something gutsy in it. It's probably somewhere between heartfelt and headfelt. Actually, Bach was a brilliant improviser. I reckon if he were a musician today, he would probably be a jazz musician. Beethoven would be in a heavy rock band."

It has been reported that Ian hates the name Jethro Tull' (the band was named after the 18th century English agricultural pioneer who invented the seed drill). "I've never been mad keen on the name. It was on a list of names our agent gave us. We got the residency at The Marquee with that name and it stuck. I've always been a bit uncomfortable with it as the Jethro name can conjure up images of The Beverly Hillbillies'." But there were other names to pick from? "Yes, but one of them was Candy Coloured Rain."

Jethro Tull are a unique band. There aren't many that sport a flute as a lead instrument, and another thing that has always set the band apart is that, despite the fact that when the band was forming and touring in the 70s, he has never used drugs. "Not yet," he pointed out, "but there's plenty of time. Mind you, when the time does come, it'll be legally administered and I'll look forward to the pain-relieving properties."

Obviously, Ian has to sing songs every night that he's been singing for 40 years, and I wondered whether he is big on nostalgia, is he - to quote his own song - Living In The Past? "I am not one for nostalgia and prefer to live in the present and future. However, some of our audience like the nostalgia bit and it's a bit like a trip down memory lane for them. For us, it's not about playing a song which could be over 30 years old. It's about playing something that's 24 hours old, since that's when we last played it on stage."

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary this tour will focus on the early years of the band. "For years," Ian explained, "We've done a best of' set list, but for a change about 80 per cent of the show will come from the first three or four albums, but of course we'll play a song or two from other eras - those songs that reflect stylistically the big picture."

For this special tour Ian is joined on guitar by Martin Barre, who joined the band at the end of 1968. On drums is Doane Perry, who has been in the band since 1984, and completing the line-up are David Goodier on bass and John O'Hara on keyboards. Also, as an extra bonus on this special tour - most performances on the tour will feature a special guest, some of whom may well be past members of the band.

Billed as An Evening With Jethro Tull', the 40th Anniversary tour takes in The Lowry at the Salford Quays on Wednesday April 9 (tickets are £25.50 and £28.50 and are available from the box office on 0870 787 5790), and The King George's Hall in Blackburn on Thursday May 15 (tickets are £23.50 and £26.50 and are available from the box office on 01254 582582).

 

In September 1969 Jethro Tull went to Ireland where Ian Anderson lost his famous old greatcoat.
The coat was stolen.
I'm guessing the shabby era ends about here.

 

Celebrating 40 years of Tull Aqualung? Bigfoot?
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hikbUFMxsViwORrQOYji6RQN4WlAD8VPAM580

This is a worthy "true" story for the St. Cleve Chronicle
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?p=3366453#post3366453

 

Was Mick still in the band at the time ?

And what was the lineup for BS&T then? It probably was a great concert !

 

No, Martin Barre.
Martin Barre joined Tull live for the first time on December 30, 1968.

 

Indeed. "Stand Up" is one of my top five favorite Tull albums.

"Benefit" is probably my least favorite of all. It has always sounded like a bunch of out-takes from the first five years of Tull.

However, "With You There to Help Me" is one of my top five favorite Tull songs.

Thank God we are all so different. It makes for such an interesting planet.