Jethro Tull

The only major rock band ever led by a flute player, Jethro Tull went through numerous lineups but always hinged on the idiosyncratic songwriting and personality of its frontman, Ian Anderson. Born in Scotland and raised in Blackpool, he began playing music with school friends around 1963, the early bands (the Blades and the John Evan Band) played mainly soul covers. By 1967 they'd settled into a quartet lineup with Anderson, guitarist Mick Abrahams, bassist Glenn Cornick and drummer Clive Bunker (and later, Evan on keyboards). The name Jethro Tull, which they shared with an 18th century farmer/inventor, was provided by management. On their 1968 debut This Was, the band was most informed by blues and jazz, with Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee and Rahsaan Roland Kirk as the respective influences. The following year brought a change of guitarists, with Martin Barre taking the slot he'd occupy for the next 43 years. It also saw a more personal, eclectic turn in Anderson's songwriting. This reached a peak in 1971 with Aqualung, whose songs addressed the nature of God (pro) and organized religion (con). Despite its offbeat subject matter, it became their first international breakthrough. Anderson then set out to write a proper concept album with Thick As a Brick, with one song covering two album sides; the lyrics condemned society from the point of view of a fictional, eight-year-old poet. The backstory was told in a newspaper that came packaged with the album; like the music it was dense with cross-references and absurdist humor. This was one of the prog-rock era's creative peaks, and a commercial success to boot. Even more ambitious was the folllowup, 1973's A Passion Play, another single-song album that followed one character's adventures in the afterlife. This time however fans were confused and reviews were hostile; the relationship between Tull and the critics never quite recovered. Yet the band, now known for Anderson's showmanship, remained arena headliners for the rest of the '70s, even when their music was far from standard arena rock. During the height of the punk era Anderson became infatuated with English traditional music; the resulting albums (1977's Songs From the Wood and 1978's Heavy Horses) are considered the last of Tull's classic stretch. The early '80s marked a dry spell as the band changed again (only Anderson and Barre remained), the audience shrunk and Anderson toured in 1984 with a throat condition, causing permanent voice damage. He designed a comeback with the 1987 album Crest of a Knave, which crossed the classic Tull sound with ZZ Top and Dire Straits influences. Though partly acoustic, it won them the "hard rock/heavy metal" Grammy the following year, irking critics who were rooting for Metallica and embarrassing the band itself. They responded with a trade-magazine ad, noting that the flute is a metal instrument. Anderson continued to tour with changing Tull lineups, until a fallout between him and Barre led to an official breakup in 2012. Anderson however began to bill his solo band as Jethro Tull, on a 50th-anniversary tour that stretched into 2019.