Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull

Ian’s singing may have deteriorated recently but I’ve been a fan since a 1969 mind blowing concert in Honolulu (where I lived). Nobody had seen ’em yet so we simply weren’t prepared...whew...I met Clive Bunker at an after party and enjoyed our little talk. Flash forward to recent years seeing the Martin Barre Band and note that these guys absolutely cop the mojo playing Tull stuff brilliantly in smaller (obtainable) venues. Check these guys out! Also, heavy metal is a ridiculous category for this music as although it can be powerful (as can Beethoven or Miles), it seems to me to be high octane British folk...or something...

I saw the Aqualung tour, the Thick as a Brick tour ,and the Passion Play tour. Here in Salt Lake City at the Salt Palace Arena. They were one of the few bands that made it a point to always play Salt Lake City when they toured. They had an interesting format in which they would perform their previous two albums in their entirety, before playing an extended version of their new release. For example. With the Aqualung tour, they performed, their Standup and Benefit albums before performing Aqualung. The same held true for the other two tours. I always found it to be an interesting concept for a song lineup.

I'm curious about what real Jethro Tull fans like. Mine are in this order:

1) Benefit 2) Aqualung 3) Thick As A Brick 4) Stand Up 5) This Was.

I also like most of Songs From The Woods and Heavy Horses.

What's your top albums?

Early Tull was much preferred…

Aqualung, Benefit, Thick as a Brick, Stand Up, This Was.

Later Tull became to pop-ish for me.  I was in the 6th grade when I heard my first Tull track “Teacher” by a middle/high school band.  I was drawn in and hooked on Tull!  Seeing them at the SF Civic was the cherry on top!

Their performance on the "Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus" dvd will always be one of my favorites.