January 6, 2010

Interview with Ian Anderson


Songfacts recently interviewed Ian Anderson, I was just going to skim it but was intrigued by him and read the whole article. Here it is if you're interested (he's a rather unique fellow in many ways....)




Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson isn't your typical Rock Star. He's never done drugs and has no use for the trappings of fame. So what does he have in common with the boys from Led Zeppelin? More than you might think.
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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love Tull! Tried the link to the interview but it doesn't seem to work...

Gary Means said...

I've been a fan since I saw Tull on tv way back when I was 15. Benefit had just been released and they were on some show. I can't find a recording of it anywhere, but I remember the set was designed like the album cover.

I was fascinated by this strange hairy man playing a flute, standing on one leg with the boots and the patchwork coat. The sound was so unique at the time. Nobody else (rock)was doing flute. I thought Tull was incredibly cool.

I remember the excitement my friends and I had each year when there was a new Tull release. The room would fill with smoke and we would kick back and just get into the music. We loved Aqualung and Thick as a Brick. Passion Play, not so much.

I think I have CDs of most of the old albums up to about Songs from the Wood, which I liked even though it had a different feel. I never bought or listened to Too Old even back then. We thought War Child was a sell out album and refused to listen to it. Now I wonder why we were so cynical about it.

I lost track of Tull over the years, checking back in about Heavy Horses time and then ignoring them again. I still think their early stuff was brilliant. Maybe I'll give a listen to some of their later stuff. Wikipedia has an interesting break down on the various phases they went through.

The only time I saw Tull live was on the Minstrel tour. Great show, I think. You know how it was back in those days . . . sometimes the drugs got in the way.

Perplexio said...

I believe Ian Anderson guested on one of Toto's last albums, I think it was Falling in Between (released in 2006) but it might have been Mindfields (released in 1999).

The interview was quite down to Earth. Anderson seems like a right good bloke.

For rock flautists named Ian, I also dig Ian MacDonald who played flute on a few King Crimson albums back in the early days (the Greg Lake era).

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

Most excellent interview...

Got to see them live during the Aqualung Tour at MSG

Sean Coleman said...

An old buddy of mine used to put on "Living In the Past" at least once during drinking sessions before we headed out to do more damage at the clubs. I love that tune.

Anderson is one of those rare musicians from that era (like Zappa and Randy Bachman) who actually remembers where he was and what he was doing.

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