How Ian Anderson took Jethro Tull down a different Path

Rock bands from the 60s and 70s were mostly all the same - guitars, a bass, drums, and possibly keyboards. There were several branches such as the symphonic rock of the Moody Blues or Electric Light Orchestra, but one of these was particularly interesting - Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull.

What made them different from the rest?

First, unlike many artists of the day who played either guitar or piano, Ian Anderson actually specialized in the FLUTE. He bought a cheap, second-hand flute after moving to London and practiced with it day after day. In his own words, and I quote, "Ever night on stage was like a flute practice session."

Regarding his decission to play the flute, Ian Anderson further said, and again I quote, "I wanted to play the guitar, but then I noticed Eric Clapton was playing guitar. I didn't want to be yet another third rate guitariest. I didn't want to sound like every other third-rate guitarist. I wanted to do something that was a bit more idiosyncratic - hence the switch to another instrument. When Jethro Tull began, I think I'd been playing the flute for about two weeks. It was a quick learning curve."

The other reason is their style. Jethro Tull went from the blues of their 1968 debut This Was, to a folksy sound by the end of the next decade, to a hybrd of electronic and hard rock in the 1980s. After some time of staggering where they made success with their 1969 signature song, Living in The Past, they released their most successful album which solidified them - 1971's Aqualung. That LP establisehd what would be the signature sound of the band - mix of acustic and electric guitars, and Ian Anderson's flute as well as tingling piano lines.

Between 1977 and 1980, Jethro Tull were in a folk rock era with thier trilogy - Songs From The Wood (1977), Heavy Horses (1978), and Stormwatch (1979). After regrouping in the 1980s, they shifted to a new wave/electro folk sound, and rebounded in 1987 with Crest of a Knave. Believe it or not, that album, in 1988, earned the band a GRAMMY for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental beating...wait for it...METALICA and their ...And Justice For All record. The members even went on tour after their manager warned them that they will not win because they were not considered, especially by the press, as being hard rock much less heavy metal. The win prompted a musical magazine release with a flute over some iron re-bars and the words the flute is a heavy metal instrument.

Despite making music influenced by playing throughout the word, Tull declined in the 90s. Their last release, 2003's The Jethro Tull Christmas Album, may be considered a quasi-compilation being that it is a collection of Christmas theme songs record over the past 30 years by the band as well as several new ones for the record. Throughout 2017 the band toured for their fiftieth anniversary.