Forty Years Ago Today, Jethro Tull Delves Into Electronic Rock

 


After making it big in the 1970s, Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull found themselves at a massive loss. Bass player John Glascock died in 1979 during the promotional tour for their previous LP, 1979's Stormwatch, which led to drummer Barrimore Barlow quitting Tull. At that point Anderson elected to make his solo debut, which resulted in Terry Ellis, manager at Chrysilis Records, firing keyboardists John Evan and David Palmer after ten and five years respectively.

But it didn't become a solo album...

What was to be Anderson's solo debut was cleverly titled A - for Anderson, as was written on the tapes;  however, due to a dip in profit, Chrysilis Records approached Anderson and requested that A be released as Tull's thirteenth studio album, which reluctantly, it was.

Compared to work in the 70s,  A featured a whole new lineup, and a whole new sound. The only long-timer in the band beside Anderson, was guitarist Martin Barre. Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention fame, who assisted on bass for the 1979 tour, was hired full-time as was the late Mark Craney on drums. However, while Tull had had five members s ince 1970, this LP was made as a quartet - with sideman Eddie Jobson, of Roxy Music fame, contributing keyboards and even electric vilolin.

Electronics galore

A is known as Tull's first LP to use pronounced synthesizers, which were kept down to a minimum in the 70s. This caused many fans to be upset, but helped them find new fans as well. A is considered the foundation album to Tull's 80s sound, which would we built on 1982's Broadsword and the Beast, 1984's Under Wraps, and partially revisited on 1987's A Crest of a Kneave.

Even a movie!

Given the innovation, and given that much of the music of the early 80s was MTV-ready, Tull decided to make a small video collection called Slipstream, after the passage track on 1971's Aqualung. The film combines four music videos, and live footage from a Los Angeles show in late 1980. David Mallet, who was responsible for directing David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes video.

Ian Anderson did finally make his solo debut on his 1983 LP Walk Into the Light. Some of the tracks on that LP have even made the cut for Tull setlists in that era.


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