One of rock's most influential guitarists, Martin Barre of British prog-rock legends Jethro Tull, visits Australia this month with his band. It will be his first solo tour down under, but Tull fans will be thrilled to know that Martin is bringing his 50 Years of Jethro Tull show; over two hours of the band's classic material. In addition to hits like "Aqualung", "Songs From The Wood", "Bungle In The Jungle", "Thick As A Brick" and "Locomotive Breath" there'll be plenty of deeper cuts and fan favourites. ILYOS revisits the glory days of Jethro Tull as we count down the hours until Martin's first show!
Best known for flute-playing and sometimes cod-piece wearing frontman Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull are a band who has always been known for the musicality of all its members, of which there has been numerous over the last 50+ years. Guitarist Martin Barre was Tull's longest-serving member other than Anderson – he stopped playing with the band only in 2012 – and as any fan will tell you, he shaped the band's music as much as anyone. Indeed Barre's arrival helped the group in its move away from the more standard British blues-based sound it began with, and his playing opened the band up to move in any number of directions all at once. Tull's original guitarist Mick Abrahams had wanted to keep it bluesier – he ended up forming Blodwyn Pig. Abraham's momentary replacement before Barre was none other than Tommy Iommi, who would go onto make his mark playing decidedly heavier, in Black Sabbath.
Barre joined in December 1968, just in time for some shows opening for Jimi Hendrix in Scandanavia and for an American tour opening for Led Zeppelin and Vanilla Fudge. Within a couple of months, the band had recorded a stand-alone single, "Living In The Past", a Top 5 hit in the UK and, a couple of years later, the title track of the first Jethro Tull compilation, and subsequently a belated hit single in the US and here in Australia.
Barre's first single with the band was soon followed by its second album, which came out in August 1969. While Stand Up retained a relatively solid blue base, it introduced a raft of other influences, including British folk music (apt for a band named after an 18th-century agriculturist perhaps) and classical (the instrumental "Bourée" was a reworking of Bach's "Bourrée in E minor").
The band’s fourth album – their third with Barre – was a turning point. A top 10 hit in both the UK and USA, 1971's Aqualung featured a couple of riff-heavy rockers that helped make the band a commercial proposition, and "Locomotive Breath" and the album's title track, in particular, shined a light on Martin Barre. This was the era of the guitar hero, and Barre's talents were noticed.
1972's Thick As A Brick was an even more significant success. Comprising two side-long tracks (later separated into 8 separate tracks for the download age), the album is today considered a high-water mark of progressive rock. It is one of the defining albums of the early 70s. It was listed at #7 in Rolling Stone's "Top 50 Prog Albums of All Time", voted as #5 in Prog Magazine's "100 Greatest Prog Albums of All Time", and ranked #3 on the fan-based website Prog Archives.
Thick As A Brick was followed in July 1972 by the band's first Australian tour, which saw them play Melbourne's Festvial Hall and two nights at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion as well as shows in Adelaide and Brisbane. Ian Anderson was interviewed for influential ABC TV music program GTK.
The success of Thick As A Brick prompted the release of the previously-mentioned Living In The Past compilation, enabling new fans to catch up on the band's past. It was another huge success internationally. 1973's A Passion Play, another concept album comprising two side-long suites, became the band's second US #1. The release of 1974's War Child was preceded by a second Australian tour in July and August, a tour that saw them play a remarkable five nights in Sydney – two at the Opera House and three at the Hordern. War Child featured the memorable hit single "Bungle In The Jungle".
Jethro Tull continued to release an album a year for the remainder of the decade – including the heavily folk-influenced Songs From The Wood in 1977 and the double live LP Bursting Out in 1978. As happened with so many iconic groups of the 70s, the 80s became increasingly lean, although they saw the decade with an unexpected and controversial Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance in 1989 for the album Crest Of A Knave, famously beating out Metallica. The 90s were even leaner. Martin Barre and Ian Anderson continued to front the band regardless, until Anderson pulled the pin on it in 2011.
The Martin Barre Band features the perfect vocalist in Dan Crisp (who has worked with members of Fairport Convention and the John Martyn Band), and the list of songs that they will be playing in their 50 Years of Jethro Tull shows reads like a Tull fan's dream. Check it out, and you'll find all tour dates below.
Locomotive Breath
Aqualung
Songs From The Wood
Bungle In The Jungle
Thick As A Brick
Minstrel in the Gallery
Steel Monkey
Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day
Love Story
Sealion
Nothing to Say
Hunting Girl
My Sunday Feeling
A New Day Yesterday
Sweet Dream
A Song for Jeffrey
Moment of Madness
Teacher
Fat Man
A New Day Yesterday
MARTIN BARRE PLAYS 50 YEARS OF JETHRO TULL – NOVEMBER 2019
Wed 20 - Factory Theatre, Sydney
Thu 21 - Small Ballroom, Newcastle
Fri 22 - Blue Mountains Theatre, Springwood
Sun 24 - The Zoo, Brisbane
Wed 27 - Memo, Melbourne
Thurs 28 - The Corner, Melbourne
Fri 29 - The Gov, Adelaide
Sun Dec 1 - Freo-social, Fremantle
Get Jethro Rull albums on CD and vinyl here.
Listen to Jethro Tull on Spotify
Listen to Jethro Tull on Apple Music
