In 1968 it seemed like a good idea to name the newly-formed band after 18th century English agriculturalist Jethro Tull.
However, said singer/songwriter/flutist/guitarist/band leader Ian Anderson, nearly 50 years later, there’s still always someone that mistakenly refers to him as “Jethro.” It triggers “a mix of embarrassment and steam coming out of my ears,” said Anderson, who presents “JETHRO TULL by Ian Anderson,” accompanied by current Tull members David Goodier (bass), John O’Hara (keyboards), Florian Opahle (guitar), Scott Hammond (drums), on Aug. 13.
Although Anderson, O’Hara and Britain’s Carducci String Quartet collaborated earlier this year to release an album of 12 re-imagined songs – “Jethro Tull – The String Quartets” – this concert will be a straightforward “best of Jethro Tull rock show,” he said.
The show is called “JETHRO TULL by Ian Anderson” as a tribute to all 33 members that have “worked and played together as a family.” It’s a legacy of 30 studio and live albums, selling more than 60 million copies worldwide.
The set, which will be accented in concert by HD video elements, will lean heavily on the more familiar songs from Tull’s 1970s catalog, such as “Aqualung,” “Locomotive Breath” and “Thick as a Brick.” Records that, as Anderson put it: “have made the most impact on people over the years.”
It’s a no-brainer, according to Anderson, because it’s an outdoor show where the audience has “had a few drinks and they’re a bit fired up.” “I have the same thought: ‘Let’s get on with it,'” he said.
Anderson isn’t the first musician to memorably incorporate the flute into rock music, yet he is often associated with making the instrument a focal point in a rock group – making dramatic, one-legged poses while playing. On one hand, “it’s a Neil Armstrong moment because it belongs to me.” On another, “it’s a bit tiresome having to do it because it feels somewhat contrived after all these years,” said Anderson, who turns 70 on Aug. 10.
“I still have a pretty bad knee, but it’s gotten better, rather than worse. It doesn’t stop me from … galloping around the stage,” said Anderson, who battled deep vein thrombosis until 1996.
When asked about Jethro Tull’s 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for “Crest of a Knave” – criticized and ridiculed because it was widely assumed the then-new award was going to Metallica – Anderson said: “My son found it two or three years ago. He found it in a cupboard or something.”
It isn’t that he doesn’t appreciate the recognition. However, “I don’t need reminders of who I am or what I’ve done – showing off for the neighbors,” he said.
Anderson does speak with pride about being one of a select few, state-approved rock acts in the former USSR in the late ’80s. “It represents a freedom that perhaps they didn’t enjoy at that time. Rock ‘n’ roll music is a liberating force, broadly speaking, for good,” he said.
