Original Jethro Tull: The Glory Years, 1968-1980

by Gary Parker

Jethro Tull was one of the truly innovative rock bands to emerge from the late 1960s. At their peak the idiosyncratic group, fronted by multi-instrumentalist Ian Anderson, resembled a troupe of roving English minstrels. Crafting a signature progressive rock sound that resisted easy categorization, they were often derided by critics as too British, too eccentric, too theatrical. Over the span of a decade, Tull released a string of sublime albums featuring intricate compositions in a wide range of musical styles, with little regard for the showbiz maxim "give the public what it wants." Focusing on the years 1968-1980, this history includes insider accounts based on exclusive interviews with key members and rare photographs from Ian Anderson's personal collection.

Genres: Music

200 pages, Paperback

Published September 26, 2018

About the author

There is more than one author with this name.

Gary Parker is the author of numerous works well reviewed in such publications as the Los Angeles Times and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He resides in Palm Springs California.

Reviews

[Brian Bess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jethro Tull are one of my all-time favorite bands, second only to the Beatles and Ian Anderson is one of the great songwriters of the late 20th century. I had looked at the excerpt of this book and it looked pretty well-written. One of the author, Gary Parker's, theses is that the group Jethro Tull disbanded in 1980 when, through a chain of circumstances involving miscommunication from Ian as well as their manager, Terry Ellis, all but one of the musicians, guitarist Martin Barre, was given his walking papers and that from 1980 to the present, "Jethro Tull" has been mainly Ian Anderson and interchangeable musicians that are really his backup band. I agree that the essential music of Jethro Tull was produced before 1980.

While there are some facts of which I was previously unaware, there are inexcusable typographical errors and the author repeatedly posts incorrect years for tours accompanying albums, especially in photo captions where the look of the band as well as Ian's haircut and performing outfit clearly date the photo as happening in a different year.

While I agree with much of the author's selections as the best songs and albums of Jethro and his footnotes thoroughly document phone or email correspondence with Ian Anderson as well as many of the former members of the group, the preponderance of errors and the lack of any kind of thorough copy editing compel me to give the book a rating of three stars rather than the four that 'getting all the facts straight' would warrant. The book was relatively inexpensive on Kindle and it's worth reading for someione wanting a good summary of those years in the band's history but anyone choosing to read it should be aware that there are certain factual errors.

[Richard Schaefer · Rating 3 out of 5]

To name a few of the main types of music biographies out there: there are the dishy tell-alls (think The Dirt); critical histories that engage deeply with the music and/or lyrics; character studies (Peter Guralnick); books that use analysis of the music as a jumping off point for philosophizing or grandstanding (think Greil Marcus); and then there are books like this one, which I would compare to an extended version of the linear notes you might find in one of those fancy, CD era box-sets every band released. It covers Jethro Tull’s origins, and follows them album by album through their glory years. It features interviews with many of the band members, sharing opinions similar to opinions they’ve shared elsewhere. And the writer is obviously a huge fan of Tull, a passionate advocate for a band that was at once commercially successful and critically under-appreciated.
Now, I think every band deserves a book like this; it gives you the facts and circumstances, some opinions, but not much critical interpretation. It’s not fine art, but it gives you the info you want about the band (and obviously no one is going to read this book unless they’re a Tull fan). It’s small press, so it has some typos, and the writer sometimes spends less time on the albums he considers less interesting just because he considers them less interesting.
So if you want an enthusiastic but high level overview of Jethro Tull, this will satisfy.

[David Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those looking for info about Ian Anderson and collaborators' most creative years, there's much to be gleaned here, if nothing else than because there's precious little of it to be found elsewhere. That said, I prefer my bio/reference books to be written a little more objectively; Parker is such a fan that he allows his fannishness to color practically everything he writes here, and it becomes annoying after a while.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jethro Tull is my all time favorite band, and I feel that my tastes vary pretty widely as a musician and music listener. This book was filled with fascinating anecdotes about the band and what made them tick throughout their heyday. As a fan that did not discover them until the early 90's I do take issue with the author's insistence that everything Jethro Tull did after 1980 was just not Jethro Tull due to the drastic change in band members. I get it that there was a certain cohesion lost in performance and song writing after that time, but I feel the author's assertion is caught up in too much nostalgia for that time period. I feel that much of the band's greatest music was made after 1980 and that some of the "classic" songs from before are more in the tired and over played category. While I really enjoyed reading though this history of the band the one other aspect that bothered me was while the author claimed such importance in the roles of the other band members, I feel there wasn't enough detail and focus on them as individuals and what their concrete contributions were. I felt I was constantly having to go back to recall which member played what instrument while Ian Anderson's role as song writer at the head of the band was clear as always.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written despite a number of typos, and I enjoyed Parker's narrative of one of my favorite bands, Jethro Tull. I bought Jethro Tull's "Stand Up" in 1969, with it rapidly becoming a favorite. Unfortunately, the band "lost" me with "A Passion Play". I am now curious about some of their later records.

My only complaint is the price gouging of the Kindle (and paperback!) edition of this book. $21.99 for 200 pages? That's about a ten cents a page. For the paperback at $35, that's about $0.17 a page.

[Patsy Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read things I did not know boy Ian Anderson and group.

[Mark Dickson]

did not finish

[Brandon Tidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book with a bittersweet ending. My favorite band of all time.

[Joe Kosarek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Jethro Tull, but the level of adoration in this book is too much

[jboyg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jethro Dull

I kind of liked the first two or three Jethro Tull albums and was favorably impressed when I caught them in concert on a very early American tour. But the bloom was all too soon off rose by Aqualung, which I hated. This book is rather listless and
I'll-focused. Leader Ian Anderson comes off a talented but dictatorial dickhead and how they've managed to hang on so many years remains a total mystery to me.

[Bruce Denny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been waiting for a while for a good book on Jethro Tull. This one certainly did not disappoint. A great insight into a very underrated band.