Post by Col on Mar 8, 2010 18:21:48 GMT
www.oxfordjournal.co.uk/news/the-journal-meets/the-oxford-journal-meets-ian-anderson-of-jethro-tull-446
If you’ve spent the better part of a lifetime as the wild-haired, codpiece-wearing, flute-playing front man of one of rock’s greatest bands, you are not going to be short of confidence or an interesting view or two.
And Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson didn’t disappoint when the Journal caught up with him ahead of the Tull’s gig at the Oxford New Theatre on Saturday (March 6).
Anderson is the sole remaining original member of the band formed in London 42 years ago (to the day) that went on to become one of rock’s most popular live acts, recording classic albums like Aqualung and Thick As A Brick in a career that saw them sell more than 50 million records.
“Yes, 42 years to the day, so there you go,” said Anderson, who forms one of rock’s great singer-guitarist relationships with Martin Barre, who joined the band in ‘69. “It’s a long time, isn’t it? A bit scary. Our personal relationship isn’t necessarily the same as the one people see on stage, which is much more intuitive. It’s very unusual for us to spend any time together when we’re not on tour.”
Famed for introducing the flute into the rock canon, Anderson admits he only took up the instrument after seeing Eric Clapton play guitar and realize he would never be able to compete. “It was in his early days with the Blues Breakers and he just had such fluidity and control of his instrument that frankly it made me feel that however hard I worked I wouldn’t be that good, and I didn’t want to be a second or third-rate blues guitarist, “ said Anderson.
“I wasn’t going to mix it with those guys so it was better to get a proper guitar player in the band. I traded in a Fender Stratocaster that previously belonged to Lemmy from Motorhead for a flute. There weren’t too many cutting-edge, front-of-band flute players around and if you think of flautists in rock, folk, jazz-blues-rock, I’m your man.” Anderson adds wryly, “luckily Eric Clapton didn’t decide to take up the flute so everything was fine.”
At the height of their 70s fame Anderson cultivated a flamboyant style, but the codpiece’s are now long gone. “I didn’t so much hang them up as they went on the bonfire,” laughs Anderson. “My wife decided they’d had their day and I never saw them again. People think it’s a modern occurrence, but a lot of the clothes I wore in ’72 to ’73 went off to charity auctions.”
Anderson is not shy about the trappings of fame he doesn’t like (“I don’t mind signing autographs but I have a rule: one person, one autograph, not your entire record collection. When I ask them their name and they won’t say I just sign it ‘to Ebay’) and who he doesn’t like (“I was shoved out of the way by Mariah Carey’s bloody bodyguards when I’d just come off stage. I really resent that. That kind off thing is pretty crap”), the desire to put on a proper show for Jethro Tull fans clearly still burns brightly.
“People can expect to see a little bit of whatever it is people think is Jethro Tull. Over the years we’ve had a few pop things, some more hard rock, folk rock, classical, jazz – it’s really my job to make sure the set list is 80 per cent different to the last time we came to town, with a reasonable cross section of musical styles and some ‘deep catalogue’ obscure things for the dedicated, educated fan."