jethro tull tour reviews

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The Seven Decades Tour: Jethro Tull Concert Review

• Date of Concert: August 20, 2023
• Location of Concert: The Rose Music Center at The Heights in Huber Heights, OH

I’ve seen many concerts (I don’t know how many) in the last 25 years.

I’ve seen most of my favorites.  However, there are still a few I have not seen.

And Sunday night of August 20, 2023, this was another first for me.

I finally saw Jethro Tull.

Ian Anderson (Lead singer/Flute player/main songwriter/leader) is still putting out new albums (RokFlote came out earlier this year and I must say I really like it.), and his band are just so great.

Some don’t like the band anymore because Ian’s vocal range is not what it used to be.  But I still think he sounds good and he’s found a range he’s comfortable with.  So I don’t have a problem with it.  He’s still giving it his all and seems to be having fun.  He’s a great performer.

Lots of fun visuals, some good stories (Ian mentioned The Eagles’ song Hotel California as having some of the same chord changes in his song We Used To Know he wrote earlier than they did their song.  It was all in good fun, but I saw what he meant when I heard the solo.  Definitely similar.  Also, during We Used To Know, the font of the song title on the screen video looked like the Hotel California font.  Pretty funny.), and basically, everything I love about music and concerts in general.

He and the band delivered.

If you’re a fan, I recommend going to the show. 

No openers, and two sets.

Not that I meant to keep track but Set 1 started at 7:30 PM and ended at 8:20 PM.  They had a 20 minute intermission and then came back on from 8:40 PM to 9:34 PM.

Very fun night.

Keep on rocking Ian and the guys in Jethro Tull!!

Jethro Tull Band Members:

• Ian Anderson (Lead Vocals/Flute)-He also plays Guitar, Bouzouki, Mandolin, Harmonica, and writes most of the songs.
• Joe Parrish (Guitar)
• David Goodier (Bass/Double Bass)
• John O'Hara (Orchestral Conductor/Piano/Keyboards/Accordian)
• Scott Hammond (Drums/Percussion)

Set Lists-Set 1:

• Nothing Is Easy
• We Used To Know
• Heavy Horses
• Sweet Dream
• Hunt By Numbers
• Holly Herald
• Hammer on Hammer
• Mine is the Mountain
• Bourree in E Minor (Johann Sebastian Bach Cover)
• Farm on the Freeway
• The Navigators
• Pavane in F-Sharp Minor (Gabriel Faure Cover)
• The Zealot Gene
• Encore:  Locomotive Breath

Photo Gallery ( click on thumbnail to view larger image )

Video Gallery ( click on thumbnail to play video )

16 Comments

Sharon Dyer

I love your blog Lucas. I will never get to see and hear all the bands that you have seen in your short life. So I love hearing about your escapades. Love you!!

The Ardent Fan

Thanks!! I haven’t seen as much as I would like and have sadly missed many. But I’m trying. Love you too.

Thomas Hamilton

Saw the show in santa rosa…sucket!…his new music not for me…wanted to see all his best…so much…wasted my dollars…sad!

Yeah it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. And yeah I know his voice is not what it was. But I was happy to be there regardless.

I enjoyed seeing Tull at the Greek.

I missed seeing him in his prime and it was my chance.

The song selection was fine and the performance was fun.

Blessings to all!

Great. I’m glad you had fun too.

John MacMillan

Seeing them on Friday 19th April 2024 in Bournemouth, England.

Have a great time. I think the band is great and if you can accept that Ian talk sings the songs more these days, then you’ll be fine. Tell me how it goes. And if you don’t like it, well then I’m sorry.

THANX much for posting this! Prolly saved me 80$ cuz I love JT but not these songs….

Ha you’re welcome. That’s fair.

Excellent. I hope you have a great time. I know many don’t like Ian’s voice anymore, but I think it’s fine. Enjoy!!

Christopher Thomas

Just Saw The Albany NY Show & It’s My 6th Time to Tull – Ian Moves Alot Better Than The Last Couple of Shows & at 76 yrs Old = Quite Impressed !!!!!! Very Tight & Super Performance From His Newer Band mates !!!!!!!!! Nice Vintage Songs & Sensational Current Mix – A Definite Show NOT to Miss !!!!!!!!!!

I really enjoyed it. I know a lot of people don’t like his voice now and miss Martin Barre etc. but I’m ok with his voice, I love the new albums, and yes the band is tight. I don’t have a problem with it. Glad you’re enjoying seeing the band.

Scott Finkenkeller

I have been a fan since 1974, my first TULL concert was in 1975 and seen most gigs since then, lots of changes along the way, saw them the night before You did in Indy at the TCUamphitheater, Ian and the boys always put on a good show ( drove 3 hours,and would do it again) Im glad You liked the humor its been one of his trademarks. No, they dont move like they used to, and his voice has deminished a bit, but the music is tight as ever, totally pro. I like the newer albums, TAAB2, ZEALOT GENE, ROK FLOTE, and looking forward to the next one, maybe a US tour in 25? people might ask why, I say why stop now no way to slow down !!!! SfTulL p.s The wife and I are seeing the STONES in Chicago on her 65th birthday next month.

Awesome!!!! I love these stories. I wish I was older so I could have seen more shows in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s (I didn’t start going to shows until late 1998. I was 16 going on 42 now.). But I’m glad I’ve seen the shows I have seen. Yeah I loved the Jethro Tull show and I really love the newer albums. Rokflote and The Zealot Gene are amazing. His voice now doesn’t bother me at all. I understand why it does bother people because I’ve felt that way about other singers. But I always want to support my favorites and I’m happy to support Ian and his guys. They’re still rocking and I’m all for more albums and tours. Thank you for sharing your story and enjoy The Stones!! Of all the bands I have seen, they are definitely my favorite concert. Check out my review of them too from 2015.

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Jethro Tull concert reviews and tour history

• rating: 71.4% (7)

Last concert

4 months ago

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Fans' concert reviews, the venue at thunder valley casino resort in lincoln, us on fri, 29 sep 2023.

Big disappointment! Advertised as 7 decades of Jethro Tull, but emphasis was heavy on later material. Aqualung was rearranged to the degree that it was barely recognizable. No tunes from classic 70’s albums Thick As A Brick, Passion Play, WarChild, or Minstrel In The Gallery. We did get to hear 2 Christmas songs though! Only Locomotive Breath as the encore resembled classic Tull. No Ian acoustic guitar. The only highlight was Anderson’s flute playing.

Wolf Trap in Vienna, US on Thu, 24 Aug 2023

Yes, I Jethro Tull is comprised of very talented musicians, and always has been. And yes, Ian Anderson has always been one of my favorite musician since I was a young boy. However, I wish that I hadn’t gone to the concert. Not only was there an over abundance of wheelchairs and walkers, but even a Ian Anderson appears to have lost some of his magical stage presence and theatrics to the point that it actually became depressing.

Standard Bank Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thu, 06 Oct 1994

It was an unforgettable concert with a relatively small crowd of about 6000 - played all his Classic numbers !

St Andrew's Hall in Norwich, UK on Wed, 29 Oct 1969

I was there, and I believe Terry Reid was the support band.

Unknown venue in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic on Fri, 13 Jun 2014

I saw Jethro Tull 10 years ago for the first time. I was 13 and my father invited me. It was heavy raining but we stayed untill the end. From that day I love this music and Ian Anderson is a big motivation for me in playing flute. It was a perfect concert yesterday again, it was great to see Mr. Anderson is still in good condition, has got more and more energy, his jokes made mi laughing again and also my husband was fascinated by the music. The only negative of the concert was it ended. I wish it lasted 2 days at least. :-)

O2 Shepherds Bush Empire in London, UK on Sun, 25 May 2014

Superb show, featuring back projections, the new album and classics from the Jethro Tull catalogue, the use of Ryan O'Donnell really helped Ian out vocally, and his use of theatrics was to be applauded .

Rated concerts

• O2 Shepherds Bush Empire in London, UK Sun, 25 May 2014 100% from 1 rating
• Unknown venue in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic Fri, 13 Jun 2014 100% from 1 rating
• St Andrew's Hall in Norwich, UK Wed, 29 Oct 1969 100% from 1 rating
• Madison Square Garden in New York (NYC), US Sun, 08 Oct 1978 100% from 1 rating
• Standard Bank Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa Thu, 06 Oct 1994 100% from 1 rating
• Wolf Trap in Vienna, US Thu, 24 Aug 2023 0% from 1 rating
• The Venue at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, US Fri, 29 Sep 2023 0% from 1 rating

Ratings View all

• one of the best: 5 71%
• fantastic: 0 0%
• great: 0 0%
• disappointing: 0 0%
• should've stayed at home: 2 29%

The biggest fans have seen concerts

Jethro tull 2024–2025 tour dates view all, jethro tull tour history, about jethro tull.

Jethro Tull is a group founded 56 years ago on Friday, 1 December 1967.

Based on our research data, it appears, that the first Jethro Tull concert happened 59 years ago on Sun, 18 Sep 1966 in Nottingham Boat Club - Nottingham, UK and that the last Jethro Tull concert was 4 months ago on Mon, 06 May 2024 in Liverpool Philharmonic Hall - Liverpool, UK.

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Chicago Concert Reviews

We’ve got the windy city covered., ravinia regulars jethro tull launch “the seven decades” tour like a “locomotive”.

Posted by Andy Argyrakis

Since re-forming in 2017 to mark 50 years of revolutionizing rock and roll, England’s Jethro Tull broke its longest studio silence with 2022’s “The Zealot Gene,” the first entirely original album of this century.

However, original leader Ian Anderson and the latest line-up of bassist David Goodier, keyboardist John O’Hara, drummer Scott Hammond and guitarist Joe Parrish-James are making up for lost time via another brand new offering, “RökFlöte,” which coupled with some classics, comprised “The Seven Decades” Tour that began its entire American run right here at Ravinia.

Granted, Anderson’s voice wasn’t what it was back then, but at 76-years-old, he remains a formidable front man, songwriter and flute player, who earned the roar of the cross-generational crowd every time he blew into the instrument, often balancing on one foot.

Throughout two acts and nearly as many hours, the soundtrack of Jethro Tull past and present provided several opportunities to react in the same way, thanks to an unpredictable, adventurous repertoire and a giant video wall projecting thematically-matched visuals from the start of “Nothing Is Easy.”

The nucleus of Anderson and the newer virtuosos gelled quite well on the current cuts “Hammer On Hammer,” “Mine Is The Mountain” and “The Navigators,” while always honoring the legacy of what came before, though one couldn’t help but wonder what separately touring co-founding guitarist Martin Barre would’ve added to the excellence.

By either sheer serendipity or careful planning, “Locomotive Breath” stormed, stomped then ended just before actual Metra train pulled up to Ravinia, offering a customary free ride home on the rails to any fan who bought a ticket, who well beyond boarding were likely still basking in the glow of Anderson and company’s continued avant-garde approach.

For additional information on Jethro Tull, visit JethroTull.com .

Upcoming concert highlights at Ravinia include Kenny Loggins (Aug. 19); Buddy Guy and George Benson (Aug. 23); Classic Albums Live: Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side Of The Moon” (Aug. 25); Boyz II Men and The Isley Brothers (Aug. 26); “Encanto” In Concert (Aug. 27); “Jurassic Park” In Concert (Aug. 29); Train (Aug. 30); Brandi Carlile (Aug. 31); Carrie Underwood (Sept. 1-2) and Shakti (Sept. 3). For additional details, visit Ravinia.org .

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Live Review: Jethro Tull @ MGM National Harbor — 3/11/19

I first saw Jethro Tull on the Aqualung Tour at Civic Center in Roanoke, Virginia, on April 18, 1971. I most recently saw Ian Anderson and company at MGM National Harbor when they visited to celebrate 50 years of the band.

A group of my high school friends gathered outside the Civic Center early before the show, dropped LSD, then walked in and took our seats. About 45 minutes later, things started to happen! With the stage setup and lights still up, the roadies walked off stage followed by some long-haired individuals in trench coats walking around. Suddenly, they threw off their coats, and it was Jethro Tull the band. They started to perform and the stage lights revealed the band’s costumes categorized as baroque and psychedelic with a medieval twist.

The charismatic frontman Ian Anderson, the lead singer-flutist, was leaping, gyrating, and strutting about the stage with his flute in a freakish sort of way. When not playing the instrument, Ian used his flute as a baton and phallus, which was a real mind trip that no one forgot.

Stream Aqualung by Jethro Tull on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/album/0NGM3Ftwjw0dLNpAowmz3x

Fast forward to Nov. 18, 1979! Ray Coleman, editor of Melody Maker, the English pop music weekly, hired me to accompany him backstage at the Oakland Coliseum and photograph Ian Anderson for the cover of a new magazine, Now. Ian and Ray were old friends, so I listen in on the interview while I set up my strobelights then captured some rare moments.

When it was time to do some portraits for the magazine cover, I told him my story about seeing him perform on the Aqualung Tour in Roanoke while on a transcendental high. While smoking his pipe, he smiled and asked if I enjoyed my trip? Very much so, I said.

Read our exclusive Parklife DC interview with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

Fast forward to March 11 at The Theater at MGM National Harbor, and I’m at the 50th Anniversary for US fans since Jethro Tull first visited in early 1969. And I am there to shoot Ian Anderson once again.

Jethro Tull’s line up today includes Ian (flute, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, harmonica, vocals), Florian Opahle (guitar), Scott Hammond (drums), John O’Hara (orchestral conductor, piano, keyboards, accordion), and David Goodier (bass).

Widely recognized as the man who introduced the flute to rock music, Ian remains the crowned exponent of the popular and rock genres of flute playing. So far, no pretender to the throne has stepped forward. Ian also plays ethnic flutes and whistles together with acoustic guitar and the mandolin family of instruments, providing the acoustic textures which has been an integral part of most of the Tull repertoire.

As a compelling frontman and composer, Ian continues to move about the stage, minus some of the leaps and bounds but always in motion, and he leads his group through its various musical incarnations. His 50th anniversary tour is a show not to be missed and experienced!

Jethro Tull Tour Dates:

July 5 – Indio, CA @ Fantasy Springs Resort Casino July 6 – Irvine, CA @ Five Point Amphitheater July 7 – San Diego, CA @ San Diego Civic Theatre July 9 – Saratoga, CA @ The Mountain Winery Sept. 11 – Medford, MA @ Chevalier Theatre Sept. 14 – Queens, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium Sept. 15 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena

For more information, visit the Jethro Tull website .

Here are some photos of Ian Anderson taken in 1979, originally for Melody Maker. Photos copyright and courtesy of Chester Simpson.

Here are some pictures of Jethro Tull performing at MGM National Harbor on March 11, 2019.

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Jethro Tull has thankfully held the one piece of their band that made their progressive rock a stunning experience. The Navigators does little with it, but at least it is there. To think how bad it could have been without it. Chilling. Do not bother pursuing that long and winding procession of RökFlöte without the Flöte. Just under a year on from The Zealot Gene and it seems what remains of Jethro Tull is itching to get back and record, create in those twilight years and draw on the mystical imagery and embarrassing insignias adopted by those that think Thor tattoos and a fascination with Norse mythology is an interest that can be presented, in earnest, to the real world.  

Doubling down on instrumentals that sound as though they were ripped straight from Castle Crashers , the lengths Jethro Tull goes to in attempting to revive their original style is irritating. Honest waves and savage thunders, The Navigators is nothing more than a particularly dire weather forecast. Their flute-based rock is unconventional and has potential as ever but the seriousness of their music and the lack of fun the group have with it is telling and obvious. Jethro Tull still appears to believe the imagery they conjure is filled with awe and wonder, rather than an image grandparents use as examples of the good old days of music, back when tickets were a tuppence and there were about four bands in the top forty. Jethro Tull has failed to step with the times, and that is their greatest weakness here because their image is so dependent on outmoded style.  

Even as a nostalgia trip, this does not work. The Navigators is not a horrendous track by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a particularly drab occasion of white noise music. Minor malfunctions that see Ginnungagap maintain itself as the strongest and equally as forgettable single for Jethro Tull so far, this flute-going occasion marks little quality. Reassuring it may be that Ian Anderson is still on top form in both vocals and instrumentals, they all amount to nothing. Talent and consistent massaging of the vocal cords are all good and well, but it is better still when there is intention, when there is meaning behind the vocals that amount to more than steady and repetitive worship of Nordic legend. Jethro Tull is the weird kid in the corner, jabbering on about Thor over and over as people stare deep into their pint, waiting for them to come to a close.  

For the one or two that still dare make eye contact with Jethro Tull, particularly the wide-eyed fans who can appreciate what the band has done over the course of just a few years eclipses their productive stretches, The Navigators will work just fine. A literal title, a literal presence, and not a shred of a message beyond that of appreciation for sea-faring and navigation tactics, the latest Jethro Tull track is a dud game of empty instrumentals and a continuation of such a dull and outdated image to fixate on. It is the equivalent of attempting to revive Guns ‘n’ Roses’ use of skulls and crosses. It is not happening; it should not happen. Jethro Tull may hit back at the presumption that they cannot play and sing, but they struggle to mount the crucial final hurdle, lyrics.  

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Jethro Tull Announces ‘The Seven Decades’ US Tour

Jethro Tull has announced a 2023 U.S. tour stretching from summer into fall.

Dubbed the Seven Decades tour, the trek will be in support of the prog-rock group’s new album, RokFlote . Performances begin Aug. 18th in Highland Park, Ill. From there, Jethro Tull will wind their way through various parts of the U.S. before wrapping things up on Nov. 4th in Albany, N.Y.

A full list of tour dates can be found below.

RokFlote , Jethro Tull’s 23rd album, arrives Friday. Frontman Ian Anderson previously revealed how he drew on Norse mythology for the album’s title.

“I started with the idea of a predominantly instrumental album for rock flute – as in rock music,” he explained. “When the subject material of the album presented itself, I was drawn to the term Ragnarok from Norse mythology – their version of apocalyptic end times or Biblical Armageddon. The ‘final showdown’ scenario is ubiquitous and inherent in Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, for example.

“Ragnarok translates as ‘destiny of the Gods,’ the ‘rok’ part meaning destiny, course, direction,” he continued. “With umlaut firmly in place, courtesy of the Germanic origins of Old Norse, Flute became ‘flote’ in keeping with the spelling. With me so far? I just can’t miss the glorious opportunity for a good and legitimate umlaut.”

Jethro Tull, The Seven Decades 2023 U.S. Tour Aug. 18 – Highland Park, Ill. @ Ravina Festival Aug. 19 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park Aug. 20 – Huber Heights, Ohio @ Rose Music Center at The Heights Aug. 22 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Aug. 24 – Vienna, Va. @ Wolf Trap Sept. 26 – San Diego, Calif. @ The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park Sept. 27 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Greek Theatre Sept. 29 – Lincoln, Calif. @ Thunder Valley Casino Resort Sept. 30 – Saratoga, Calif. @ The Mountain Winery Oct. 1 – Santa Rosa, Calif. @ Luther Burbank Center for the Arts – Ruth Finley Person Theater Oct. 27 – Hampton, N.H. @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom Oct. 28 – Boston, Mass. @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway Oct. 29 – Uncasville, Conn. @ Mohegan Sun Arena Nov. 1 – New York, N.Y. @ Beacon Theatre Nov. 2 – Port Chester, N.Y. @ The Capitol Theatre Nov. 4 – Albany, N.Y. @ Palace Theatre

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“You could be a Luddite and ignore these new instruments, or you could say, ‘Let’s give it a spin.’ And I chose the latter”: How Jethro Tull embraced synths, drum machines and the 1980s – and split their fans

The tangled story of Jethro Tull’s controversial 80s albums A, The Broadsword And The Beast and Under Wraps

It was two weeks before Christmas 1984 when Ian Anderson finally lost the battle with his own throat. Jethro Tull were on tour in Australia in support of their most recent album, Under Wraps , a record that had caused widespread disgruntlement among fans due to its prevalence of synthesisers, sequencers and, most heretical of all, a drum machine.

The tour was better received than the record, thanks to a stage set that featured the band emerging, literally, from under wraps, along with moonwalking astronauts and women bursting out of large paper bags. For Anderson, though, the shows had been a trial for very different reasons. He had pushed his voice to the edge of its limits in the studio, not realising the toll performing these new songs every night would take on him. By the time Tull reached the US that autumn, his strained larynx was starting to give out, necessitating the cancellation of a handful of gigs. 

Rather than pull the subsequent Australian leg, the frontman elected to plough on regardless – a decision he would come to regret. He managed six shows Down Under before it became too difficult to sing. Reluctantly, the remaining gigs were scrapped, along with any further dates in support of the album.

“I absolutely wrecked my voice on that tour,” says Anderson today. “That was really traumatic for me personally and expensive in terms of cancellation and reimbursements to promoters.”

Doctors advised him to rest his voice for several months or risk ruining it completely. In his younger, more bullish days, he would probably have ignored them. But nearing 40, he knew better than to risk it. “I was scared into submission, and decided not to do any concerts for some time to come,” he says. “I think it’s true to say that I’ve never felt my voice was the same again. I’d gone beyond where I should have and really had to settle for second best.”

Anderson’s throat problems would precipitate a lengthy break that effectively sidelined Tull for three years. But it also marked the end of a period that had seen Tull’s leader attempt to drag the band’s sound into the technological age. Even with the benefit of hindsight, the early 80s remains the most controversial era of Jethro Tull’s career - but also the most fascinating.

The 1970s had ended on a downbeat note for Jethro Tull. While the band remained a big live draw, especially in the US, their album sales were slowly slipping – 1979’s foreboding Stormwatch was first Tull record in a decade that failed to make the Top 20 on either side of the Atlantic. On a personal level, they had been rocked by the death of bassist John Glascock, who died as a result of congenital heart problems at the age of 29, while Anderson’s father had also passed away. 

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“It was a slightly strange time,” says Anderson now. “We had lost John Glascock, my father had died, there were a couple of guys in the band who were starting to get a little restless, the fact that we had come to the end of the decade… So I made the decision to go and do something fresh.”

That ‘something fresh’ was a solo album, one that would allow Anderson to experiment with sounds and styles far removed the genre he had long been associated with. “It was really just a question of having played in Jethro Tull from the late 60s to that point and feeling the urge to try something different.”

The new songs Anderson was writing pivoted away from Jethro Tull’s traditional sound. He was increasingly enamoured by leaps in musical technology and the people utilising it – not least synth-pop star Gary Numan , who Anderson later described as “amazing… I saw him on Top Of The Pops and wanted to hate him, but I realised how important he was.”

“There was always something a little bit new in what Jethro Tull did,” he insists today. “We had used an early AMS Synthesiser on Thick As A Brick . But suddenly at the threshold of the 80s, you had an array of keyboards that could be persuaded to do what you wanted – well, tortured into submission.”

Not everyone was impressed with Anderson’s new direction. “I was dissatisfied with the state of affairs, musically and morally, in Jethro Tull,” drummer Barriemore Barlow later said. “And I thought the new music Ian was writing was not very good.” In truth, Barlow was already agitating to leave the band, telling Anderson that he was putting together a new project, though his departure would come sooner than either party expected.

Anderson’s notional, if temporary, break with the band he had founded wasn’t total. He retained the services of former Fairport Convention bassist Dave Pegg, recruited to replace John Glascock on the Stormwatch tour after the latter was deemed too ill to play. “Dave hadn’t actually recorded with us, he was a Jethro Tull studio virgin, as it were, so I thought I’d ask him to play on these songs,” he says.

But initially his other collaborators were nothing to do with his regular band. The star signing was Eddie Jobson, the former Roxy Music keyboard player and violinist whose recent outfit, UK, had supported Tull on tour. “I asked if he fancied doing some work together,” says Anderson. Jobson agreed, and brought along his friend, American drummer Mark Craney.

The singer and his new colleagues began work on the mooted solo album, titled A (for Anderson), in the summer of 1980 at the singer’s own Maison Rouge studio in London. 

“As we started working, I thought, ‘It would be good to have guitar on this song’, so I called [Tull guitarist] Martin Barre, who’s really the only guitarist I know, because I don’t really move in musician circles,” says Anderson. “So he came to work on a song, and then another, and he ended up being on the whole album.”

The presence of Jobson and Craney in the studio alongside Anderson, Barre and Pegg was catnip for music papers looking for an explosive headline. In May 1980, the British weekly Melody Maker ran a front page story claiming that Barriemore Barlow, John Evans and Dee Palmer had been sacked from Jethro Tull. It was dubbed ‘The Big Split’ by the press. 

Barlow, for one, was furious. “I went fucking mental,” he later recalled. “Ian had sent a note of apology before it came out, but I thought, ‘Hell, it can’t be that bad.’ But of course it was.”

Anderson refuted claims that the trio had been sacked, insisting that this new line-up was a one-off and that Jobson and Craney were purely guest musicians, to little avail. It didn’t help that Chrysalis were pushing him into releasing A under the Jethro Tull name.

“At that point it was sounding less like a solo album and more like a band album. And technically it had three members of Jethro Tull on it. So when the record company heard the music they were reluctant to go down the route of it being a solo album. I allowed my arm to be twisted to release it as a Jethro Tull album, which was a mistake and a disservice to the other guys who had been in the band because they suddenly felt they were now no longer members.”

The decision to record with outsiders had hastened the departure of Barlow. John Evan and Dee Palmer followed him out of the door.

“I wrote to the other guys, saying, ‘Listen, I’m afraid is this is coming out as a Jethro Tull album’, and tried to apologise – badly,” says Anderson. “But obviously they were upset and they never came back.”

The state of confusion surrounding this latest incarnation of Jethro Tull was nothing compared to the reaction of longtime fans who heard A when it was released at the end of August 1980. The cover image – the band in lab coats, gazing out of the window of what could have been a spaceship – at least gave fair warning as to what to expect. 

Gone was the elemental approach of the recent ‘folk trilogy’, while the grandstanding prog rock of Thick As A Brick was nowhere to heard. Lyrically, Anderson was as scalpel-sharp as always, but the plinking keyboards of Crossfire and Batteries Not Included were less Kraftwerk, more Kraft cheese. There were moments of brilliance, notably the twisting Black Sunday , although the folksy The Pine Marten’s Jig felt like a sop to the devotees.

The subsequent tour was no less of a shock to the system. Anderson insisted that the band appear on stage in Devo-like white jumpsuits, looking like a bunch of befuddled lab technicians who had wandered into the wrong venue.  “It was an absurd idea, made worse by the fact that these things instantly became transparent as soon as you sweated in them,” says Anderson now.

The exception was Eddie Jobson. “Eddie had made it very clear that he was a guest musician, that he wasn’t a member of the band, and he was billed as such. He insisted on having a jumpsuit in a different colour so he stood out from everybody else.”

While band were well drilled, fans were less than convinced. It was Jobson who was the butt of their ire, at least according to Anderson.

“They didn’t much like Eddie,” the singer says today. “He was a little bit too preening. He had that Brian Eno thing about him, and our crowd had totally hated Roxy Music when they opened for us at Madison Square Garden years before. There was definitely a change in temperature from the audience, but it wasn’t aimed at the band as a whole – they just didn’t like Eddie.” 

In truth, they didn’t much like what Jethro Tull had become either. If this was the sound of the future, Ian Anderson could keep it.

If the singer hoped people saw A the same way as he did – as a bold, experimental one-off – he would be disappointed. His next move would be to edge slightly back towards safer ground. 

To replace Evan and Palmer, Anderson recruited a young keyboard player who would help give focus to his new musical explorations. The 26-year-old Peter-John Vettese was a former member of jazz-fusion band Solaris who joined Jethro Tull after spotting a classic ‘musician wanted’ advertisement in Melody Maker . 

“Peter was energetic, full of life. And he hailed from my part of the world, which was Scotland,” says Anderson now.

Vettese’s attributes were more than just geographical. He was musically astute and knowledgeable in the new technologies that Anderson was interested in. Vettese signed up for Tull in time to work on the band’s 14th album, The Broadsword And The Beast , and his impact was immediate.

“He was very quick to grasp a musical idea and try to get to the nub of it. And he didn’t waffle around noodling with different sounds. He always had an idea as to how we would get to a certain point fairly quickly where we settled on a particular musical line.”

If A was the sound of Ian Anderson stepping out of his comfort zone, then the follow-up found him rowing at least partially back into it. The electronic flourishes of A were still there, augmented on some tracks by a drum machine (though flesh and blood new recruit Gerry Conway did most of the heavy lifting drum-wise), but it was offset by a windswept Celtic atmosphere, exemplified by the epic sweep of the track Broadsword . 

“At the time I was living some of the year on the Isle Of Skye, in the wilds off the west coast of Scotland, facing the sea,” says Anderson of the song. “In times gone by, the Viking longships came up the sea lochs of Scotland to pillage and plunder and generally have their wicked way with the locals. And so it was just this notion of sometimes standing on a headland and imagining this longship coming up the loch.”

The Broadsword And The Beast got a better reception from fans than its predecessor when it was released in April 1982. Certainly, it was a more confident record. Songs like Beastie , Pussywillow and Slow Marching Band – the latter of which could be read as a dig at the departed Barriemore Barlow, though Anderson has denied it – bridged old and new Tull, though the band’s more intractable followers were still having none of this new-fangled technology (a pair of outtakes from the album, Jack Frost And The Hooded Crow and Jack A Lynn , were much more in tune with the band’s 70s sound, though they were conspicuously kept in the vaults for another decade).

Still, any affinity for the album was strengthened by the subsequent tour, which found Anderson cheekily playing out his Viking fantasies. A mock-longship was part of the stage set, while the singer wielded an eight-foot broadsword with impressive deftness. It wasn’t all ninth century theatrics, though – during Watching Me Watching You , a group of roadies in white coats trooped onstage, eventually joined by a man in a giant rabbit suit.

If the job of The Broadsword And The Beast was to restore fans’ faith in Jethro Tull, it worked, But its commercial impact was mixed. 

“ The Broadsword And The Beast was our most successful selling record in Germany ever, yet it was a dead duck in the USA,” says Anderson. “It’s not like it was just as simple as the fact that Americans didn’t like the sound of those songs. It had to do with a lot of the realities of the music business: the change in American radio, even the move from radio into MTV, which didn’t work terribly well for Jethro Tull.”

If the album’s reception in America had been disappointing, at least Anderson’s newfound musical partnership Peter-John Vettese was proving fruitful. Such was the pair’s rapport that Anderson elected to take another run at a solo album, this time with the keyboard player’s help.

“The expectation was for it to be the solo record that A turned out not to be,” he says. “I wanted it to be a bit more sparse, and the idea of just doing it between the two of us seemed like a more attractive thing. And that’s the way we made the album, really – just the two of us.”

Released in 1983 and credited to Anderson, Walk Into Light was more radical than anything the singer had put his name too before, including A . The cover – a newly-shorn Anderson framed by stark, Test Card-style imagery – gave some indication of its musical direction. This was more Ultravox than Jethro Tull, an album of stark, largely electronic songs. Putting aside the provenance of the man whose name is on the cover, it’s a surprisingly assured record, the likes of Fly By Night and Made In England pointing forward to a brave new future. 

“I could have made an album of me singing and playing the flute, but that seemed too obvious,” Anderson later recalled. “I wanted to get away from what I was known for.”

That certainly worked – perhaps too well. Jethro Tull fans ignored Walk Into Light in their droves. Anderson had finally scratched the solo itch, though if anyone thought he had got his fascination with new technology out of his system, they would be mistaken.

The singer reconvened Jethro Tull in the Spring of 1984. “Suddenly becoming a band again was nice after having done an album that was rather more sparse and down in feel, as the solo album had been,” he says. 

But there was one notable absence. For the first time in their career, Jethro Tull were recording an album without a drummer. Instead, Anderson had elected to use a new LinnDrum drum machine, then at the cutting edge of digital tech. “It was a regular session, except for the fact there wasn’t a drummer present,” says Anderson.

Where The Broadsword And The Beast had felt like a welcome compromise towards fans, there was no such effort made with Under Wraps . It might have been a Jethro Tull album in the way that A wasn’t, but its synthetic approach marked it out as a logical successor to Walk Into Light rather than TBATB .

“To most Tull fans the idea of us sounding like a cross between The Police and Thomas Dolby was a little bit of a stretch in credibility,” says Anderson. “The fact was, we did it rather well, Not as well as The Police and Thomas Dolby, perhaps, but you know, rather well.”

Today, Under Wraps is widely regarded as the worst Jethro Tull album, a reputation that’s not entirely deserved. While its sound and production date-stamp it to the mid-80s, the songs and themes running through it – “spies, secrecy and subterfuge,” according to Anderson, inspired by his love of writers such as John le Carré and Ted Allbeury – were classic Tull. An acoustic version of the title track, featuring Dave Pegg on stand-up bass, and released on a 2005 reissue of, pulls back the synthetic curtain to reveal the beating heart of Anderson’s music.

“The one regrettable thing about that album is that wretched drum machine relentlessly boring a hole in your skull, because it’s got some great songs on it,” says Ian Anderson. “And it was one of Martin Barre’s most inspired moments of guitar playing. I think in a way he felt that he didn’t have to worry about keeping time with a drummer who was never perfect. All he had to worry about was playing the right notes.”

Predictably, Under Wraps didn’t go down well among the Tull faithful. For Anderson, a more worrying matter was the loss of his voice on the subsequent tour. After the cancelled Australian tour, he returned to the UK to focus not on the band but on his trout farms in Scotland, and “recharging his spiritual batteries.”

It would be almost three years before Jethro Tull fully returned to the fray. When they did, with 1987’s Crest Of A Knave , it was in much altered form – or at least a form that was more recognisable to longtime fans of the band. The album largely dialled back the electronic diversions of the 80s, replacing it with a warm, earthy sound that echoed contemporary giants Dire Straits, not least on the album’s highlight, the slow-burning 10-minute epic Budapest .

Crest Of A Knave was an unexpected success, selling more than a million copies in the US and famously, beating Metallica to a Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Grammy Award. More importantly, for Tull fans it successfully wiped away the memories of what many saw as an aberrant dalliance with technology Jethro Tull had no right to be using. Today, Anderson remains aware of the flaws of the albums he put out in the early 80s. But there’s also a stubborn pride to the way he views them.

“You could be a Luddite and ignore these new instruments, or you could say, ‘Well, let’s give it a spin, let’s see what it’ll do.’ And so I chose the latter course,” says Anderson. “You have to push the boundaries sometimes.”  

Dave Everley has been writing about and occasionally humming along to music since the early 90s. During that time, he has been Deputy Editor on Kerrang! and Classic Rock , Associate Editor on Q magazine and staff writer/tea boy on Raw , not necessarily in that order. He has written for Metal Hammer, Louder, Prog, the Observer, Select, Mojo , the Evening Standard and the totally legendary Ultrakill . He is still waiting for Billy Gibbons to send him a bottle of hot sauce he was promised several years ago.

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Jethro Tull announce US Tour dates

Tickets go on sale this Friday, April 21st, the same date as the release of the band’s latest album RökFlöte.

Jethro Tull have announced a run of dates in the US titled The Seven Decades Tour. The tour kicks off in Illinois on August 18th. Tickets go on sale this Friday, April 21st, the same date as the release of the band’s latest album RökFlöte. Check out https://jethrotull.com/tour-dates for more info.

Jethro Tull, The Seven Decades 2023 U.S. Tour Aug. 18 – Highland Park, Ill. @ Ravina Festival Aug. 19 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park Aug. 20 – Huber Heights, Ohio @ Rose Music Center at The Heights Aug. 22 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Aug. 24 – Vienna, Va. @ Wolf Trap Sept. 26 – San Diego, Calif. @ The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park Sept. 27 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Greek Theatre Sept. 29 – Lincoln, Calif. @ Thunder Valley Casino Resort Sept. 30 – Saratoga, Calif. @ The Mountain Winery Oct. 1 – Santa Rosa, Calif. @ Luther Burbank Center for the Arts – Ruth Finley Person Theater Oct. 27 – Hampton, N.H. @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom Oct. 28 – Boston, Mass. @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway Oct. 29 – Uncasville, Conn. @ Mohegan Sun Arena Nov. 1 – New York, N.Y. @ Beacon Theatre Nov. 2 – Port Chester, N.Y. @ The Capitol Theatre Nov. 4 – Albany, N.Y. @ Palace Theatre

https://jethrotullband.lnk.to/RokFlote

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JETHRO TULL Announces 'The Seven Decades' Summer/Fall 2023 U.S. Tour

Legendary rock band JETHRO TULL has announced "The Seven Decades" tour. Led by Ian Anderson , the concert will feature a rich collection of the best-known JETHRO TULL repertoire from 1968 to date. Fans will recognize the key songs from various albums — songs which put JETHRO TULL and Ian Anderson on the map during these seven decades. "The Seven Decades" tour will hit the U.S. from August through November, with stops in Indianapolis, San Diego, Los Angeles, Boston, New York City, Albany and more.

Tickets to all shows go on sale Friday, April 21 at 10 a.m. local, with various presales starting Thursday, April 20 at 10 a.m.

Tour dates:

Aug. 18 - Ravinia Festival - Highland Park, IL Aug. 19 - TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park - Indianapolis, IN Aug. 20 - Rose Music Center at The Heights - Huber Heights, OH Aug. 22 - PNC Pavilion at Riverbend - Cincinnati, OH Aug. 24 - Wolf Trap - Vienna, VA Sep. 26 - The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park - San Diego, CA Sep. 27 - Greek Theatre - Los Angeles, CA Sep. 29 - Thunder Valley Casino Resort – The Venue at Thunder Valley - Lincoln, CA Sep. 30 - The Mountain Winery - Saratoga, CA Oct. 01 - Luther Burbank Center for the Arts – Ruth Finley Person Theater - Santa Rosa, CA Oct. 27 - Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom - Hampton, NH Oct. 28 - MGM Music Hall at Fenway - Boston, MA Oct. 29 – Mohegan Sun Arena - Uncasville, CT Nov. 01 - Beacon Theatre - New York, NY Nov. 02 - The Capitol Theatre - Port Chester, NY Nov. 04 - Palace Theatre - Albany, NY

JETHRO TULL will release its 23rd studio album, "RökFlöte" , on April 21 via InsideOut Music . Following 2022's "The Zealot Gene" , the group's first LP in two decades, Anderson and his bandmates are returning with a 12-track record based on the characters and roles of some of the principal gods of the old Norse paganism, and at the same time exploring the "RökFlöte" — rock flute — which JETHRO TULL has made iconic.

"RökFlöte" will be available on several different formats, including two limited deluxe formats that include bonus demo material, extensive liner notes and a Blu-ray featuring Dolby Atmos, 5.1 Surround Sound, alternative stereo mixes by Bruce Soord ( THE PINEAPPLE THIEF ),as well as a bonus track and in-depth interview with Anderson . The album will also be available digitally in the spatial audio formats Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 RA.

Ian explained the album's title and theme in more detail: "The title of this offering went through a little change or two along the way. I started with the idea of a predominantly instrumental album for rock flute — as in rock music. When the subject material of the album presented itself, I was drawn to the term Ragnarök from Norse mythology — their version of apocalyptic end times or Biblical Armageddon. The 'final showdown' scenario is ubiquitous and inherent in Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, for example. Ragnarök translates as 'destiny of the Gods', the rök part meaning destiny, course, direction. With umlaut firmly in place, courtesy of the Germanic origins of Old Norse, Flute became Flöte in keeping with the spelling. With me so far? I just can't miss the glorious opportunity for a good and legitimate umlaut."

"The Zealot Gene" , released in January 2022, was JETHRO TULL 's 22nd studio album and it garnered critical acclaim across the board. Reaching No. 9 in the U.K. album charts, a feat the band hadn't reached since 1972, it also debuted at No. 4 in Germany, No. 3 in Switzerland, No. 5 in Austria, No. 8 in Finland, as well as top 10 in the U.S. album charts, Current Album charts and Rock Album charts.

With more than 30 albums to their credit and sales totaling more than 50 million, JETHRO TULL are one of the most successful rock bands of all-time with a catalog that contains classics that still resonate today. Led by Anderson , TULL continue to tour throughout the world, entertaining audiences of all ages.

The band consists of:

Ian Anderson - Concert and Alto flutes, Flute d'Amour, Irish whistle and vocals David Goodier - Bass John O'Hara - Piano, keyboards and Hammond Organ Scott Hammond - Drums Joe Parrish-James - Electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin

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Jethro Tull Unveils 2023 Seven Decades Tour and the Norse Mythology Behind 23rd Album ‘RökFlöte’

Tina Benitez-Eves

Updated: 

Jethro Tull has revealed their 2023 U.S. tour in support of the prog band’s upcoming 23rd album RökFlöte ( Rock Flute ), out April 21.

Videos by American Songwriter

Christened the Seven Decades Tour, the band will kick off shows on Aug. 18th in Highland Park, Illinois, and work their way around the U.S before wrapping up in Albany, New York on Nov. 4. Still led by longtime founding frontman Ian Anderson, the current band also consists of guitarist Joe Parrish-James, bassist David Goodier, keyboardist John O’Hara, and drummer Scott Hammond.

RökFlöte follows Jethro Tull’s 2022 release, The Zealot Gene , which gave the band their first Top 10 album in the U.K. for 50 years, and was inspired by Norse mythology, and started off with more instrumental “rock flute” music.

“I started with the idea of a predominantly instrumental album for rock flute–as in rock music,” said Anderson of the concept behind the album. “When the subject material of the album presented itself, I was drawn to the term Ragnarok from Norse mythology, their version of apocalyptic end times or biblical armageddon. The ‘final showdown’ scenario is ubiquitous and inherent in Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, for example.

Anderson continued, “Ragnarok translates as ‘destiny of the Gods,’ the ‘rok’ part meaning destiny, course, direction. With umlaut firmly in place, courtesy of the Germanic origins of old Norse, Flute became ‘flote’ in keeping with the spelling. … I just can’t miss the glorious opportunity for a good and legitimate umlaut.”

Elaborating on the third RökFlöte single, “Hammer on Hammer,” Anderson said “The track takes inspiration from the god Thor, [an] loyal and honorable warrior who wears a powerful symbolic belt and wields a hammer. His mortal enemy & nemesis was Jormungand the sea-serpent.

The previous single, “The Navigators,” explores the Norse god Njord, who was the god of wealth, fertility, the sea, and seafaring, while “Ginnungagap,” which was accompanied by an animated video created by artist Costin Chioreanu, was inspired by god Ymir, “the proto-being, a primeval being, who was born from venom that dripped from the icy rivers called the Élivágar and lived in the grassless void of Ginnungagap,” according to a descriptor by the band.

Jethro Tull, The Seven Decades 2023 U.S. Tour Aug. 18 – Highland Park, Ill. @ Ravina Festival Aug. 19 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park Aug. 20 – Huber Heights, Ohio @ Rose Music Center at The Heights Aug. 22 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Aug. 24 – Vienna, Va. @ Wolf Trap Sept. 26 – San Diego, Calif. @ The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park Sept. 27 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Greek Theatre Sept. 29 – Lincoln, Calif. @ Thunder Valley Casino Resort Sept. 30 – Saratoga, Calif. @ The Mountain Winery Oct. 1 – Santa Rosa, Calif. @ Luther Burbank Center for the Arts – Ruth Finley Person Theater Oct. 27 – Hampton, N.H. @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom Oct. 28 – Boston, Mass. @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway Oct. 29 – Uncasville, Conn. @ Mohegan Sun Arena Nov. 1 – New York, N.Y. @ Beacon Theatre Nov. 2 – Port Chester, N.Y. @ The Capitol Theatre Nov. 4 – Albany, N.Y. @ Palace Theatre

RökFlöte Track Listing:

• “Voluspo”
• “Ginnungagap”
• “Allfather”
• “The Feathered Consort”
• “Hammer On Hammer”
• “Wolf Unchained”
• “The Perfect One”
• “Trickster (And The Mistletoe)”
• “Cornucopia”
• “The Navigators”
• “Guardian’s Watch”
• “Ithavoll”

Photo: Assunta Opahle / Chipster PR and Consulting

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Concert review: Jethro Tull doesn’t take it ‘easy’ on its fans

In a way, Ian Anderson and his band Jethro Tull offered the crowd at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville on Sunday night a little foreshadowing when the evening began.…

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Things to do | Jethro Tull founder Ian Anderson on music,…

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Things to do

Things to do | jethro tull founder ian anderson on music, flutes, morphine drips and why he can’t stand hippies, the flute-playing founder and leader of jethro tull is the band’s only member who has been in all of the 30-plus lineups of the band. nick cave and metallica’s kirk hammett are fans.

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The flutist Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull at the twenty-ninth edition of the Christmas Concert 2021. Auditorium Conciliazione. The concert will go on the evening of December 24th on Canale 5. Rome (Italy) December 16th, 2021 (Photo by Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

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Norwegian actress Julie Ege holds the Golden Album on behalf of Warner Reprise, to give to the Jethro Tull pop group, in London, February 19, 1971. The group had sold one million dollars of sales of the groups latest album, Benifit. (AP Photo/Dear)

The veteran flutist, singer, songwriter and guitarist is also pleased Jethro Tull counts a number of high-profile musicians among its fans. They include former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, Nick Cave and members of the bands Midlake and The Decemberists, as well as actress Lisa Lampanelli.

But Anderson scoffs when asked if he has seen any unlikely fans — a contentious political figure, perhaps — turn up at Jethro Tull’s concerts.

“I have no idea who is in the audience; they are all strangers to me,” he replied, speaking from his home in Wiltshire, England. “But that’s part of the appeal. You are in front of people you don’t know, will never meet, and don’t want to know.

“Concerts give you the opportunity to make some new friends, or some new enemies. Then, after the show, I disappear into my little dressing room and crawl under a rock, because I’m not a social creature.”

Depending on the day and his mood, Anderson can indeed be a prickly character on occasion. He can also be warm, endearing and an insightful commentator on his chosen profession. He is the only member of Jethro Tull who has been in all of its 30-plus lineups.

“Sometimes the people you dread meeting — because of anecdotal, spurious hearsay — turn out to be the nicest people,” Anderson said. “Sadly, the opposite is true, as well. People you think are going to be nice turn out not to be. I guess I’m the same.

“Catch me on the right day and you’re fine. But I’m sure I’ve disappointed some people who were catching me at the wrong moment, when I didn’t want to have to stop — in mid-mouthful in a restaurant — to take a selfie with them.”

Flute first, then and now

The Scottish-born Anderson turned 76 in August, 58 years after Tull — the band long synonymous with his name — was launched as a jazzy blues-rock ensemble.

Its latest album, the 12-song “RökFlöte,” was released this year and boasts lyrics inspired by the polytheistic beliefs of Norse mythology. The band’s 2022 album, “The Zealot Gene,” finds Anderson exploring themes of political fanaticism and using biblical texts to reflect on current events.

With Anderson’s 80th birthday just four years away, how important is it for him to surprise himself when creating new music?

“It’s incredibly important when you’re recording it,” he said. “And I’m pretty pleased with my aspirations to continue making music that we have brought to fruition through good luck and hard work. (It’s like) riding a bike. If you fall off, there’s a danger you might not be able to get back on. So, it’s good not to fall off.”

Jethro Tull’s most popular album, 1971’s “Aqualung,” has sold more than 12 million copies. Tull’s wildly ambitious 1972 concept album, “Thick as a Brick,” made history in at least two ways.

It is the only release to ever top Billboard magazine’s U.S. album charts that consists of just one song — albeit a very extended, complex song that lasts nearly 44 minutes. Moreover, “Brick” was a progressive-rock opus that simultaneously parodied the bombast and self-indulgence of progressive-rock.

Like all of Jethro Tull’s albums before and since, it featured Anderson singing and playing the flute. The instrument had not previously been a focal point of any rock band. But Anderson changed that, starting with Jethro Tull’s 1968 debut album, “This Was.” Nearly every song on it boasts prominent flute work, none more so than the spirited version of jazz sax and flute great Roland Kirk’s vocal-free 1965 classic, “Serenade to a Cuckoo.”

That Jethro Tull was led by a bearded, long-haired, seemingly crazed young musician — who often played flute and sang while perched on one leg — added to the band’s image and appeal.

Anderson discussed his move to the flute in a 1988 San Diego Union-Tribune interview, saying: “I was a not-very-good singer in a not-very-good blues band. And so I started also to play not-very-good harmonica, and ended up playing not-very-good flute. I did it largely because it was different, and because it was there.”

In 1967, the year Tull was formed, only a few rock bands memorably utilized a flute, but not as a lead instrument. One was the American band The Blues Project. The other two were both English: The Moody Blues and Family.

Did any of these bands inspire Anderson as a “not-very-good flutist?” In a word: no.

“What inspired me as a flute player was Eric Clapton, because it was his guitar playing I wanted to emulate,” he said.

“It was really my determination to do something other than play the ubiquitous electric guitar, which everybody wanted to do — including me — when I was a teenager. I quickly realized Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and (Deep Purple’s) Ritchie Blackmore were the wiz-kid guitar players down in London and were way ahead of me.

“That made me look for something else to play. But I had no idea what to do with the flute once I got a couple of notes out of it. I tried to play the blues and went on from there. Like anything else, you realize there is more to it, so I did listen to a few other players, including — after a few months — Roland Kirk.”

But Kirk, Anderson contends, was not his primary influence.

“One of my favorites as a teen was Mose Allison,” he said. “Mose would mumble and sing along with his piano playing, which was rather endearing. I suspect I picked up on scat-singing (while playing flute) from him and other people in the world of jazz more than from a flute player like Roland Kirk.”

In the early 1970s, then-still-fledgling Anderson topped the masterful Kirk as the No. 1 flutist in Playboy’s annual jazz and pop poll. Was Anderson flattered, embarrassed, or both, at this turn of events?

“Well,” he answered, “I did actually meet Roland Kirk, who I was terrified of. Because word was that he was a pretty intimidating person and not flattering or kind to other people. We met when I played this jazz festival in 1969 on the East Coast, I don’t remember where.

The Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island?

“Yes, Newport,” Anderson said. “I don’t know why they booked us and Led Zeppelin, which seemed weird. Our manager said: ‘Roland Kirk wants to meet you.’ I thought: ‘Oh, god, what am I going to do?’ Plus, Kirk was blind which made it even more difficult to confront him in a social setting. But he was really kind and nice. Or, at least, he pretended to approve of my rendition of his song because he was getting the mechanical royalties for it!

“Many years later, Kirk’s second wife (Dorothea) showed up at one of our shows in New Jersey, long after he was dead. She said: ‘Thanks. I get a (royalty) check twice a year for your performance of Roland’s song and it’s helped to have that coming in to help pay the bills.”

Nyet to Russian oligarchs

Paying bills has not been a problem for Anderson since Jethro Tull began selling millions of albums and filling arenas in the 1970s. By the 1980s he owned several salmon farms in Scotland. At their peak, they employed 400 people and — in 1997 alone —produced 900 tons of smoked salmon, with annual revenues of $26 million.

Commenting on his fish-fueled entrepreneurship in a 1988 Union-Tribune interview, Anderson said he would rather be remembered for providing hundreds of new jobs than for selling tens of millions of albums.

“I guess I’m a socialist at heart,” he said at the time. “Actually, I’m a communist bastard at heart, but I live in a capitalist world, so I try to be a good capitalist. My kids usually prefer to say: ‘My daddy’s a fish farmer.’ It’s easier to say that than: ‘He plays in an old man’s rock group with these fat, balding fellows!’ “

By 2003, Anderson had sold his salmon farms and processing plants. His concert tours with Jethro Tull and as a solo artist are a near-constant. And he has the financial liberty of declining performance opportunities as he sees fit.

“There are quite a few offers that have come my way, for large amounts of money,” Anderson acknowledged. “The offers are to do things I feel are quite inappropriate, whether it’s a private party for some Russian oligarch, or a cruise ship tour, or things at big, multi-act festivals. I think I know what I’m worth and there are times I would not do things just for the paycheck. It’s not worth it.”

By his count, Anderson has performed in 55 countries on at least five continents. He recalls first encountering Russian President Vladimir Putin at a 1992 Jethro Tull concert in St. Petersburg. At the time, former KGB agent Putin was the chairman of the city’s External Relations Committee and an assistant to its mayor.

“We were supposed to play in Kyiv last year on a tour that we had to cancel because of the invasion of Ukraine by Putin,” Anderson lamented. “And we canceled our tour of Russia, where I’ve enjoyed playing in the past. Given Putin’s propensity for extremism — and his desire to rebuild the Soviet Union to resemble what it was when he was an officer in the KGB — I don’t expect we’ll ever play again in Russia in my lifetime.”

Earlier in his lifetime — 1969, to be exact — Anderson turned down an offer for Jethro Tull to perform at the now-legendary Woodstock festival, citing the fact that he didn’t “like hippies.” In the 1970s he sometimes berated concertgoers for smoking pot because the smoke impacted his singing and flute-playing.

Yet, in photos of Jethro Tull in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Anderson looked very much like a full-blown hippie.

“Clearly, my personal outlook was very much not aligned with the hippie lifestyle, especially when it came to drugs,” he said. “It wasn’t as individuals — some of them were probably nice people, if they ever had a shower — but the lifestyle seemed synonymous with all the drugs and the ‘free sex’ thing, which I just never got the hang of…

“I didn’t go in that direction, and I‘m glad I didn’t. But in my final years, I might deduce I want to catch up on that. And there’s a 50 percent chance I’ll end my days on a morphine drip.”

He chuckled.

“Of course, at my age there is that element of uncertainty,” said Anderson, who titled Jethro Tull’s 1976 album “Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll, Too Young to Die.”

“You have to be realistic about longevity, potential ill health and the onset of dementia,” he continued. “Although, theoretically, for people who do what I do there’s a fighting chance of staving that off. Because, playing concerts and making new music, we are so engaged with the process of concentration, performance and remembering things we did last night and 50 years ago.

“Ultimately, nothing will save us but our genes. But, to some extent with music, you can increase your odds of longevity.”

Jethro Tull: The Seven Decades Tour

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, 222 Marina Park Way, downtown

Tickets: $45-$170

Phone: (619) 235-0804

Online: theshell.org

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