Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Jethro Tull

Artist:Jethro Tull

Song:Bungle In The Jungle

Album:M.U.:The Best Of Jethro Tull

Despite creating music that was obviously not commercial, Jethro Tull was one of the most successful bands of the 70s. Their music was a mix of blues, folk & hard rock with intentionally dense lyrics. I guess the main visual of the band was frontman Ian Anderson prancing around the stage with his flute. He was born Aug. 10, 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland and moved to Blackpool, England at age 12. He was part of bands called The Blades and John Evan Band. Anderson and bassist Glenn Cornick moved to London so they could get more bookings and met guitarist Mick Abrahams & drummer Clive Bunker. They formed a band in Dec. 1967 and named it Jethro Tull after an 18th century inventor. The name stuck. The group didn't have much direction until Chrysalis Records founders Terry Ellis & Chris Wright became their managers. They thought the group would be more successful with Abrahams as frontman because audiences would accept his blues guitar licks. That didn't work out and Anderson's on stage antics became the focal point of the group. Jethro Tull started getting a following in the summer of 1968 and released their debut This Was in Nov. 1968. Abrahams left and they tried several guitarists before settling on Martin Barre (born Nov. 17, 1946 in Lancashire, England) and he became the other key member of Jethro Tull. This Was was released in the US in Apr. 1969 and they toured there. By the early 70s, albums like Aqualung & Thick As A Brick made Jethro Tull one of the top groups of that era mostly through FM radio airplay. Bassist Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond & drummer Barriemore Barlow joined the group and those four are the lineup most familiar to fans. Things were going great until their 1973 album A Passion Play tanked. It was way too pretentious. They recovered with the 1974 album War Child and the single Bungle In The Jungle was one of their biggest hits. Jethro Tull faded by the late 70s and though Anderson & Barre still lead the group, they haven't contributed much new music since the 70s. Their most recent CD releases are all live albums. This comp is a good intro to newcomers. But Jethro Tull were very big through most of the 70s. Here's Jethro Tull performing a medley including Bungle In The Jungle Oakland 1997. It's pretty good for a fan shot video.