Ian Anderson – Jethro Tull

The Pied Piper of rock

by Michele Savoldi

It's not every day that I get to chat amiably with a legend of the caliber of Ian Anderson, a figure present in my memory – as a bizarre and atypical rock and roll icon – since early childhood, thanks to his father's musical nourishment. Ours proves that he is not yet “too old to rock'n'roll” and we certainly also consider him “too young to die”! His overflowing creativity gives him the opportunity to express himself through multifaceted forms of communication and art. Ian has a lot to say and he didn't hold back even for the readers of OndaRock. Happy reading.

So, dear Ian, what can fans expect from Jethro Tull's 50th anniversary shows next March?
Well, they'll see… to start with, in chronological order during the bulk of the show, they'll see the early days of Jethro Tull like the beginning at the Marquee Club in 1968. They'll meet some of the musicians that we've played with over the years thanks to the screen behind me: there will be 36 musicians who have played with Jethro Tull over these fifty years. Someone will appear along with other special guests on the screen. I think it's going to be a little journey through the first decade, the period in which Jethro Tull became popular all over the world, the period of time in which Jethro Tull was an internationally successful band. I will mostly focus on that period from the late 1960s to the late 1970s.

What do you remember about concerts in Italy in the seventies?
I remember the piano out of tune, I remember the riots, the tear gas, the delays, the terrible organization of the promoters who seemed not to understand or perhaps not care about the details. It was hard work…I mean, the audience was very enthusiastic and supported us a lot but the organisation, the practical things related to organizing concerts were not good at all! Unfortunately you had to compare the two hours on stage with the other 22 hours of the day, when things weren't going so well… it wasn't a very pleasant experience then!

…hard times!
It wasn't just that, in Italy – particularly a promoter who I don't care to mention – it was a well-known place, among English bands, to work. It was always very, very hard work! In Germany, for example, everything was fine and well organized as in Switzerland and even France. But it was a really tough time in Italy and it took a few years for Italian promoters to become more professional and to realize that they had to do as good a job as promoters from other parts of the world. That's how it went, even though I've had some recent problems… but it still happens somewhere. I have many less than pleasant memories of Italy, but once the 80s arrived, things got much better and we had many great experiences playing in many Italian places where we were lucky enough to be able to perform. Recently also in a couple of Italian churches, at Christmas last year.

What can you tell us about “The Ballad Of Jethro Tull”, the first official book about Jethro Tull. What will fans find there?
I honestly don't know because I'm not writing it! I am definitely in contact with the writer and the publishers, who are responsible for finding a lot of information and organizing interviews with the ex-members… I will read it with interest to see if it reflects the history of Jethro Tull well! It's written by someone whose work I've read, who I've endorsed as a writer because he's very objective and thorough in his research, in putting things together. There have been other books about Jethro Tull, but it was basically copy and paste: they found things on the internet, they copied them and pasted them into the book as if they were facts and of course there are a lot of things wrong. Historically, at the level of opinions, or in telling absolutely false stories, given that people had only copied and pasted without verifying the authenticity of what they found: therefore their mistakes continued to be replicated. The author, Mark Blake, has just written the book on Peter Grant, the manager of Led Zeppelin and before that he wrote the book on the early Who. He has also written for many English rock and pop magazines and newspapers for many years, he is a very knowledgeable person and I am sure he will tell the story correctly.

“The String Quartet” is your album recorded with the Carducci Quartet, arranged and orchestrated by John O'Hara. What can you tell us about its recording, you made it in two churches, right?
Yes, it was recorded in Worcester Cathedral – one of the largest medieval cathedrals – in September 2017. We also recorded in a small church in the middle of the countryside, the exact opposite of the cathedral, a really small church the size of an average family apartment, a historic church! I didn't do it for the acoustics, people seem to think that and it wasn't like that at all: acoustics is something you have to fight for in order to get a clean recording, without all the complications of acoustic identity which is often quite unpleasant, if you do it in buildings not designed for neutral acoustics. It had much more to do with the spiritual side of the atmosphere in which I wanted the musicians to record their performance, so that it was a little reverential, as they were dealing with music that in some cases was written before they were born.

A couple of years ago you recommended the band Edensong. What music do you listen to when you're not busy with your own?
I often listen to music from artists who have asked me to participate in a song on their album or similar. Mostly when I sit down and listen, it's something that I'm not familiar with and that I have to learn and really try to understand, feel the feel of their music to add something – as a musician – that complements their music. It could be a heavy metal band, a punk artist, classical, jazz… I guest on some stuff every year. But when I listen to music in a more relaxed and recreational way, it's usually classical music. I usually do it on a plane because I'm not a happy flyer, I get quite nervous. I think listening to classical music is a way to calm me down when I face long turbulent flights through storms.

What can we expect in the future: new recordings from Ian Anderson or Jethro Tull?
Well, both or one of the two, I haven't decided yet. There are seven incomplete songs that we recorded months ago that I hope to complete in February and May, I hope to release them towards the end of this year. I am also working on a book of lyrics, which includes the lyrics of 250 songs that have been part of my life over the last 50 years… It will be a complete book of photographs that I will recover from my personal collection. Other projects… yes, there is another project about which I am keeping quiet because it is scheduled for 2020 (laughs, ed.). I have plenty to keep me busy, as a musician and as a writer, for the next few years. I also plan to write a biography not only about myself and my personal story, it will be something broader… the way I plan to write this autobiography will have a lot to do with what is unique to me, it is not something that can be written by others and therefore I have to write it myself. I think I will do it sometime between 2020 and 2021… I have a lot to keep me busy and it's important at my age to have a lot of work to carry on with energy and enthusiasm, to enjoy life!

Outside of music, in Italy we have some excellent Indian restaurants. What advice would you give to newbies to Indian food?
Indian restaurants in Italy are relatively new because just a few years ago I really struggled to find one… maybe there were in Rome and there was one in Bologna. Now they have become more common in the catering sector in big cities, obviously there are many Japanese ones, sushi bars on every corner. Everything has become more cosmopolitan, once there were only Italian or Chinese restaurants, now you have many other forms of dining to draw on, including vegetarian and vegan: there is something for everyone these days and that's a good thing. But I would never send anyone to any particular restaurant simply because I might have frequented it and liked it but maybe I was there on a good day. Even if you choose the right things on the menu, someone else could go to the same restaurant and have a terrible experience. It's as if I told you, “Go see this movie! It's in the Academy Awards this year!” You might look at it and hate it, while I look at it and think it's great. Or a book, music… I really don't like recommending things to people who might be disappointed. If I recommend something I say: “Give it a listen, it's worth it!” There might be some connections if it's a band covering Jethro Tull or maybe a band that I think deserves some support, but I still pay close attention to whether or not other people might like them. As with other ethical issues, such as conservation, animal rights and climate change: these are things that many of our fans may disagree with. So you have to accept the fact that you can't expect people to be persuaded just because they like your music. That's why I keep politics out of the public eye, especially I keep myself out of American politics, because I'm not American and I need my Visa, so I don't want to irritate Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and the presidents of some other nations! If they read some of my criticisms in the papers perhaps they would cancel my Visa. So we have to be pragmatic, I wouldn't want to disappoint thousands of fans (laughs, ed.) because I lost my American Visa because maybe I said something that wasn't my place to say as a musician.

We also know that you love cats very much, what do you think of these adorable creatures?
When I was a child I had a cat, the first animal that shared our home, I always felt closer to cats more than to dogs. I prefer cats and have had them my whole life, they are part of the family! I have two extra cats here today as my son left them for me to look after for a day and a night while he is in London. Sometimes my daughter goes away and we have to look after her cat for a couple of days or a week. Our house usually hosts a few cats looking for food and private places to sleep, usually upstairs on our bed and things get difficult when more than one wants to do it and therefore they fight, they are very territorial. Yes, I love cats very much and I am very worried that small wild cats in various nations are threatened and their future is in doubt, even more so due to climate change which heavily affects many species on planet Earth, perhaps a third of the species will be heavily affected by the end of the century. Probably the species that will be affected the most is Homo Sapiens, so take note!

Absolutely! Memento! A final message, greeting and invitation for the Italian Jethro Tull fans waiting for you in Brescia?
Well, I hope they have fun and find us interesting, sometimes with some nostalgic music. It's always nice to see smiling Italian faces, I really hope they enjoy the concert, we can't wait to come and I invite them to leave their cell phones at home. Or at least keep them in your pocket, because I find it incredibly annoying when people throw flashes at me without actually listening or watching the concert to try to record a video. I wish people would use their eyes, their ears and their memories: it's much more fun than spending the evening with a phone that annoys not only me but also people sitting around a lit screen flashing all the time. So, keep your phone in your pocket, that would be very nice… many thanks for being kind enough to do so!

(March 21, 2019)