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DARK SECRETS: 2 | Rare Historical Photos

“Ian’s flute solo got stretched out… Martin Barre and I would sit and play cards on stage, with a pot of tea. He had no clue what was happening”: Former Jethro Tull members share their favourite moments

Mick Abrahams, Clive Bunker, Jeffrey Hammond, Peter John Vettese and Tony Iommi recall what they learned from – or what they did to – band leader Ian Anderson

Louder

“I wound up on the bill with them in Malaysia, where I got escorted offstage by police with automatic weapons”: Despite the drama, Joe Satriani still loves Jethro Tull

Guitar maestro professes his love for Ian Anderson’s genius, along with early Yes, ELP and King Crimson

Louder

“Aqualung was Ian’s riff. The solo was all done on the fly. If I hadn’t got it in two takes then it would have been a flute solo. That’s when Jimmy Page came up to say hello”: Martin Barre on Jethro Tull, the Aqualung sessions –and supporting Hendrix

A signature-shifting collision of bucolic folk and frayed-edge rock, Jethro Tull’s Aqualung is one of the ’70s’ most daring records. Barre takes us on a deep dive back to those fabled sessions, from winging hisparts to snubbing Jimmy Page

Guitar World

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“I was truly terrified. In the first few months, I was on the same stage as every one of my heroes: Mike Bloomfield, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix”: Martin Barre explains why his early days with Jethro Tull were a trial by fire

Jethro Tull went on tour with Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Vanilla Fudge right after Barre joined the band

Guitar World

“Jimmy Page was in the control room window, waving madly. I was in the middle of the solo, and I thought, ‘Sorry, but I can’t stop.’ I just turned my back”: Martin Barre on the time Jimmy Page nearly cut him off mid-Aqualung solo

“I think it was take two,” the Jethro Tull guitarist recalled, “and if I hadn’t got it in two then it would have been a flute solo”

Guitar World

“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

Louder

Former Jethro Tull members Martin Barre and Doane Perry guest on new Chris Herin single

Tiles guitarist Chris Herin will release his star-studded debut solo album Hiding In Plain Sight in November

Louder

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“I was always the lowest common denominator… but occasionally less can be more”: Jeffrey Hammond’s five years with Jethro Tull

Bassist contributed to some of the band’s most definitive works – but ultimately couldn’t resist the call of another art form

Louder

“I tried to persuade Steven Wilson we should give that one a miss on the remix series!” Ian Anderson still detests the mindless sax of Jethro Tull’s A Passion Play

Horrified by sessions in a French chateau, they went home, dumped the work they’d done on their Thick As A Brick follow-up and started again. The result was a Marmite production that inspired split rumours

Louder

“The idea is to be felt and not seen. A lot of that came from when I was in Jethro Tull”: Jonathan Noyce on how playing with Martin Barre and Gary Moore honed his “stealth bass” approach – and his final days with the late Irish guitar legend

The Yamaha and Fender fan has made use of his “art school” education in Tull and his loud and free times with late icon Moore

Guitar World

“Martin is doing his own stuff. He should be having a whale of a time, instead of being embittered about Jethro Tull”: Ian Anderson seemingly rules out the prospect of a ‘Tull reunion with Martin Barre

Anderson doesn't think a reunion with Barre “would make the atmosphere within the band very easy”

Guitar World

"Things were gloriously easy back in 1969 because we only had two albums. Things are now much more tortuous": Ian Anderson on touring, bedbugs and Martin Barre

Jethro Tull are about to play 10 UK shows, and band leader Ian Anderson is hitting the rails rather than the road

Louder

“It was like being a reporter with a notebook going, ‘No! Wow!’ It was hilarious. We had all the fun but we didn’t have to go through the lifestyle”: Martin Barre on being serious with Jethro Tull while Led Zeppelin partied

Guitarist nearly missed his chance to join Ian Anderson’s band in 1968 because he didn’t have the courage to call the number on the advert

Louder

“I grew up with a lot of metal, so the heavier side of prog is where my roots are." Southern Empire and the making of Civilisation

Southern Empire's second album Civilisation saw the Australian quintet go for it on a truly epic scale

Louder

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“Not my finest hour… but if you can forgive my codpiece and tights in the 70s you can forgive me getting out a coffin in a cloak and comedy fangs”: Ian Anderson on Jethro Tull’s 80s era

The decade started with a “big split” and continued through unhappy electronic experiments and bad videos to that controversial Grammy win - but leader says it’s all part of their “universe of silliness”

Louder

“The day I ask the audience to sing my songs I might as well go home. It’s hard enough for trained singers, let alone an audience who will massacre it”: How Ian Anderson refined Jethro Tull stage shows

He took a long hard look at his production values when The Broadsword And The Beast was first released in 1982

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