Jethro Tull, Metal, and The Grammys

Music that takes me a long time to fully absorb and appreciate is always the music I love the most.

S.D. wrote:

More than Grammy worthy (which they deserved numerous times throughout the 70s) but they should also have been in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame years ago.  

A band that unique, those are the kinds that really deserve recognition.  Ian Anderson I believe is one of the best songwriters from the entire decade of the 70s...and that decade has more great songwriters than any other.  

Should clarify, I meant at that point when they won in a category they didn't belong. Otherwise, why not ? They are a decent enough band.

Gotcha. It was a case of the Grammy committee deciding to give them a current award in recognition of the fact they had snubbed them for the previous 21 years.

S.D. wrote:

Music that takes me a long time to fully absorb and appreciate is always the music I love the most.

Yeah, it provides a fuller journey than quick grabs and thus develops a more rounded relationship. Like a character study, I suppose.

Jethro Tull really kicked in my appreciation for mixing acoustic and electric guitar parts. That wonderful relationship between Anderson's acoustic/folk stylings and Martin Barre's electric assault was so rich, a beautiful combination. It helped me later to get into other bands like Gentle Giant.

S.D. wrote:

Jethro Tull really kicked in my appreciation for mixing acoustic and electric guitar parts.  That wonderful relationship between Anderson's acoustic/folk stylings and Martin Barre's electric assault was so rich, a beautiful combination.  It helped me later to get into other bands like Gentle Giant.

Gentle Giant, another killer band.

I forget when I actually "got into" Tull. Back then, I was a casual listener (radio hits and all that.) and did like the release that was current at that time Crest Of A Knave. I think when I discovered Stone Trek I grew an appreciation of them, but at the same time I was too busy getting hardcore into Yes, Genesis, Camel and ELP. So, I just didn't have time for them yet.

I remember getting into Tull after Gentle Giant because some of the music on A Passion Play reminded me of GGs style and made me a big fan of that album.

I first ran across Tull because I had the song "Something's On The Move" on a compilation album. Then I got Aqualung when I was about 13 and then a few years later the "Original Masters" compilation. I liked all that stuff but I was still just a casual fan.

Then around 1991 I got a copy of "Stand Up" and that's the album that finally clicked for me. I was so blown away by the mix of hard rock, blues, folk, jazz and classical that I quickly started acquiring a Tull vinyl collection. I got This Was, Benefit and Living In The Past shortly after. That was really the true start of me being a Tull fanatic. Once I learned those earlier records I moved on to Thick As A Brick and the rest of their discography.

That was about a 12 year stretch of time that it took me to really "get" Jethro Tull.

I was into Iron Maiden and read articles on how much Jethro Tull was an influence on them (of course, they did a cover of "Cross-eyed Mary"). I found a beat-up vinyl copy of "M.U. The Best of Jethro Tull" in a used record store. As soon as I heard the first song "Teacher," I was hooked. I went right out to The Wherehouse and bought the "20 Years of Jethro Tull" CD Boxed Set. At $65, that was quite an investment for my 14 year-old self, but I was confident I would not be disappointed. I popped in Disc 3 first (The Essential Tull). "Witch's Promise" was the first track and I knew right then that this was my band. I soon started collecting their back catalog (mostly on cassette and some on CD, but later got the vinyl, too, because of the extra photos on the cover or the cool stuff in the gatefolds they sometimes had). Loved everything but their first album (too bluesy) and A Passion Play. I remember putting off listening to Maiden's version of "Cross-Eyed Mary" until I heard Tull's. I had to hear the original first, LOL.