Jethro Tull

Jethro Tull may refer to:

Locomotive Breath

"Locomotive Breath" is a song by the British progressive rock band Jethro Tull from their 1971 album, Aqualung. It is notable for a long bluesy piano introduction (particularly during live performances) and its flute solo by flautist Ian Anderson. The song receives frequent airplay on classic rock radio stations.

Production

"Locomotive Breath" was recorded in a rather unusual manner for the time: the entire track was pieced together from overdubs; most of the parts of the song were recorded separately. Ian Anderson did his normal flute and vocal parts in addition to bass drum, hi-hat, acoustic guitar and some electric guitar parts. John Evan's piano parts were then recorded; Clive Bunker added the rest of the drums and Martin Barre finished the electric guitar parts. All of these recordings were then overdubbed onto each other because Anderson was finding it difficult to communicate his musical ideas about the song to the other band members.

The composition is designed to resemble a train chugging. Anderson occasionally says a word like "Oh-OH!" in the style of "All aboard?!", as shouted by train conductors.

Ian Anderson

Ian Scott Anderson, MBE (born 10 August 1947) is a Scottish-born musician, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist and acoustic guitarist of British rock band Jethro Tull. Anderson plays several other musical instruments, including keyboards, bass guitar, bouzouki, balalaika, saxophone, harmonica, and a variety of whistles. His solo work began with the 1983 album Walk into Light, and since then he has released another five works, including the sequel of Jethro Tull album Thick as a Brick (1972) in 2012, entitled Thick as a Brick 2.

Early life

Ian Anderson was born the youngest of three siblings. His father, James Anderson, ran the RSA Boiler Fluid Company in East Port, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. Anderson spent the first part of his childhood in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was influenced by his father's big band and jazz records and the emergence of rock music, though disenchanted with the "show biz" style of early American rock and roll stars like Elvis Presley.

Gallery

Gallery may refer to:

Buildings and spaces

Minstrel in the Gallery

Minstrel in the Gallery is the eighth studio album by British band Jethro Tull, recorded in April and released in September 1975. The album goes in a different direction from their previous work War Child (1974), with the orchestration being replaced by a string quartet conducted by David Palmer. The band also return to the blend of electric and acoustic pieces, in a manner more closely to their early '70s albums such as Benefit (1970), Aqualung (1971) and Thick as a Brick (1972), and for the first time since their two concept albums of Brick and A Passion Play (1973), released a song with more than ten minutes, which occupies almost all of the second side of the record.

It would be the last album to featured bassist Jeffrey Hammond, who was replaced by former Carmen bass player John Glascock.

Production

The band recorded in a mobile studio in Monte Carlo - being the first time Jethro Tull recorded an album in such studio. Anderson thought that the band was unfocused in the making of the music, leaving him with more freedom to explore the melodies and themes. Minstrel in the Gallery's lyrics and subject matter do show an introspective and cynical air, possibly the byproduct of Anderson's recent divorce from first wife Jennie Franks and the pressures of touring, coupled with the frustrations of writing for and recording the album in Monaco.