Jethro Tull on new, and old, age pop
“Once it becomes Barry Manilow in tights, ‘cheque please', I'm out of there.”
In 1976, progressive rock legends Jethro Tull released an album called Too Old to Rock ‘n' Roll, Too Young to Die, and although it was not autobiographical, it did reflect many of the feelings of Tull's frontman, Ian Anderson, as a rock musician who was starting to age.
Now, nearly 30 years after the album was released, Anderson's group is still going strong, despite several line-up changes and varied amounts of success with subsequent releases. I was lucky enough to have been granted a telephone interview with Anderson, himself, and despite my initial nervousness, he graciously chatted to my friend and I for half of an hour before having to depart for a radio show. What we got out of him, in retrospect, was the sound of an older generation of rock fans, one that is unsatisfied with the state of modern music.
That is not to say that Jethro Tull has not helped to shape the sound of modern music, however. In fact, Tull are among a handful of bands that have, in actuality, set the precedent for rock concerts today. Rather early in their career, the band became notorious for dressing up in full costumes onstage, often taking on entirely different personas. Even from watching videos of Anderson's live performances, it was hard to believe that I was talking to the same man.
“I think most people who perform, whether it's classical music, ballet, thespians on a stage or making a movie, you take on a slightly different persona when you get in front of people,” Anderson said. “Whereas an actor has to act, has to pretend to be someone different, unless you're… that dreadful Hugh Grant guy.”
All humour aside, it was obvious through his tone that Anderson has more recently adopted a critical view of these stage shows, which he described as the ‘pageantry' of rock and roll. When I asked him about what separates concert pageantry from showmanship, he paused a moment before responding.
“A very, very thin dividing line, but I think there's a self-consciousness that comes with something that is very theatrical and show-bizzy,” Anderson explained. “Once it becomes Barry Manilow in tights, ‘cheque please', I'm out of there. That's where Jethro Tull was headed in the early 70s... the ‘bigger is better' philosophy started to come into play.”
Indeed this philosophy has carried on to modern pop, and Tull's frontman was quite vocal, even criticizing, icons like Madonna and Michael Jackson.
Truth be told, in spite of his critical attitude, Anderson never once seemed crotchety or embittered, as one might expect from an ‘old generation' rock and roller. Instead, he made light of circumstances, and gave suggestions for modern pop that just might work.
“You're not going to see Madonna walk onto a stage with a three piece group and entertain you for hours [and I think] it gets in the way of the music,” said Anderson about the Material Girl.
“I would dearly love if Michael Jackson ever has the balls to get back on a stage again and risk the diatribes from audiences and critics alike. He ought to seriously contemplate getting on a stage with a three-piece band and just actually proving that he is fundamentally a great singer and dancer and entertainer... If he, however, in some desperate measure to remain the ‘King of Pop' went out there with a bigger and better show than everybody else's and just relied on lip-synching and fast numbers of tight-crotched dancers to entertain us while he sort of basked in the glory of accolades... frankly, he deserves a good kicking.”
From 80s hit makers to the most profitable music of this generation, rap, which from Anderson's perspective is mechanical, sterile and over-stylized. I suggested to him that perhaps he has adopted the same attitude that parents in the 70s had regarding Jethro Tull's music, that rock and roll was just noise.
Anderson explained his disappointment in rap music by mentioning blues musicians Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, who were quite an influence on him. Recently, Terry and McGhee had an old song of theirs used in a popular British TV commercial. Anderson said,
“Hopefully that sound is being heard by some young British musicians sitting there and saying, ‘What is that? I want to do that!' and I hope that what they do is learn to strum a guitar and play a harmonica and sing, Anderson said with a slightly sarcastic demeanour. “[I hope] they don't just say, ‘Oh, I must sample that', which, unfortunately, is probably what's already happened.”
It's hard to argue with someone who is a legend in his own right, and while Anderson and Jethro Tull may well be a little out of touch with modern pop and rock, Jethro Tull's contributions to modern music are undeniable. From the first rock and roll flautist to over the top stage shows, Tull were, and still are a source of influence to many today.
If you have the money and the time, it would certainly be in your best interest to see them at the JLC on November 25. Tickets are available at the Biz Booth on campus, online at johnlabattcentre.com or at the JLC box office.
In 1976, progressive rock legends Jethro Tull released an album called Too Old to Rock ‘n' Roll, Too Young to Die, and although it was not autobiographical, it did reflect many of the feelings of Tull's frontman, Ian Anderson, as a rock musician who was starting to age.
Now, nearly 30 years after the album was released, Anderson's group is still going strong, despite several line-up changes and varied amounts of success with subsequent releases. I was lucky enough to have been granted a telephone interview with Anderson, himself, and despite my initial nervousness, he graciously chatted to my friend and I for half of an hour before having to depart for a radio show. What we got out of him, in retrospect, was the sound of an older generation of rock fans, one that is unsatisfied with the state of modern music.
That is not to say that Jethro Tull has not helped to shape the sound of modern music, however. In fact, Tull are among a handful of bands that have, in actuality, set the precedent for rock concerts today. Rather early in their career, the band became notorious for dressing up in full costumes onstage, often taking on entirely different personas. Even from watching videos of Anderson's live performances, it was hard to believe that I was talking to the same man.
“I think most people who perform, whether it's classical music, ballet, thespians on a stage or making a movie, you take on a slightly different persona when you get in front of people,” Anderson said. “Whereas an actor has to act, has to pretend to be someone different, unless you're… that dreadful Hugh Grant guy.”
All humour aside, it was obvious through his tone that Anderson has more recently adopted a critical view of these stage shows, which he described as the ‘pageantry' of rock and roll. When I asked him about what separates concert pageantry from showmanship, he paused a moment before responding.
“A very, very thin dividing line, but I think there's a self-consciousness that comes with something that is very theatrical and show-bizzy,” Anderson explained. “Once it becomes Barry Manilow in tights, ‘cheque please', I'm out of there. That's where Jethro Tull was headed in the early 70s... the ‘bigger is better' philosophy started to come into play.”
Indeed this philosophy has carried on to modern pop, and Tull's frontman was quite vocal, even criticizing, icons like Madonna and Michael Jackson.
Truth be told, in spite of his critical attitude, Anderson never once seemed crotchety or embittered, as one might expect from an ‘old generation' rock and roller. Instead, he made light of circumstances, and gave suggestions for modern pop that just might work.
“You're not going to see Madonna walk onto a stage with a three piece group and entertain you for hours [and I think] it gets in the way of the music,” said Anderson about the Material Girl.
“I would dearly love if Michael Jackson ever has the balls to get back on a stage again and risk the diatribes from audiences and critics alike. He ought to seriously contemplate getting on a stage with a three-piece band and just actually proving that he is fundamentally a great singer and dancer and entertainer... If he, however, in some desperate measure to remain the ‘King of Pop' went out there with a bigger and better show than everybody else's and just relied on lip-synching and fast numbers of tight-crotched dancers to entertain us while he sort of basked in the glory of accolades... frankly, he deserves a good kicking.”
From 80s hit makers to the most profitable music of this generation, rap, which from Anderson's perspective is mechanical, sterile and over-stylized. I suggested to him that perhaps he has adopted the same attitude that parents in the 70s had regarding Jethro Tull's music, that rock and roll was just noise.
Anderson explained his disappointment in rap music by mentioning blues musicians Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, who were quite an influence on him. Recently, Terry and McGhee had an old song of theirs used in a popular British TV commercial. Anderson said,
“Hopefully that sound is being heard by some young British musicians sitting there and saying, ‘What is that? I want to do that!' and I hope that what they do is learn to strum a guitar and play a harmonica and sing, Anderson said with a slightly sarcastic demeanour. “[I hope] they don't just say, ‘Oh, I must sample that', which, unfortunately, is probably what's already happened.”
It's hard to argue with someone who is a legend in his own right, and while Anderson and Jethro Tull may well be a little out of touch with modern pop and rock, Jethro Tull's contributions to modern music are undeniable. From the first rock and roll flautist to over the top stage shows, Tull were, and still are a source of influence to many today.
If you have the money and the time, it would certainly be in your best interest to see them at the JLC on November 25. Tickets are available at the Biz Booth on campus, online at johnlabattcentre.com or at the JLC box office.
