lan Anderson’s new smorgasbord

Press, 6 December 1989, Page 30

lan Anderson’s new smorgasbord

By

Clifford Meth

Since 1968, the Jethro Tull band has rewarded its international following with nearly an album a year and frequent concert tours. Now Tull, named for an eighteenth century British agronomist who invented a mechanical seed sower, has kicked off its third decade with “Rock Island,” the band’s seventeenth studio LP. A far cry from Tull’s earlier “concept” albums of the early 1970 s — “Thick as a Brick” and “A Passion Play,” which brought the band fame and fortune — “Rock Island” is a potpourri of short and mid-length heavy metal tracks. It follows closely on the heels of the band’s last LP, “Crest of a Knave,” which garnered a Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Performance (“Steel Monkey”). “We live in an age of fast food,” says lan Anderson, Tull’s leader/ vocalist / songwriter. “Back when we made our ‘concept’ albums, people were prepared to sit down and address something that was more demanding. Now, audiences in most countries prefer a smorgasbord, rather than the grand, elaborate, large-scale main courses.” Anderson isn’t tempted by the mega-dollars being made with retro-rock tours. He says that he would never dust off “Thick as a Brick” the way The Who recently toured with “Tommy.” "I would feel very awkward about laying the emphasis on something that took place 16 years ago,” Anderson says. “Furthermore, ‘Thick as a Brick’s’ not; as accessible as ‘Tommy.’ ‘Tommy’ is very straightforward. ‘Thick as a Brick’ is more abstract.” If forced to sit down and perform it beginning to end, he says, “I would do an editing job.” . In truth, Anderson is more interested in what he’s doing now than what

he did then. A full half of this time his devoted to a thriving salmon farm in Strathaird, Scotland, which produces 200 tons of smoked salmon annually, nearly 5 per cent of the country’s output of that particular delicacy. The business, which began 10 years ago with Anderson’s desire not to become a British tax exile, has become a lucrative passion. “I no longer need music to pay the rent,” Anderson says. “I play music because I want to. Jethro Tull is like a cottage industry now, one with a very large customer base.”

Continuing the output has never been a burden to Anderson. “None of my songs, whether old or new, ever took that long to write,” he says. “Most of my music was probably written in hotel rooms, or scribbled in the back of taxis. None of it resulted from working away arduously in the sense of ‘writing.’ As someone once said, ‘lt’s only rock ’n roll’.”

Anderson prefers to maintain a safe distance from the rest of the music scene. He listens to the radio and watches MTV, but likens the habit to the way most people read a newspaper. “I don’t do it because I enjoy (it),” he says. “A lot of it is depressing — but I want to know what’s happening in the world.” He finds the current crop of talent lacking inspiration. "I’m so irritated by banal statements. If I hear the phrases, ‘make it,’ ‘fake it’ and ‘take it’ rhymed together again, I’m going to scream. I even heard it on the Rolling Stones’ new album!” Anderson is just as critical of his own music as he isugf his contemporaries’. IrPan attempt to study his progress, he recently compiled air of the lyrics

to his more than 200 songs. “I saw certain adjectives and nouns cropping up several times over the years. At first, it was horrifying. But a friend told me, ‘Oh, don’t worry about that — it’s called style’.” Many former Tull members have influenced the styles'of other groups. Tull founder Mick Abrahams formed the British blues band Bloodwyn Pig, while early Tull player Tony lommi helped assemble heavy metalists Black Sabbath. Two of the current players, Dave Pegg (bass) and Martin Allcock (keyboards), also play with the English folk rock band Fairport Convention.

With the exception of Martin Barre, who has played lead guitar for Tull since the 1969 “Stand Up” LP, Anderson is the only original member; of the band still with the group. Upon completing its recent European tour, Tull began a United States and Canadian tour in late October. Anderson now makes a conscious effort to give fans more of what they’re paying for. Not only are the concerts longer, but they’re guaranteed fresher than most concerts done by bands that could do an entire evening’s blast from the past. “About 50 per cent of what we perform has never been played on stage before,” Anderson says. “It’s either material from the new album or older material that we’ve never done on tour. The other 50 per cent will be some of the pieces that we always play: ‘Aqualung,’ ‘Locomotive Breath,’ a bit of‘Thick as a Brick,’ and several other songs that we almost always do.” What’s . Anderson’s excuse for this trip down nostalgia lane? “Well, we caiVt have a riot on pur haMs now, can we?”'’he asks with a smile. - -Los Angeles Times