PLANET ROCK 59when signing autographs. “Most of our fans are totally benign,” Anderĥ
son explains. “But I always make eye contact with them. They just want
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about not looking up, and I don’t think he took too kindly to it.”
Despite the occasional gun and used tampon, Jethro Tull survived
in tact. The Aqualung tour ended on November 18 at New York’s prestiĥ
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conquered America.
Not that success changed Ian Anderson’s outlook. He was that rare
species: a ’70s rock star who barely drank, didn’t touch drugs and was
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learned to drive. After the show he’d ignore any loitering groupies, preĥ
ferring to go to his hotel room alone. “Some of the band liked human
company, while some of us thought, Hey, 20,000 at
Madison Square Garden is enough human company...”
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to Tull’s hit LP. “After Aqualung was described as a conĥ
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all concept albums.” Its successor, 1972’s Thick As A
Brick, was, indeed, the mother of all concept albums.
In 2020 and in every year in which Jethro Tull, in its
various incarnations, have toured since 1971, Aqualung
and Locomotive Breath have mostly remained in the
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Anderson doppelganger on the cover refuses to go
quietly, even now. “These songs stand the test of time
because they’re still relevant,” believes their composer.
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ready for the park bench just yet.“AQUALUNG TRIED TO SUE US.
I DIDN’T REALISE IT WAS A REGISTERED
TRADE NAME IN AMERICA.”
IAN ANDERSONIAN ANDERSON’s Jethro Tull: The Prog Years tour plays throughout
the UK in November 2020.“And is that him on the cover of Aqualung?” It all added to the LP’s
air of mystery. It was the era in which listeners really listened, scrutinisĥ
ing lyrics for hidden meanings. Aqualung even came with a spoof
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In the States, readers of The Village Voice damned Tull’s latest with
faint praise, voting it ‘The 22nd Best Album Of 1971’. But the album
reached Number 7 on the Billboard chart, and was a Top 5 hit around
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back of My God,” says Anderson. “It gave us some protest credibility. I
said something they construed wrongly as ‘I hate religion’, but that made
them buy our records in droves. Even to this day when I go back to Italy
it’s the closest I get to being a bad boy.”
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burned AqualungLQWKH%LEOHĥ%HOWVWDWHV,WZDVQ¶WRQDSDUZLWKWKH
backlash against John Lennon and The Beatles, but there was still that
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lawsuit for copyright infringement. “I didn’t realise Aqualung was a
registered trade name,” insists Anderson. “But it was pointed out that
the album was selling a lot of copies and was a probably a good advertiseĥ
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the road, selling their new songs about
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to an expanding audience. As the gigs
became bigger, so did the show. Anderĥ
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Sometimes he brought them a pot of tea as well.
Eventually, Anderson bemused by the audience’s laughĥ
ter, turned around and saw what was happening. “The
whole point was often to do something deliberately and
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times they didn’t.”
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DIWHUWKH¿UVWOHJRIWKHAqualung tour. He’d just met his future wife and
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Bunker told me in 2018. “Am I still with the wife?... No.”
Enter: Blackpudlian drummer Barrie Barlow, who’d previously been
holding down a day job while playing six nights a week in a local nightĥ
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appeared like I was getting rid of people to bring back my old mates, but
the truth is they were the only people I knew.”
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he said in 2011. “It was a big shock to the system.”
The riot at the following night’s gig in Denver came as an even
bigger shock. But there was little time to take stock, as the tour
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audience seen waving a. 3 8 Special around.
These sort of incidents heightened Anderson’s feeling of vulneraĥ
bility and made him more vigilant. Years later, he was in a bar with
GE John McEnroe and noticed how the tennis champ never lifted his eyes
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