Armed with nothing but a bunch of great tunes and a flute, a ramshackle group of youths launched themselves onto an unsuspecting public in 1968 – and now the key players in their long and illustrious history give, for the first, time, their side of a complex and intriguing story! From the early blues of Mick Abrahams-era, This Was (an early incarnation) to ripping up the Isle of Wight Festival, through their controversial prog pastiches to the minstrel bringing early English folk to a 20th century audience, here is an overdue chance to reassess one of the finest and most controversial names in British music.
From being one of the hottest blues-rock bands of the late-60s to touring with Led Zep to holding the record for the number of consecutive nights at the LA Forum to the first live concert broadcast worldwide to nearly bringing down the GRAMMYs, the life and times of the legendary Jethro Tull is one of the greatest stories in rock! Featuring exclusive new interviews with Ian Anderson, John Evans, Mick Abrahams, Barrie Barlow, Martin Barre, Clive Bunker, Dee Palmer, Glenn Cornick, Dave Pegg, Doane Perry, and Peter-John Vettese — Packed with unique and rare archive footage and photographs collected from dedicated fans, band members and their families! DVD Extras include: Swing In (a 1969 documentary with extremely rare footage), extended interviews, and 20-page color booklet.
Buy “Jethro Tull: Classic Artists” For Only $12.38
April 29, 2008
#1
Great Documentary on Jethro Tull that is a must for all Tull fans. All the materials add up to a bit, but the main documentary is about 1 hr. and 50 minutes, definitely the longest thing I’ve seen on Tull. This was actually done on their 40th Anniversary in 2008 and has been in release in England since then. Don’t know why it took so long to officially release it here in the USA.
Jethro Tull definitely deserves a real, in-depth look at. This, as I said before, so far comes closest. Hard core fans will be disappointed that about half the documentary covers their first 5 years and they spend about a half an hour on the next 35 years. The summary in the end is excellent and best of all, all the former band members get plenty of screen time (in fact, Ian Anderson isn’t really properly recognized as the true core until near the end – Dee (David) Palmer sums it up quite nicely saying how there was really no stopping Ian from being successful regardless of whoever he would end up in a band with. His determination, drive and focus are really why we ever had Jethro Tull.
As far as the music, it doesn’t disappoint with lots of pieces getting their moment or two in the spotlight and in many ways the lack of the Songs from the Wood/Heavy Horses days on this is made up for with the MSG dvd that was released a few months back. In some ways that dvd along with this one and the Isle of Wight concert give us a good overview of Tull’s glory days (1968-1979) and certainly my favorite. I still wish we had a concert or two from the Aqualung or Thick as a Brick tours, but unfortunately they don’t seem to exist (and it is my very personal suspicion that Mr. Jeffrey Hammond is the reason there is virtually no Tull footage from 1971-75 – Has anyone noticed that all Tull film ceases in this period and picks up again with the Tampa concert in 76?). That being said Mr. Hammond is the only band member missing from this dvd, but he was generous enough to contribute a wonderful essay that is very amusing.
All Tull fans will want to see this. It was really great to see Clive Bunker, Mick Abrahams, John Evan, Barry Barlow and especially Glen Cornick, who gets to give his whole side of the story on his mysterious departure from the band. I give this an ‘A’, but I would love to see a 4 hour documentary on Tull one day, like the one that was just done for Monty Python.