Ian Anderson (2 of 11) - The Formative Years

[kasponya]

I saw the "Thick Of A Brick" Tour when I was eleven. It was in Zurich, Switzerland and must have been around '72 - it was only my third rock concert ever and predictably it blew my mind! :) Understandably I'll always have a soft spot for Tull, and to see and hear Ian talk at length like that is a treat! Thanks for this great series!

[interstategar]

I think Ian Anderson is a genius the way he innovated rock music.

[vagabondrecon]

very articulate



[4fingersinge]

Ian is a great interview, a very interesting guy. Although I do not understand his reasoning for giving up guitar. So what, now matter what one does there is always some YOU MAY THINK ARE BETTER but IMO musicians are just different not better than one another.

[antimatterXXXIII]

He's almost too modest - I think he's a superb acoustic guitarist - the playing on "Minstrel in the Gallery" for example is unsurpassed in all pop music if you ask me.

[jonnyb69able]

theres definately a beatles influence on benefit.

[MrRenealexis]

This guy's honesty is a pleasure to listen to.

[Berkcam]

I'm in good company... not liking Elvis either. Our house had more than enough Elvis, jazz, folk and blues etc and I opted for 'Cream' and Hendrix.

[roederism]

nothing against i.a., but when he says he never liked elvis or paul mccartney he reminds me of a donkey that says "i don't like horses.".

[AAA4509]

A thoughtful and articulate speaker and a real musician, a real talent, I always enjoy Ian being interviewed, smart guy and a musical genius

[prebenso]

how do you get to watch this

[gallivant1234]

The fact that he feels the "need" to both mention Elvis Presley,  as well as his strong deslike for him ( check his expression, he "needs" to say it...LOL), tells us a lot about him, for only a ridiculously pompous person would feel an inferiority complex of such magnitude that, in addition to his complex vis a vis Presley, he would deslike someone as equally talented as McCartney.

[JeffGR4]

@gallivant1234 I'm an Ian Anderson fan, but I agree with you that Anderson screwed up by putting down Elvis and Paul McCartney. He looks bad doing that. I think he's got a grudge against The Beatles because, their producer George Martin blew him off in the early days of Anderson's career.

[quasarsphere]

@JeffGR4

He wasn't putting them down, only saying they didn't much interest him.

[thev0id]

hard 'r' at 0:40

[Ascaidh]

Ian is a very intelligent person. It shows in his music and compositions. He brought Clasical music and other types of music to us.

Ian Anderson and James Galway are the best flutists I have heard yet.

Slainte Ian!

[robertmacisaac]

A very literate and sensible man. It must be a struggle tfor him to assume the role of "jethro tull" .

[aleon1018]

This is weird. He looks still looks pretty good for....what age? Listening to him and seeing his past performances, makes me believe he has a higher IQ than other performers. His concerts are far better than those of many other artists.

One of the videos here I just tried to watch, claimed it was him, but this guy seemed way older and wasn't able to peform as if he was coughing up a lung and the video claims to be from 2007?

Glad to see he's still alive and well in this interview.

[tprjdsr]

Aleon0118 That was Ian Anderson that you saw. He supposedly has a vocal chord problem but you cant tell from this interview. Seems to speak fine. Did you notice the pinky finger on his right hand seems to have a tendon problem. Thats his flute hand and he does amazing things with that pinky.

[aarfeld]

It's hard to believe that he took up the flute a mere year before Tull's first record or that brilliant performance on the Rolling Stones' Rock N Roll Circus (which you can see on You Tube). He must be a quick study because, although he's not a technically great player, like a Classically trained flautist, he's still damned good and highly entertaining.

[Lexotulivelulaxentri]

nonsense!!!

i'm sure he could play "A Song For Jeffrey" one month after buying his first flute!! couse i could play it two month afte i got my first one

[stand52]

It might be hard for some to understand what a very clever fellow Ian happens to be. I happen to believe that is the real secret to his very spectacular success as a musician, much like Jimi Hendrix, for another instance, or perhaps Jeff Beck. To give you some sense of *being smart*, Ian bought a Loch in Scotland, and has been farming organically grown Atlantic Salmon for a very tidy profit I am supposing. Smart is as smart does, to quote Forrest Gump.

[aarfeld]

Yes, I had read somewhere that he has a successful salmon hatchery in Scotland--something of a second career for him. However, I'm glad to see that he's out performing again; he's a great talent.

[pyannaguy]

I give everything a chance, but, Honest: Jethro Tull was one of those bands from an era when you wouldn't mistake them for anybody else.

And I love what he says about "grumpy people who like to laugh, etc." ...Good stuff! The guy is way original...

[AragornIsStrider]

Yeah, I fall into the same category of "grumpy people who like to laugh", even though I'm only 29.

Another example: George Carlin.

[mattsta1964]

Yeah! With you on George Carlin

One of my all time heroes!

[antimatterXXXIII]

@pyannaguy What amazes me is that, one, I had the good taste to like them as a kid :) and two, the music doesn't sound at all dated to me. I can't listen to Yes, Genesis, etc these days, it bore the shit out of me, but Tull and Steppenwolf never grow old, and I think that comes from the intelligence and humanity of the front man, as well as being great musicians that would do Bach proud (and did!)

[Elavats]

@antimatterXXXIII

Well said, I agree.

[NHel4]

i think it's just that now a days you have to look for good music any thing truly new is hard to find theres is this band i like called

Diablo Swing Orchestra thats a swing metal band with a oprea singer there is

new orginal stuff out there it's just now mainstream

[P0mt3]

Wow . . . way to have faith in the future of art, Ian.

I really dig Jethro Tull, but to say that music has progressed as far as it can is extremely naive. He's obviousely not been listening to the modern prog rock and jazz/fusion acts of today, and merely basing his opinion on the crap that modern radio outs out there.

Mr. Anderson, why don't you go and listen to bands like Indukti, Tool, The Mars Volta, Porcupine Tree & Ozric Tentacles & say that they are merely 're-inventing the wheel'.

[P0mt3]

Oh, and might I add Meshuggah to that list! I'm just sure artists were playing that kind of stuff back in the day. *rolls eyes* Gee Mr. Anderson, you're so wise because you think that music no longer has anything new to offer.

[RichieEastside]

yea i didnt really like that part either, mostly because I agree with him. It's kind depressing

[P0mt3]

I'm sad that you feel that way. Because there's so much good music out there that you will miss out on if you choose to assume that it doesn;t exist and therefore not seek it out. :(

[RichieEastside]

Well, seeing that I work in radio and hear just about everything that comes out, I think he has a point. Of course there's always artists who bring a fresh sound to things, I just think it's more along the lines of the industry not being conducive to bringing new styles to the table, not necessarily so much that it's impossible to create them.

[P0mt3]

I guess I see what you're saying, but everything is inspirted by what came before it, so just because a modern musical artist sounds inspired by a past rock god doesn;t mean that they themselves aren't original. They are simply building on to the foundation that came before them.

So, you've heard of bands like Jaga Jazzist, Motorpsycho, Øresund Space Collective, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Abel Ganz, Iona, Anglagard, Grobschnitt, Man Man, Behold... The Arctopus, Ashra, & Battles?

[RichieEastside]

I guess you're right about everything being inspired by what came before it, but you're talking about the creative side of music, which I agree the possibilities are endless. As for the industry side of it, don't hold your breath to hear anything new or groundbreaking on the radio anytime soon and that's really the problem.  The creative musicians are mostly underground so their sound doesn't get out to a wide enough audience to really inspire anybody.

[GrocMax]

Herein lies the problem- those of us old enough to remember the 'originals' consider all newer ones to be ripoffs, copycats, uninspired, etc. After a period of time the public forgets, or dies, and it gets 'reborn' as 'original'.

Might I suggest finding a short story by the author Spider Robinson called 'Melancholy Elephants', which deals with this; perpetual copyrights and memory of what came before, and the impossibility of originality.

[GrocMax]

Every generation thinks it reinvented sex, and can't fathom their grandparents at 20 and screwing like bunnies.

[alanmorri]

Great point. I 'm thinking it's a combo of both the business end of things being run by people who "think " they know what people want to hear and most people just plain old not giving a shit about seeking out something new they would maybe like. Depends on how much time you have available to give to anything really.

[mortalkon]

@P0mt3

Please tell me which good music is out there!

[progfan10]

@P0mt3

I really dig Jethro Tull, but to say that music has progressed as far as it can is extremely naive

Yeah, he seems jaded, although I guess someone in his position might get that way. There's always creative acts coming out - he might appreciate some of the stuff that bands like Fleet Foxes are doing!

[REBrandenburg]

Great, articulate monologue by a thoughtful, and knowledgable,grumpy guy. Always thought I'd like him. Now I like him more.

[faegrrrl]

@REBrandenburg I completely understand that. I'm one of those grumpy people who love to laugh. :) He's got such intelligence that I can't explain in words, only poetry.

[antimatterXXXIII]

@faegrrrl Same here, and I was probably born a grumpy but funny old man. I'm starting to refer to myself as Aqualung as I approach the mid 50s :)

[sgtpeppres]

ian a good interview and honest so he did not like the beatles. ok would elvis liked jethro tull dont think so , i enjoy ian an for 35 years i love jethro tull, jlr

[panhead1219]

These"livinglegendsmusic"inter­views are GREAT!''I only found then because I was looking for Rick Derringer, and then... BINGO!

[Ash1955]

what year is this interview?

[Aqualung71]

2007

[flutelearner12]

Thanks for uploading!!! Thnk you!