JETHRO
TULL - FOTOGRAFIEN VON DIDI ZILL
by Didi Zill and Hermann Büchner (2003)
Photographer
Didi Zill is a longtime fan of Jethro Tull. Over the years he met
the band on several occasions and in different circumstances and
made hundreds of photographs. From his photo sessions with Jethro
Tull over the years Zill composed a wonderful selection from his
work, which was released in November in the format of a so-called
"coffee-table book". The collection contains many photos
that were never published before and show clearly Zill's skill as a
photographer. Some of the pics were published in the German music
magazines in the seventies.
The book
starts with a preface in which the uniqueness of Jethro Tull is
stressed and the release of this collection is justified. Each
section of the book describes Tull's development in a certain era
and Zill's recollections of the specific photo sessions. Büchner,
who wrote these historical overviews, succeeds in portraying the
band well, without losing himself in heaps of details. Thanks to
this quality, the texts support the images and place them in
context. The texts are all in German and English as well. The first
section contains photos taken in Los Angeles in 1969 in the days
that the band was at the verge of their breakthrough in the USA.
Four young blokes and a lot of hair.... The next contains pics taken
in Offenburg, Germany, in 1972 and seems to refer to the humour of
Monty Python and Tull's keenness for visual acts on stage. Wonderful
pictures from the 1973 Munich concert give an impression of how
powerful the band was on stage in these days, which also goes for
the 1976 Rotterdam concert. One of the highlights of the
collection are the pictures taken in July 1984 at Ian's home in
Buckinghamshire, with shots of the new Tull line up and of Ian, his
family (Shona, James and Gail) and his newly acquired estate. Live
photos fill the 1987 section: Tull's concert in Munich with some
great shots of the audience. From this point on the pictures mainly
focus on Ian as a performer, but there are also some great ones of
Martin and his Hamer guitar - the same guitar that helped Tull win a
Grammy for Crest Of A Knave....
As a
longtime Tull follower I consider this book as a very special item
for any Tull-fan. Everytime when I look into it and turn the pages,
my own commitment with the band and the years of musical pleasure
and enjoying their concerts are evoked The pictures bring back
recollections of wonderful experiences. In a way they somehow date
my own life.... I take that this book offers each fan a personal
experience in that regards and maybe that is why it is essentially
speaking so valuable. The book offers a history of Tull in thrilling
pictures and well-written texts and covers the era in which the guys
were one of the biggest and most interesting bands in the world. In
that regard, this sturdy volume certainly is a collectors' item and
well worth the money. The only minor point about this book is imho
that the folding runs across the centerpart of some of the most
exquisite pictures. But hey: we can't have it all, can we?.
Châpeau for Zill and Büchner for this contribution.
Edited
by: Schwarzkopf & Schwartzkopf Verlag, Berlin, Germany. ISBN:
3-89602-462-0,333 pp, price Euro 49,80; available at
Amazon
Germany.
IT'S FOR YOU! The Magic
And Musical Mayhem Of Jethro Tull
by Brian Rabey (due for release
in 2003)
Brian
Rabey is working an a biography of the band, titled: "It's
For You! The Magic And Musical Mayhem Of Jethro
Tull". There is more information and
a preview of three chapters available on this site: http://www.cht.qc.ca/cht/menuprogressiverock.htm
JETHRO
TULL - The Pocket Essential Guide
by Raymond Benson (2002)
Author Raymond Benson looks at this
legendary rock band and analyzes its place in pop
music history. He examines every Jethro Tull album
— track listing, personnel, cover art, recording
history, and content. A handy rating system informs
Tull newbies where to start and provides longtime
fans with fodder for debate. A book for both the
casual and hard-core fan, Jethro Tull is an
insightful companion to enhance one’s listening
pleasure. The book is released to coincide with
Jethro Tull's 35th anniversary in 2003.
Available at Pocket
Essentials or Amazon UK. ISBN:
1904048188, 96pp, price £3.99
JETHRO
TULL, A HISTORY OF THE BAND, 1968 - 2001
by Scott Allen Nollen (2002)
This is a very well documented history
of the band through the present, written by an
acquaintance of several of its members. The book
includes a chronology of all of the band’s
recordings and information on all accompanying tours,
with the author’s critiques as well as the
band’s own reminiscences and opinions of each
album. It's the first book on Tull that offers an
interesting musical description of most of the songs
and albums in general and as a consequence makes
clear how Tull developed musically. Also included are
previously unpublished interviews with founder Ian
Anderson, long-time band member David Pegg, other
band members Glenn Cornick, Andy Giddings and Doane
Perry, and more. Ian wrote a classic, wonderfully witty
foreword, and Dave Pegg wrote the heartfelt afterword
(which thanks the fans). Both Glenn Cornick and
Doane Perry, as well as Ian, proofread the manuscript
and made corrections and suggestions. Ian
himself provided 16 previously unpublished
photographs from his personal collection, ranging
from the early 70s to 1999. Tull fans will love
these! Glenn Cornick also supplied several rare
photos. The book is the most well-balanced one on
Tull. Though being a Tull-fan, Nollen managed to keep
enough distance to his subject to write an
"unaffected" history of the band. Highly
recommended.
*
Jan Voorbij
Description: The book is a a large
format illustrated softcover.
368pp. photographs, appendices, notes, bibliography,
index $39.95 softcover 2002; ISBN: 0-7864-1101-5.
Availability: The book can be ordered online: McFarland and
Company, Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina,
USA, 28640; order line 1-800-253-2187.
FLYING COLOURS, The
Jethro Tull Reference Manual
by Greg Russo (2000)
Jethro Tull has provided fans with
enjoyable and challenging music for over three
decades. No other band has featured such a wide range
of musicians and personalities. Through mainstay Ian
Anderson's forward-thinking musical direction and
intelligent lyrical perceptions on life, Jethro Tull
has skirted every musical trend and endured longer
than nearly all of their contemporaries.
This is Greg Russo's fifth book and contains
everything a Tull fan would ever need in one place: a
complete band history, detailed song analysis, a gig
list and the most amazing group and solo
discographies ever compiled. This is the bible for
Tullies worldwide!
There is an updated first edition of the
book available now..New information
was added about the "classic"Tull era since
Glenn Cornick and Clive Bunker contributed quite a
bit of new information. Russo had exclusive
access to Cornick's diaries, which nailed down quite
a bit of information and proved that Ian was wrong in
some cases! Corrections were made, the
recording dates have been refined, updated with all
concerts that took place during the year 2000 and
many missing concert dates from the early days have
now been captured.
Description: paperback, 256 pp., 1st
edition, updated version (July, 2000), Crossfire Pub;
ISBN: 0-9648157-6-1
Availability: In North-America the book can be
ordered at: Crossfire Publications, P.O. Box 20406,
Floral Park, New York 11002 USA. Outside North
America, the book is available from: John Arkle, 2
Buryfield, Bury, Huntingdon, Cambs. PE17 1LE,
England. The price per book is $22.95 US plus $7.50
postage. Orders can be faxed or called in to John
Arkle at +(01487) 814752 or faxed to Crossfire
Publications. VISA and Mastercard accepted. The book
can also be ordered online at Amazon Books, were readers'
reviews are added.
THE PHANTOMS OF 3000 YEARS : A
Look At Some Of The Myths
Behind The Music Of Jethro Tull
by Alan J. Hodgson (2000)
This
very informative booklet is the fruit of extensive
research and aims at fans who are interested in the
folk aspect of the music of Jethro Tull. It contains
15 insightful essays and 5 poems. To all of them
footnotes are added. Some of the essays began their
life as a series of articles for "Living In
The Past - The Alternative Jethro Tull Fanzine",
but were all reworked for this booklet. The essays
give background information on aspects of English
folklore so many Tull-songs are referring to or based
on: Dark Ages, Beltane, Broadsword, Cold wind to
Walhalla, Come ride with the Kelpie, Coronach, Cup of
wonder, Dun Ringill, Jack-in-the-Green, Mayhem maybe,
Songs from the wood, The minstrel in the gallery,
Velvet green, Weathercock and Witches promise. Really
worth reading, it proved to be beneficial when
annotating Ian's folk-oriented songs. Not only are
the essays very informative, they also evoke the
atmoshere of adventure and myth as a result of the
style(s) they were written in. Highly recommended.
*
Jan Voorbij
Description: Stormwatch Publications; Birstall,
UK, second and extended edition May 2000; 75 pp.;
booklet, ISBN 0-9538444-0-4
Availability: further information and orders:
Stormwatch Publications, C/o Alan Hodgson, 48 Kirk
Gate, Birstall, West Yorkshire, England WF17 9PB,
Email: ajh@aaooo.wanadoo.co.uk
It's price (including postage and packing) is as
follows:
UK: £ 5.00, Europe: £ 6.00 or $ 9.00, USA: £ 7.50
or $ 11.00. It
will only be
available at the current price while stocks last (which won't be
long!).
Cheques, postal orders or IMO's made out to A.
Hodgson please.
DRIVING
IN DIVERSE - A Collective Profile Of Jethro Tull
by Barbara Espinoza (1999)
Barbara
Espinoza in her book also describes Jethro
Tull’s genesis albeit from a different, almost
empathic perspective, covering different aspects. In
a fluent, energetic style she outlines the history of
the band in a way that shows a talent for blending
the right major events with significant details,
focussing on the essential developments instead of
getting lost in a sea of details. The second chapter,
"The Followers Perspective" is about us,
the peculiar breed known as Tull-fans. This book is
to my knowledge the first one that stresses the
importance of followers for the band in terms of
‘keeping them going’ and in which a serious
attempt is undertaken to shed light on personal
experiences of Tull-followers. In other words: what
makes this music so dear to them? Based on interviews
and information available on opinion-pages of
websites, Barbara portrays the diversity of followers
and what binds them together. Then the music itself
is submitted to an analysis. Each album is briefly
reviewed and several pieces are commented on by a
musicologist. These comments are in itself
encouragements to re-listen to songs we have known
for so long. The second half of the book contains
interesting interviews with Glenn Cornick, Clive
Bunker, Tony Williams, Mick Abrahams, Jeffrey Hammond
and – of course – Ian Anderson, shining
light on motives, experiences, intentions and
personal histories in relation to Jethro Tull. The
last section of the book contains a list of resources
and a photo gallery with 25 rare b/w photographs.
This book would not be my first pick when looking for
information or references, but it surely would be if
I would like to learn more about the atmosphere in
and around the band. And that is exactly what I
particularly like this book for. As it is
"driving in diverse" it definitely adds
something substantial to what is known about Tull in
other books, articles and on the internet. Highly
recommended.
*
Jan Voorbij
Description: Morris Publishing, Kearney,
NE, USA, 1999 ; ISBN 0739203304; 209 pp. with b/w
pictures, bibliography; paperback.
Availability: If you would like to order a copy the
price is $19.95 (U.S. FUNDS) + Shipping
and handling, Approximate charges, $3.95 for
Continental United States shipments ( International
Rates will be posted soon), for a total cost of
$23.90. Please send check or money order to:
Barbara Espinoza, C/O Driving In Diverse, 5325
Century Ave #1, Middleton, WI 53562, USA or directly
at Borders.com.
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