Originally published at: Did you know Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi was in Jethro Tull? | Boing Boing
…
4 Likes
I picked up the guitar again during the lockdown, and really doubled down after EVH’s death. I found this video recently that any guitarist will find interesting…
6 Likes
11 Likes
Chas from Chas ‘n’ Dave played bass with Deep Purple (briefly).
3 Likes
Chas & Dave are massively underrated and very interesting musicians.
2 Likes
1 Like
Well, yeah, they also did some terrible songs. 
2 Likes
That is one of the only two songs of theirs I can remember. (The other is “Rabbit”.)
But then, I didn’t know who Feargal Sharkey was before his solo career.
My youthful musical education was not great.
I always thought they were just a joke band til I heard an interview with them on Radio 6, which was fascinating and made me really want to spend an afternoon in the pub with the pair of them
2 Likes
As session musicians they played on tons of songs you probably know
The song Eminem sampled for My Name Is, for instance, features them playing guitar and bass
4 Likes
Seeing as Chaz and Dave have already derailed the thread, here we go…
There was an Irish band called Horselips that were approximately similar to Jethro Tull in that they were a mix of traditional music and rock, just with different traditions.
Whereas Tull were quintessentially English, Horselips drew on Irish traditional music (structure) and Irish mythology (content), but absolutely Rock in their delivery.
(This track has a minute-long intro, so stick with it)
The '70s was a period of revival for Irish culture and this is reflected in the civic architecture and public art of the time and particularly in the work of artist Jim Fitzpatrick.
(They say you should never meet your heroes, but I bumped into Jim Fitzpatrick one night and I wasn’t disappointed at all.)
5 Likes
Aaand you just inspired me to pull my worn copy of Erinsaga off the shelf and thumb through it again.
1 Like
Yes. I knew. I think I found out sometime in the 90’s when Rock & Roll Circus was released on video.
Tull’s work ethic had a big influence on him. There are a lot of bands that lucked into success, but I think most really worked at it.
Anecdote told by Glenn Fry or Don Henley, pre-Eagles living in the apartment above Jackson Brown (who was already a songwriter for hire, Nico did his songs on her debut LP in 1967)-- every morning he heard the tea kettle whistling from the apartment below. Then hours of piano playing. Then around noon the tea kettle again. Then more piano until dusk.
2 Likes
Big Tull fan here!
Slightly OT, I love these stories of near-misses and one-offs. I’m a huge ELO fan too, but more especially their output on the proggy first 4 studio albums plus a live album from 73 recorded in Long Beach CA. When “On the Third Day” was re-issued a few years ago, it was revealed that on the song Ma Ma Ma Belle, there’s a twin-tracked guitar co-lead. That second guitarist? Marc Bolan, of T-Rex. Cool, eh?
2 Likes
“Did you know Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi was in Jethro Tull?”
Uh, nnnnnnno, no I did not. takes sip of cocktail Please, continue.
Being a big Bon Scott era ACDC fan I was recently surprised that Bon played in the prog rock band Fraternity and along with his vocals he provided ‘recorder’ into the mix!
2 Likes
Playing like Iommi is tough. Due to his damaged fingers it is very heavy on index and pinky.
Django Rinehart is another one who is tough to emulate. So many things you take for granted when all your fingers work.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
