“I was never really a fan”: Ian Anderson’s favourite Beatles album
Asking a person for their favourite Beatles album often feels like a deeply personal, deeply intimate question. Taste is so subjective and so tied into individual memories that a favourite album can be a favourite album for a whole host of reasons – not just its musical content or artist value. Beatles albums feel especially revealing as the band moved through so many different sounds and phases that it provides an interesting insight into a music fan’s music, depending on what they pick. But for Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, the answer is surprisingly none of them.
“You got me there because I was never really a Beatles fan,” Anderson admitted to Indeflagration. It’s a sheepish confession considering that the Beatles are undeniably the biggest band in history and perhaps the music act with the broadest and most enduring impact on music. Even when it comes to Jethro Tull, with their progressive rock sound that merges elements of blues, folk, jazz and beyond, it feels like that adventurous musical spirit wouldn’t exist if the Fab Four hadn’t already forged the path.
Without albums like The White Album, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band or even the early folk-rock experimentation on Rubber Soul, music may never have become so open to genre-bending. From their post as the most famous and beloved act around, the band used their time at the top to explode the very idea into something bigger and more interesting. It’s only in a post-Beatles world that groups like Jethro Tull or any of their peers could take shape.
So it seems strange that Anderson wouldn’t be a Beatles fan. However, out of all their albums, he did acknowledge the impact of one important release. “They were the life-changing musical moments for a generation and although I wasn’t a Beatles fan, I guess I learnt something from Sgt. Pepper’s in terms of variety, of the rather surreal nature of it, that was quite laudable,” he said. Picking out the 1967 record, he at least understands the insurmountable importance of their experimental opus.
But really, Anderson’s decision all comes down to the honorary fifth member of the band. “George Martin was a friend of mine (I didn’t know the Beatles at all) and his role in all of that is very important,” he said of the Beatles’ long-time collaborator and unofficial leader in many ways as he helped shape their records. But Anderson sees his impact as strongest on this album, leading to move them into a new era of sonic adventures and bold moves.
“I like to think of Sgt. Pepper’s as the album that could not have been made with another producer, it had to be George,” he said. “He was Beatles no.5, he was actually probably Beatles no.3!” That likely means that Anderson shuffled Ringo Starr and George Harrison down the ranks, placing their producer as just as essential to the band as their powerful writing team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
“He was a very special guy and helped to bring together those very opposite personalities and musical backgrounds,” he concluded. So while Anderson might be a self-proclaimed non-fan of the Beatles, that certainly doesn’t dip into him being a hater of the band as he worships at the alter of their producer, still seeing the worth of their artistry, even if it’s not coming from the band members themselves.
