Ian Anderson on the beginnings of Pink Floyd: ‘They weren’t particularly great live’
At a record fair over the weekend, a child talked to his father, asking about the cover of the Aqualung album. His Dad said that it was made by a band called Jethro Tull, that it’s one of their most famous records, and that they’re a rock band with a man who plays the flute. Obviously, the father isn’t wrong, but there is much more to the band than that.
Jethro Tull has a flute player, but that’s not what defines the band. It’s a unique element to the band, granted, but it is hardly the only thing they have going for them. In fact, if you flick back through their discography, you’ll realise that their flute blends into the background for a lot of their work, which spans various genres and refuses to be confined to one specific sound.
A lot of this is Ian Anderson’s reluctance to ever be confined to one style of music, both in what he plays and what he listens to. He has always listened to various genres of music, both old and modern, which means when it comes to writing, he uses all of these different sounds that he listens to in a bid to make something unlike that which other bands are making.
He has always been influenced by many of the bands he plays live with and credits their tour supporting Led Zeppelin as one of the influential moments in the band’s career. Led Zeppelin was also famous for blending multiple genres, and so Jethro Tull learnt how to adapt these various styles in a way that is still cohesive.
“I think what they showed to all their peer group as musicians was that there was, first of all, a very powerful and dramatic way to perform simple, direct rock music and also to introduce elements of more eclectic music,” said Anderson. “Because Zeppelin, near the beginning, there were a lot of elements of folk music, and Asian music, and African music that crept into their stuff.”
There were some bands that Jethro Tull saw, though, that they weren’t impressed by and didn’t learn much from. One of these was Pink Floyd, as while the two of them had a somewhat similar style of music, Anderson didn’t think that Pink Floyd had very much about them.
“Pink Floyd were psychedelic pre-prog, we were all met with stoney deafness from the point of view of the audience just looking mesmerised before they sauntered out to the bar,” recalled Anderson, “I attempted to talk to Syd Barrett because I knew Pink Floyd from, you know, a couple of singles they’d released, and indeed from Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which we had just bought, I think. I mean I wouldn’t say they were particularly great live but there was some magic going on for sure.”
Anderson wasn’t one of the only people who weren’t impressed by Pink Floyd’s early music. While they may have progressed to make a name for themselves live, in the early days, a lot of people weren’t too keen. For instance, Jimi Hendrix hated Pink Floyd and all things psychedelic.
“Here’s one thing I hate, man,” the guitarist said, “When these cats say, ‘Look at the band. They’re playing psychedelic music!’ All they’re doing is flashing lights on them and playing ‘Johnny B. Goode’ with the wrong chords. It’s terrible.”
