Ian Anderson

Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in Luton, Bedfordshire, in December 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar,... and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969, after he replaced Mick Abrahams. Initially playing blues rock with an experimental flavour, they have also incorporated elements of classical music, folk music, jazz, hard rock and art rock into their music. One of the world's best-selling music artists, the band have sold more than 60 million albums worldwide in a career that has spanned more than forty years. Ian Anderson's first band started in 1962 in Blackpool and was known as The Blades. The group featured Anderson on vocals and harmonica, Jeffrey Hammond on bass, John Evans on drums, and a guitarist named either Hipgrave or Michael Stephans. Drummer Barrie Barlow became a member in 1963 after Evans had switched from drums to piano. By 1964 the band had developed into a seven-piece Blue-eyed soul band called The John Evan Band .
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Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Agency. Chrysalis entered into a licensing deal with Chris... Blackwell's Island Records for distribution, based on the success of bands like Jethro Tull, Cat Stevens, Robin Trower and Procol Harum, which were promoted by the label. Jethro Tull signed with Reprise Records in the United States, which led Chrysalis to an American distribution deal with Reprise's parent company, Warner Bros. Records. This lasted from 1972 until U.S. Chrysalis switched to independent distribution in 1976. PolyGram handled international distribution and Festival Records covered Australia and New Zealand. Towards the end of the 1970s, the Chrysalis offshoot 2 Tone Records brought in bands such as The Specials and The Selecter. In 1979 Chrysalis bought and distributed the U.S. folk label Takoma Records, naming manager/producer Denny Bruce as president, who signed The Fabulous Thunderbirds and T-Bone Burnett.
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Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has... its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music. Rock music also drew strongly on a number of other genres such as blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other musical sources. Musically, rock has centered around the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with bass guitar and drums. Typically, rock is song-based music with a 4/4 beat utilizing a verse-chorus form, but the genre has become extremely diverse and common musical characteristics are difficult to define. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political in emphasis. The dominance of rock by white, male musicians has been seen as one of the key factors shaping the themes explored in rock music. Rock places a higher degree of emphasis on musicianship, live performance, and an ideology of authenticity than pop music.
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