Ian
Anderson reveals the name of the punk singer who asked him for an autograph:
"It's not for me, it's for my mother"
Jethro Tull have always had unexpected
fans, often far from their prog universe. Over the years Ian Anderson
has discovered that his music has reached unexpected listeners, from Stephen
King to Nick Cave. Among the most surprising are two symbolic figures of punk,
a world that would seem to be poles apart from the Aqualung band.
In the new
issue of Prog magazine, Anderson answers questions from friends and
celebrity colleagues, including members of Yes, ELP, Opeth and other rock scene
players. One of the questions comes from Hugh Cornwell, former lead singer of
the Stranglers, who asks Anderson if the rise of punk was an epochal moment in
the history of rock or simply a natural phase in its evolution. The answer
opens the door to an anecdote that Anderson had never told so directly.
Anderson
recalls that for him punk was already present with the MC5, then with the
Ramones, and that in the mid-seventies it had crept into British music with an
inevitable force. He then recounts an episode that struck him for its
spontaneity. Joey Ramone, an absolute icon of American punk, approached him
shyly to ask for an autograph. Anderson remembers the moment with a smile.
Ramone told him that the signing was not for him, but for his mother. A simple
gesture that reveals how much Jethro Tull's music had reached very different
listeners.
Joey Ramone
was not the only one. Answering a question from Derek Shulman, former singer of
Gentle Giant, Anderson says he has met other unlikely fans. The most surprising
was John Lydon, the former frontman of the Sex Pistols. Anderson recalls that
Lydon approached him during an event, visibly cheerful after a few beers, and
enthusiastically declared to him how much he loved the Aqualung album,
in particular a song that he did not want to name but which had evidently left
a deep mark.
These
episodes show how Jethro Tull's music has crossed genres, eras and artistic
identities, conquering even those who, at least apparently, belonged to a
distant world. Anderson tells them naturally, like small fragments of a story
that continues to surprise.
