Martin Barre brings ‘Aqualung’ to Sanderson Centre in July

Jethro Tull guitarist to play the classic album in its entirety

1971 was a monumental year in the history of rock, witnessing the release of so many great albums — “Sticky Fingers” by the Rolling Stones, “Who’s Next” by The Who, “Led Zeppelin IV,” “Pearl” by Janis Joplin and, not to be forgotten, “Aqualung” by Jethro Tull.

“Aqualung” was the British band’s fourth album, but the first to gain traction in North America where it rapidly rose up the charts into the Billboard Top 10. Over the next few years, Jethro Tull would become one of the biggest acts on the planet, selling out the L.A. Forum five nights in a row in 1975.

For its time, “Aqualung ” was revolutionary, combining English folk with hard rock. It’s lyrics were both literary and subversive, painting caricatures of consumptive perverts and schoolgirl prostitutes, while songs like “My God,” “Wind Up” and “Hymn 43” took direct aim at organized religion. The LP was banned from the airways in Spain and vilified in the U.S. bible belt.

Ian Anderson’s flute got much of the attention — it was so strange to hear an orchestral instrument played so maniacally on a rock record. But, it was Martin Barre’s stunning guitar that provided the backbone to unforgettable tracks like “Locomotive Breath,” “Wind Up,” “Cross-Eyed Mary,” and, of course, the title track.

“It was an era when there were a lot of guitar players and they were all trying to be rock star famous, everyone was vying for attention,” says longtime Tull lead guitarist Martin Barre in an interview from his home studio in Devon, England. “Everybody was vying for attention. So, it was a relief for people to hear a different instrument which was why the flute got a lot of attention.

“But the songs were very rooted in the guitar parts. The flute was decorative then, much more so than in later years.”

Barre was a key member of Jethro

Tull from 1968 to 2012 when Anderson dissolved the band to perform under his own name. Barre has released several solo albums over the years and still performs much of the Tull canon with his own band.

On July 12, Barre brings his band to the Sanderson Centre in Brantford on a tour originally designed to mark the 50th anniversary of “Aqualung.”

The pandemic delayed things, so he’ll actually be marking the album’s 51st anniversary, and he intends to perform it in its entirety.

Barre is considered one of the top electric guitarists of the era and his work on “Aqualung” has made several top-guitar-solo lists. He has been cited as an influence by Mark Knopfler, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani.

So, it’s no wonder that Barre’s band doesn’t include a flute player. He’d rather let his guitar speak for itself. Included in his band are lead vocalist and guitarist Dan Crisp and former Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker, who played on the original “Aqualung.”

“Nobody misses it,” Barre, 75, says about the absence of flute. “Between Dan and I, we cover everything … 99 per cent of people like what they hear. Of course, there’s the odd person who says ‘it’s not the same without Ian,’ but I’m sure Ian gets the same with his band.”

Barre looks back fondly on Aqualung, although it took a few years for him to recognize its significance.

“It was a moment in time and historically a really important album,” he says. “It seemed to work, the contrast between electric and acoustic, heavy and quiet. Those contrasts forged Jethro Tull’s sound.

“It was a difficult album to make,” he adds. “We had a lot of stress in the studio. But out of all that emotion came a great album. When we play it live, we play it with great excitement.”

One of the things that made recording difficult was that bass player Jeffrey Hammond, an old school mate of Anderson’s, was still learning how to play bass.

“He couldn’t play at all,” Barre recalls. “Sometimes that naivety and starting form zero brings out something very different, very fresh. Which it did in Jeffrey. He had an artistic talent and a musical side to him. Yeah, it shouldn’t have worked. Me and Ian sat in a room with Jeffrey for many hours teaching him how to play bass.”