IAN ANDERSON
In 1989, Metallica were favourites to win a Grammy. No one had banked on Jethro Tull crashing the party
Do you remember hearing about your Grammy nomination?
“I recall hearing about the nomination, quite a way in advance. It was nice to be thought of, but it seemed a little odd. That was the first year they had the category Best Hard Rock/metal Performance. It was a new category and, for whatever reason, Jethro Tull was included. But everyone said to me, ‘Oh, Metallica are going to win’, because they had a big album out […And Justice For All]. So the record company didn’t see any point in spending all that money to fly us out to Los Angeles to be there, in rented clothing, and then return on the next plane. So, quite sensibly, they didn’t bother.”
How did you find out that you pulled off a surprise victory?
“We were working in the studio, quite late at night, and the phone went. It was a guy from Chrysalis Records in New York, and he said, ‘Congratulations, you just won the Grammy!’ I said,
‘Oh, that’s nice!’ and I went and told the other guys, and then we carried on working and thought no more about it. Then the next day it became pretty obvious that it had been a bit of a hoo-ha. Most of the media people, a lot of the audience and certainly all of the Metallica fans were aghast that Jethro Tull had won it.”
It does sound quite awkward! Have you ever spoken to Metallica about it? “I’ve never met any of them, but I believe the Metallica guys took it pretty well. Unfortunately, and perhaps unwisely, they’d had hundreds of t-shirts printed up saying, ‘Metallica, Grammy winners!’ and they had distributed them to everyone in the audience, so that was a bit embarrassing. But they took it in good grace, and a year later they did win a Grammy. They thanked their producer, the record company, their mums and dads, the family dog… and Jethro Tull, for not bringing out a new record that year.”
Do you feel that you were worthy winners of the award?
“The 5,000 voting members of the National Academy Of Recording Arts & Sciences, in their infinite wisdom, decided that we should have the trophy, and I profoundly thank them on behalf of Jethro Tull. But I don’t think they voted for us because we were the best Hard Rock/metal act, but because we were a bunch of nice guys who’d never won a Grammy before. As I said at the time, if they’d had a category for one-legged flute player, I would have been the dead cert that Metallica were supposed to be!”
Where do you keep the trophy now? “It sat in an unspecified place for at least 20 years and I had no idea where it was. I don’t really like trophies. I don’t have gold albums hanging on the wall or anything like that. But my son was clearing out his bedroom when he left home, and he came across the Grammy. I said, ‘Great, now we know where it is!’ and asked him to leave it where he found it, but he left home and now I can’t find it anymore. I think it’s probably in a drawer, somewhere in the attic.”