IAN ANDERSON RETITLES TULL’S A
He still regrets not calling 1980 release a solo work as deluxe reissue is detailed.
Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson has announced details of a 40th anniversary edition of the band’s 1980 album A, retitled
A (A La Mode), saying: “If I could rewrite history, it would have been an Ian Anderson solo album.”
Arriving on April 16 via Rhino, the triple CD/triple DVD set is remixed and remastered by Steven Wilson, and it’s accompanied by unreleased studio tracks plus a full live recording from 1980.
The more electronic direction of A was due to it originally being devised as a solo record in collaboration with former Roxy Music man Eddie Jobson. The label persuaded Anderson to release it under the Tull name. “It just would have been better if I stuck to my guns,” he says, explaining the move is the reason that long-time colleagues John Evan, Dee Palmer and Barrie Barlow weren’t involved – although he didn’t intend to fire them. “And then I could have said next year to the others, ‘We want to make sure we get going again.’” Instead, the press announced a “big split” and the parting of ways proved permanent.
Meanwhile, online events are also being planned to celebrate Aqualung’s 50th anniversary, which include a new video for the title track and an album playback with track-by-track commentary from Anderson.
And as for future Tull live shows, Anderson is hopeful that dates scheduled for September will still go ahead. “I haven’t got that many years left,” he says, “and I expect to be wearing a mask for the rest of my professional life.”
Full details can be found at www.jethrotull.com.