We STRUGGLED to make Aqualung sound GOOD! Martin Barre

[@saifonlawrence2044]

Mr Barre is easily the Most Underrated guitarist of all time.

[@stephenbrown7545]

He is not underrated..at least by people who know better !

[@kenfrankel3498]

@@fredfreddy2338 Mike Campbell from TPHB…

[@tomasvanecek8626]

Not really. He was great, but so had been so many at the time.

[@pietroamaretti8550]

Oooh no! This is Terry Kath!

[@handebarlas6248]

Maybe for a nation who rates everything and everybody???

[@ibleebinU]

That solo in 1 take with Jimmy trying to trip up Martin makes it even more epic. That's the kind of story that legends are made of.

[@aschule5684]

Zep 4 & Aqualung were both HUGE albums released in 1971 along with many others and will forever remain so. The fact that both bands were creating those masterpieces at the same time in the same building is just epic. The fact that Jimmy Page was present when Martin was recording his Aqualung solo is something I will forever remember and think of any time I hear that song from now on..... Magic 💫✨

[@johnshannon9656]

It's a smoking solo.

[@helmuttdvm]

Those Aqualung show were magical - still one of my favorite concerts of all time.

[@BarryStanky]

I’ve seen Martin and his current band a couple of times. He puts on a very enjoyable show showcasing Tull tracks and mixing in some short stories of his Tull days. And yes, he can still play the heck out of his guitar.

[@robm3569]

With Stand Up and Benefit being the first two albums I owned of theirs and the Benefit tour being my first Jethro Tull concert I had to pause for a moment and take the time to digest Aqualung as it was a departure from what I was "tuned" to, but once I sat with it for a bit I was once again fully invested in this brilliant band. That era of music was quite simply unparalleled in my opinion. And just for the record, the Beatles, Jethro Tull and the Rolling Stones were the most popular bands in the world at the time and in that order as well. 😎

[@DaveLogan-mp1or]

Untill Zeppelin..then they were the Kings and out sold them 3-1 Beatles broke up',70

[@handebarlas6248]

Oh this really is music to my ears! Thank you very much sir. Greetings from a Tull fan from Turkey.

[@onsenkuma1979]

Great to hear Martin's comments on those early albums, especially 'Benefit', which was the first Jethro Tull I owned and will always hold a special place in my heart.

[@michaelgasiciel9317]

My favorites are This Was(Serenade to a Cuckoo), Benefit, Stand Up, Living in the Past.

[@bradleypaulus2926]

I saw them in 1975 during the War Child tour. To this day it is still the best concert I have ever seen.

[@jimbrookfield9011]

Saw that tour. Gentle Giant was with them

[@quailstudios]

Same here. I saw them on the War Child tour at the Fabulous forum in the Los Angeles area. Those concerts completely blew me away. They sounded so good!

[@rubicon-oh9km]

Tull's output from Stand Up through Heavy Horses is absolutely legendary. 9 years straight of iconic albums. Martin has to be giddy with pride.

[@zachwalentiny]

Don't forget about Stormwatch. That album is damn good too!

[@rubicon-oh9km]

@@zachwalentiny Stormwatch is a very good album. I just think it’s the first time when cracks started to show in the façade. I thought Heavy Horses was much better. I know my opinion on this is in the minority when it comes to most Tull fans.

[@shb7772000if]

I think all the albums after Songs from the Wood sucked.

[@drewnelson3149]

Stormwatch is a lot better in retrospect. I hated it at the time, but don't mind it at all now.

[@cobar5342]

Aqualung is a great album. The solo is absolutely astounding. Way better than he has been credit for

[@avlisk]

For over 50 years, the first song played on every new piece of audio equipment I've had has been Locomotive Breath. Tradition!

[@handebarlas6248]

The whole Aqualung album is just magical, both lyrically and musically. Thank you so much Martin. You're a wonderful musician and a very nice and kind person.❤ Thank you for the interview and the upload. 🙏

[@frankfellhauer5136]

When it comes to the discussion "who is the Goat guitar player" no one mentioned Martin Barre. And this is sad, There are a bunch of Goats- and Martin is one of them. If you only hear the solos of "Aqualung" or "We used to know" you know it.

[@normanmacfarlane6724]

It's wonderful to hear Martin talk about his work on the Tull albums . A lovely fellow indeed . It's also great to read the comments of Jethro Tull fans from all over the world . Such a huge band with such a staggering output over so many years. Thank you so much for such a great podcast 😂❤

[@predictorleague8780]

Such a brilliant record, still regularly listen to it today

[@45ounce]

What a top bloke. He’s up there with the greats in my eyes.

[@SuperReasonable]

Was pleased to hear Benefit went well, it’s my favourite Tull album. The running bass and guitar matching the vocals is a wonderful Tull feature that is so well executed on Benefit.

[@samansun]

The drums are too low in the mix, when you have Clive Bunker playing!

[@justgivemethetruth]

The thing that made Aqualung so great is that it was completely different than anything done before. Ian says it was not a concept album, but it had a consistency throughout that was completely different kind of music. So while maybe to Ian it was not pushing a single concept or idea, you could not mistake a song on Aqualung for any other group nor album - it yes, it was a concept album.

[@stephenbrown7545]

I think Clive Bunkers playing was sub par on Aqualung..compared to their previous efforts. I think his heart was not in it because he was leaving the band to get married.

[@justgivemethetruth]

@@stephenbrown7545 I never noticed that, but I can't think of any drum parts in Aqualung. I wonder if he quit because he doubts about the band making it as big as it did, and if he had any regrets.

[@scottjackson163]

I guess he was just a poor old sod.

[@justgivemethetruth]

@@scottjackson163 Soon to be a sjper-rich old sod. ;-)

[@shb7772000if]

The second side was all about religion. That was the concept. And in cross eyed Mary the mention Aqualung.

[@smathfury]

I was part of the crew when Martin and his band strolled into our town. They sounded heavy as fuck! Like, way better than the studio recordings, which are great. After their soundcheck, I started carrying Martin’s empty guitar cases to another room. He stopped me and said “You don’t have to do that. I can get those for you” (I’m paraphrasing). I was so stunned, that I forget what I said. I think it was something like “No it’s my job, and honestly it’s an honor”. For those of you who do sound or whatever, you know that this was honestly one of the coolest moments of my life. What a classy fucking dude. I remember this moment whenever some po-dunk local band are being a-holes to me. I almost cried. I don’t know if he knew that this simple gesture would stay with me forever or not, but I’ll never forget it. It was one of the best moments of my career. Also, Ed from Live is a total dick. 😂

[@aladickes]

Damn, I'm about to cry reading this. Awesome experience.

[@PeterHuebner]

VIELEN DANK FÜR DEIN ERLEBNIS MIT DEM SO SEHR BESCHEIDENEN MARTIN BARRE.ABER ICH GLAUBE DAS ER WIRKLICH SO IST.ICH SAH IHN UND TRAF IHN BEI EINEM CLUB -KONZERT IN MÜNCHEN UND ER GAB MIR EIN AUTOGRAMM,HATTE SEINE FRAU DABEI.SO EIN LIEBER FREUNDLICHER MENSCH ER DOCH IST.SEINE BAND IST GROSSARTIG❤😊

[@tompeace7907]

We saw Martin and his band in Wabash, Indiana, this evening. It was a wonderful, magical concert! :)

[@Cummings7]

I was there also. Great show!

[@JeremyPickett]

I'm not old enough to have seen Tull when many of their major releases were new, I'm only 45 ;) But I have seen them three times, and every time was phenomenal. Yes, as an artist, be self critical. That is normal and fine. Aqualung is an album that stands the test of time, along with so many wonderful inspired albums.

[@johnroberts3723]

Most of their studio work from stand up through to minstrel in the gallery was impeccable!.

[@jcruisioso5975]

The 1st 8 track I ever heard was Aqualung. My brother got it for Christmas with a player, and a new set of headphones. I was so blown away, at age 8, I wouldn't let him listen. A mind blowing record, I still love today. Thank You.

[@zitherzon2121]

"Benefit" before AL is another GREAT album for headphones.kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIickIF6h5utZ6s

[@edmessina8392]

'72, Chicago Stadium, 6th or 7th grade. Lied to my parents, told them my friends mom was taking us....bought 1 ticket, took a bus and train to get there. Sat in the middle of a row of endless weed back and forth. To this day, most memorable concert ever and I've been to hundreds. Cant remember if it was specifically the Aqualung tour but they did everything from the album including the best rendition of Wond'ring Aloud I've ever heard. Bang up job on Bouree too. Couldn't hear well in school next couple of days.

[@gianfrancodefrancesco7117]

I do agree that Stand Up was the masterpiece at that time and in my personal opinion it stills remains the real peack of JT production over the 20th and 21st centuries and from second to third millennium 👏👏👏

[@stratcat4450]

Totally agree an Benifit was a close second. I still have to satisfy my need to play stand up regularly at high volume!

[@mixaliskokkinos1496]

A glance of magic ..Thank you mr Barre

[@juliodavila5333]

Every time I hear these Legends talking about how hard it was to make a record or a song or how to get the sound they wanted it was simple admirable, is the effort working together with the talent. That's why the music from that era Will live forever.

[@mguerramd]

July 1, 1971, Municipal Auditorium, San Antonio, Texas. Aqualung. Probably the best most enjoyable rock concert I ever experienced. Hats off to the band, they played like pros that night. All things must pass, we are lucky to have had this band in our lives. God blessed them and us with some fabulous musicianship.

[@jkorshak]

I always loved Mother Goose live when Barre was playing in JT because of the positively volcanic guitar he'd let loose with after the song shifted from acoustic to electric and after each verse. Barre's tone has always been for me as much of the band's "sound" as Evan's pipe organ keys and IA's flute and vocals. The run of albums from Aqualung through Stormwatch is one great album after another. The ones that came before are also great in their own way but it was a different band still trying to find its sound.

[@henryhoward8341]

I was hoping Martin would be asked about the guitar he used. I read Martin recored the entire "Aqualung" album with a Gibson Les Paul Jr. w/single P-90 pick-up ala Mountain's Leslie West (RIP). Martin, like many became impressed with Leslie's tone when Tull did some 1970 dates with Mountain.

[@bobmanners8624]

That's the story, yeah. What a tone!

[@yournamehere6719]

Seems like all my guitar heroes from late '60s early '70s played Gibson LPs, but by the mid-70's they'd moved on to lighter and more stable guitars for on-stage work.

[@anngallifrey]

I appreciate all that hard work. It was worth it!

[@jeffrey322]

I always like hearing an artist's process, esp when it tends to differ from popular belief! That is one of my fave solos all of time!

[@robertacolarette1594]

I loved Aqualung when it came out and still do. It was so wildly different than anything out there at the time. Martin Barre’s guitar is phenomenal.

[@jettrink7510]

Thank you Martin Barre, Benefit... Nothing To Say finest song ever

[@migueldospachangas7716]

Legend. First class. Unique. Quintessentially Englsh, the green and pleasant part.

[@clasvirhodes4969]

Martin Barre is on my list of best 5 guitarists of my life

[@nashtnman]

My favorite guitarist.

[@GregPiper-tz6oi]

Great interview. Martin and the Tull band produced some of the best music, rock, blues, folk, even classical.

[@rockyandjeff]

Martin such a great person!

[@clevebaker8399]

1972 Memphis Tennessee mr. Barré showed me who the best around was!! And gentle giant opened!! (Who kicked)!! My top two concert experiences!! Killer stuff! Thanks

[@user-df7lz6ds6x]

Ridiculously iconic solo. Very humble man. Great video

[@ernestturriziani2489]

JETHRO TULL from 1968 to 1972 were amongst the greatest.

[@ralhamami]

Martin is such an awesome guy, and you are such an enthusiastic and fantastic interviewer @VRP Rocks. All these Martin clips have been a lot of fun to watch.

[@VRPRocks]

I'm glad you enjoyed the videos, and thanks for the compliment 😊

[@timcastens1150]

Great album love hymn 43

[@VRPRocks]

Hymn 43 is one of my favourite Tull songs too!

[@timcastens1150]

@@VRPRocks yeah it's just killer the way it starts and so powerful all the way through to the ripping of the last note.

[@VRPRocks]

Totally agree 👌🤘🤘

[@Dwightpower88]

A great, great band that doesn't get the respect they deserve.

[@carmenandthedevil2804]

I just bought the Steve Wilson mix of Aqualung on vinyl and its unbelievably good. I have the Australian OG as well and its no lightweight either. Great recording all round.

[@user-hr6oy7co6s]

Great guitarist!!!

[@user-rd1pg7bs4b]

In the 70's, lots of music fans wanted to be Eric Clapton or Jimi or ... I wanted to be Martin Barre. Saw JT twice in the 70's and again sometime mid 2000's. One story. At the Bumbershoot show, right in the middle of the Aqualung solo, power to the stage was cut. After power was restored, Martin picked right up where he'd left off. Those early to mid 70's shows were magnificent.

[@TooSkinnyKenny]

Aqualung is the only Tull album I can listen to start to finish and it's my favorite hands down.

[@mackmaloney3776]

I heard once that Ian Anderson plays about 50% of the instruments on Aqualung, including a lot of electric guitar, because the other members just didn't understand a lot of the songs.

[@robstimson4234]

l've heard the Page waving behind the glass story for years, so it's nice to hear Martin's version of it . Too bad the Tullsters never complimented each other.😔

[@MrMjp58]

I am a big fan of MB. A really good interview. A memory from 53 years ago. When my older brother brought home the eagerly anticipated and much saved up for, copy of Aqualung in early ’71, we excitedly placed it on the turntable, listened for a while and then stared at each other, myself with a combination of disbelief and disappointment and I think he was the same. I made strenuous efforts to listen again and again and tried to enjoy it for what it was, but didn’t altogether succeed. After all the hype surrounding this breakthrough album, the sound and feeling of most of it, just wasn’t what I’d expected, after the two masterpieces of Stand Up and Benefit. It appeared a bit raw and oddly produced to me. A bit too heavy metal also, for my tastes. Of course, history has proved me very wrong in terms of its success and enduring popularity. Probably, their loss of Glenn Cornick was too much for me. He was a fantastic bass player and created an infectious sense of swing, with Clive, that seemed to have disappeared.

[@yournamehere6719]

Stand Up and Benefit were tough acts to follow.

[@SuperDrwolf]

The Martin Barre Band is a terrific live show! See them if you can!

[@michaelgasiciel9317]

Had tickets to see them in Milwaukee a couple of years ago. Couldn’t go becuz of health problems. That was the closest they came to Michigan unfortunately. Can’t believe they skipped Michigan!

[@scottjackson163]

In concert (Aqualung era), they used to do some kind of daft thing in which characters dressed in rabbit costumes would come on stage.

[@kevgamble]

I'm a huge fan of Tull, I adore everything they did through Catfish Rising, and there's no denying how iconic Aqualung is as an artistic work. But I've never enjoyed the recorded sound of it. I think the mix sounds thin, harsh and rough compared to the albums around it. The writing, arranging and performing are all incredible but the mix always leaves me cold.

[@stephenbrown7545]

It's a crappy recording...there I fixed it for you.

[@robstimson4234]

lf l've got my timeline right, Led Zep would have been recording their 4th album 'in the basement'. 1971 was not a bad year for rock 'n roll.

[@a-b-jackson]

On the various problems with getting decent performances and backing tracks, surely a major cause was not having a proper bass player for the sessions - someone (presumably Ian) had to compose all the bass lines, and then teach them to Jeffrey Hammond note for note, then get him to remember them, and then get him to play them OK in what was J’s first experience of a recording studio. Total nightmare I imagine.

[@yournamehere6719]

sad to think how good it could have been if Ian hadn't sacked Glenn Cornick.

[@user-fk7bb9jb7v]

Actually back then this song and locomotive were the only songs they would play on the radio. That's how it became so well known

[@jeffreyprice773]

Hi Martin we met in Mansons guitar shop , they've closed down now.

[@jamesmonahan1870]

Interesting.

[@schragemusik]

The teenaged me loved 'Stand Up'. The teenaged me ADORED 'Benefit'. The teenaged me HATED 'Aqualung'. It had cost me many months' worth of pocket money. I had looked forward to it so very much and...... I hated it. It remains the biggest musical letdown of my life. I'm still not fond of it (and I still adore the earlier albums).

[@KSA-wr4er]

There are three iconic riffs in rock music: Whole lotta love, Aqualung and Smoke on the water. Descending priority

[@simonjones8111]

I borrowed Aqualung at school, listened to it, hated it - two weeks later I bought it and have been a JT fan ever since. 😂

[@aladickes]

Other than Smoke On the Water, there isn't a more recognizable opening riff in the history of rock than Aqualung. That riff alone should have sent tham directly to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and yet, Jethro Tull is still not wothy. WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?!?!?! They did it ALL. They played from a time when the band's name on the kick drum was made with electrical tape, to playing arenas, releasing album after album of the most original, complex music in rock. I'm a guitarist. Try playing some of Ian Anderson's acoustic work, much less composing it. Absolute genius and absolutely criminal that a few narrow minded writers and lame ass voters haven't personally escorted them to the Hall. BS

[@carmenandthedevil2804]

Not being in the Hall of Fame is no big deal. Fans never really give a fuk.

[@nxs0152]

The biggest difference to me on Aqualung was no Glenn Cornick on bass.

[@DaveLogan-mp1or]

It's because Ian let Glen Cornick go so the Band struggled..Jeffery hardly knew how to Play fluently . Got it done though

[@stephenbrown7545]

Jeffrey wasn't a musician.

[@rhodaborrocks1654]

Aqualung has always been a bit of a slow burner for me. there are some great tracks on it for sure but it is definitely one of my least played 'Tull records. The band was really getting noticed at that time though and I think for many, Aqualung was the first song of theirs they heard, and that's what made it as popular as it became, you always remember the first one.

[@stratcat4450]

I never really liked it that much an worse, back in the day the hard rock stations played it about every 10 minutes until you never wanted to listen to it.

[@allancerf9038]

He loolks like the accepted likenesses of Chaucer, less the chaperoned hood.

[@yournamehere6719]

Crappy new bass player might have had something to do with it... I think Martin's too polite to say it.