Printable View
a Les Paul Jr. Can't find a pic. He liked Leslie West's so he got one and used it for the whole Aqualung album.
I've been giving it a listen. I was pretty sure it was a Gibson and didn't think it wasn't a carved top.
What a great album and what fantastic playing Barre does. Ian Anderson gave the band greater freedom then, but Barre's parts are pretty spare, perfect for the songs. IA put a lot of thought into the arrangements, and that's one reason the album still rocks.
Martin Barre was one of my early guitar heroes. I was playing acoustic exclusively as a young guy, but Martin's playing on Benefit and Aqualung made me want an electric guitar.
Barre and IA, and Tull, were important to me and still are--they'll always remind me of when my brother came home with the albums. War Child was one of the first albums I bought. The intro to Aqualung was one of the first things I taught myself to play, and that was exciting. Thick as a Brick is my favorite J Tull album. I listened to it hundreds of times, put it on the turntable and would go to sleep listening to it. Somehow I got great comfort from that record. Still do.
I was inspired by this thread to download Aqualung on Spotify, which I listened to yesterday while driving around. I had forgotten how good this album was. I really need to get a stereo set up again.
I saw Jethro Tull in concert between This Was and Stand Up. Mick Abrahams was still their guitarist, and they were more blues-oriented then. This was March 1, 1969. They were the opening act for B. B. King. My, how things change...