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Ian Anderson Rants And Raves On All Sorts of Subjects

Even their name – Jethro Tull – set them apart among their fellow rockers, and their music surely didn’t sound like any rock group I had ever heard. Add to the mix a frontman wielding a flute and it is easy to see that  Jethro Tull and Ian Anderson are in a league of their own.

Although the story of how the group wound up with a name like Jethro Tull has been related here before, it does seem to be one of the more common questions asked when Anderson is interviewed, so perhaps it is worth mentioning that it was a name given to them by their manager, and not something they expected to use for all that long. Things don’t always end the way you expect them to, I suppose.

But, as it turned out, borrowing the name of the pioneering agriculturist actually fit quite well, given Anderson’s interest in the subject.

As for how Anderson became interested in playing the flute, it was a conclusion he reached as a teenaged guitar player when he heard Eric Clapton play and decided that Clapton was too far ahead of the pack to compete with.

Known as an environmentalist and certainly sounding like a man who doesn’t have a shortage of ideas, Anderson touches on that subject as well and states that, “The question of population management on a planetary basis has got to be something where someone’s got the balls to get up and speak about in public.”

Ian Anderson is not easily mistaken for a typical rock star, and is clearly someone who is not full of himself. When asked how he would like to be thought of during this point in his life, he responds by saying: “I’d like them to have a picture of slightly befuddled confusion. Nothing is black and white and there are so many shades of confusing greys. I rant and rave on all sorts of different subjects, as you may have noticed.”

See The Sun for the full text of the interview with Ian Anderson.

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Tags: Ian Anderson, interview, Jethro Tull

Michael Anthony And Sammy Hagar Let Loose on Van Halen

Until now, former Van Halen bass player Michael Anthony has been pretty kind to his former band mates by not sharing his true feelings about his experiences while he was with the group, and his more recent exclusion from the Van Halen reunion tour. At least not publicly. Although he still seems reluctant to say anything really nasty about Van Halen, he does reveal a little more about the process that led to his separation from the group.

Although Anthony concedes that he sees himself as the ultimate “sideman”, and not necessarily the guy in the spotlight, he stresses that the role of a sideman is vital, and holds things together when the guy who is in the spotlight plays a ten-minute solo.

Although Anthony has talked about his disappointment that resulted from his exclusion from the Van Halen reunion tour which featured the return of original vocalist David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang on bass, he is talking more about his feelings now and admitted that he would have loved to have been part of it.

Revealing some of the negative feelings and disappointment about his parting ways with Van Halen, Anthony sounds like he has it all behind him now and seems to be very excited about the new group he has been playing with, which is being called “Chickenfoot” for the time being.

You can read more from the interview Anthony did with Music Radar and even download the audio from the interview.

Sammy Hagar, on the other hand, is a lot more open about his feelings when he talks about his time spent with Van Halen – a period in the group’s history that resulted in some of the group’s best material in my personal opinion.

Hagar, talking with Classic Rock Revisited not long ago, was clearly not pleased about the way Michael Anthony was treated by Van Halen when he was excluded from the last tour. “He got f***ed and it was horrible. I am not going to go on about ‘why and what,’because I have no idea…(The fans) have been waiting for this reunion and they (Van Halen) did it wrong. It is one more strike against those guys. They are not healthy, mentally, and they make bad decisions. They don’t take the fans in mind for one second and it is not good."

Hagar also relates the story of how a drunken Eddie Van Halen tried to knock the window out of a plane the group was flying on during a tour, and almost left the group as a result. Although Hagar remained in order to finish up the tour, he insisted on flying in a separate airplane for the duration of the tour to avoid being exposed to Van Halen’s alleged dangerous drunken rampages.

Hagar has his own album that was released just yesterday called Cosmic Universal Fashion, and he is also heavily involved with Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith in the aforementioned “Chickenfoot” project, something Hagar is no less excited about than Anthony and has described in the past as something that “could rival Led Zeppelin.” A bold claim to be sure, and it will certainly be interesting to hear this new material when it finally starts making its way out for us all to hear. They are hoping to complete the album they are working on sometime next summer.

For more on Hagar’s comments, check out KBS Radio.

Tags: Chickenfoot, interview, Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar, Van Halen

Classic Rock Briefs For November 17, 2008

Soaring With The Eagles

In a recent e-mail interview with Don Henley of the Eagles, The Enquirer of Cincinnati asked the veteran country rocker about such matters as his activities during the recent Presidential campaign. Unlike the celebrities that were making news with very public support of their chosen candidates, Henley took a different approach.

“I was quite active in this campaign, but I focused my efforts more on various bids for House and Senate seats. And I didn’t do any of that work in front of cameras. I kept it relatively low-key and private. That’s what felt right to me this time,” Henley said.

There was also discussion about the band’s long history and included questions regarding how the band chose their name, why they decided to reunite and the price of tickets to their shows.

Bon Jovi plans Busy 2009

According to Richie Sambora’s recent comments while talking with Billboard, the New Jersey rock group has plans for a new greatest hits album, as well as work that remains to finish up on a documentary that is being made about the group, and a live DVD from their Lost Highway tour.

Although the new album is being talked about as a “greatest hits” compilation, Sambora says that there will likely be some new content included as well.

“…I think we’re looking at doing a greatest hits album next year. Jon and I are writing some new songs for it and to just load up for the next Bon Jovi record,” Sambora reports.

As for Sambora’s thoughts on the group’s eligibility to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, he certainly seems to appreciate the opportunity.

“Time flies man, but yeah there’s talk and rumors. Boy that would be nice. It’s something certainly I’ve been shooting for all my life. I think if you have a career in the music business, you want to get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, he says.

Tags: Bon Jovi, Documentary, Don Henley, DVD, Eagles, Greatest Hits Album, interview

Details of Eddie Van Halen’s New Guitar Line on Tap From Guitar World

Eddie Van Halen takes his guitars seriously – very seriously. And if his description of his latest line of guitars is any indication, it’s going to be one fine axe.

Van Halen says the new EVH Wolfgang guitar from Fender is “a culmination of my 35 years of experimenting with guitars. Everything that I’ve destroyed, stumbled onto, learned and experienced in my journey to get to where we are now is in this guitar. And there is a lot more to come.”

The new guitar is expected to show up in stores sometime early next year, and although no price has yet been mentioned, it is probably safe to assume that it will be a bit beyond the reach of the average garage band guitarist. After all, Van Halen describes the new instrument with such statements as “The tolerance of things on this guitar is like NASA standards. It had to be tight, and it had to be quality. Le Mans is probably the most important race on the planet. It’s 24 hours—a grueling, brutal race. There’s a reason why an Audi R8 won that race three years in a row [2000–2002]. Those guys did what we did with this guitar. They paid attention to every damn detail. You can’t say, ‘Oh, that will do.’ No, it won’t do.”

The EVH Wolfgang looks nothing like the striped “Frankenstein” we are so accustomed to seeing slung across the veteran axe man’s shoulder. It has a much more refined appearance and is suggestive of how the offspring of a Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster might look if they managed to reproduce.

When asked about the possibility of new music coming in the future, Van Halen said that more will be coming, although he was not specific. His concerns right now seem to be centered around his son Wolfgang who is finishing up his last year of high school, as well as his upcoming marriage in June. “We’ll pick it up after that,” he said.

The complete interview appears in the February issue of Guitar World, on sale December 16. An exclusive video documentary featuring Eddie Van Halen on the making of the EVH Wolfgang guitar will appear on the CD-ROM that accompanies each issue. Collectors will be able to choose from four different Eddie Van Halen covers of the February issue.

For more, check out Guitar World.

Tags: Eddie Van Halen, EVH Wolfgang, fender, Guitar World, interview

Cream’s Jack Bruce Rips Led Zeppelin

I’m not sure what the deal is with this one. I’m not sure anyone knows what the deal is with this one. Perhaps Jack Bruce does not even know what the deal is with this one!

Lead singer and bassist for legendary rock veterans Cream, Jack Bruce, may be feeling a little jealous about all the attention that Led Zeppelin is getting these days. Bruce had a chat with Classic Rock Magazine following the recent Classic Rock Awards ceremony, and said some rather surprising things about his fellow rock legends.

While discussing the possibility of Cream getting back together, Bruce lashed out at Led Zeppelin. “Everybody talks about Led Zeppelin, and they played one f–ing gig – one f–ing lame gig – while Cream did weeks of gigs; proper gigs, not just a lame gig like Zeppelin did, with all the [vocal] keys lowered and everything. We played everything in the original keys. [Becoming animated]: F— off, Zeppelin, you’re crap. You’ve always been crap and you’ll never be anything else. The worst thing is that people believe the crap that they’re sold. Cream is 10 times the band that Led Zeppelin is.”

After an outburst like that, one has to wonder if the man was tipping the bottle a bit before the awards ceremony. Despite whether you think Cream is a better band than Led Zeppelin, there really isn’t a good reason for Bruce to lash out with a vitriolic diatribe like that. I do not recall any comments coming from the Led Zeppelin camp regarding Cream or Jack Bruce that would have led up to this.

Bruce continues on and refers to Jimmy Page’s playing ability as “crap.”

I’m not surprised to hear Bruce’s response when he is asked if he attends a lot of award ceremonies. ”No. I don’t go to anything. I’m not allowed out. I’m not even allowed in,” he replies. I can’t imagine why that would be!

In a later radio interview with Detroit radio station WCSX, Bruce appears to back away from his harsh comments to some degree, suggesting that his comments were tongue-in-cheek, although he also says his original comments were true.

He does admit that there are some feelings of jealousy on his part regarding all the attention being lavished on Led Zeppelin these days. He then goes on to say some other unkind things about Led Zeppelin, although not quite as harsh as his original verbal assault. Perhaps his sense of humor is as off-beat as he suggests during the radio interview, and it all really was meant as a joke. Only he knows for sure.

One thing is for sure. This certainly has created quite a buzz in the classic rock world. Will we hear a response from Led Zeppelin? Will Bruce ultimately apologize and admit his comments were over the top? I guess we’ll just wait and see.

You can read the original interview with Jack Bruce at Classic Rock Magazine and hear his later interview with WCSX at this location.

Tags: Cream, interview, Jack Bruce, Led Zeppelin