Editing Jethro Tull (band) (section)

===Early years (1967–1968)===
[[File:Jethro Tull (agriculturist).jpg|thumb|right|upright|The band is named after the 18th-century British agriculturist [[Jethro Tull (agriculturist)|Jethro Tull]]]]
At first, the new band found it difficult to obtain repeat bookings. They changed their name frequently to continue playing the London club circuit, using aliases such as Navy Blue, Ian Henderson's Bag o' Nails, and Candy Coloured Rain. Anderson recalled looking at a poster at a club and realising that the band name he did not recognise was theirs.{{sfn|Rees|1998|p=22}} The names were often supplied by their booking agent's staff, one of whom, a history enthusiast, gave them the alias Jethro Tull after [[Jethro Tull (agriculturist)|the 18th-century agriculturist]]. The name stuck because they were using it when the manager of the Marquee Club liked their show enough to give them a weekly residency.<ref name="Jethro Tull Ian Anderson">{{cite web |url=http://www.austindaze.com/2006/08/29/jethro-tull-ian-anderson/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108173613/http://www.austindaze.com/2006/08/29/jethro-tull-ian-anderson/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 November 2011 |title=Jethro Tull (Ian Anderson) |publisher=Austin Daze |date=29 August 2006 |access-date=22 April 2023 }}</ref><ref name="billboard end"/> In an interview in 2006, Anderson said that he had not realised it was the name of "a dead guy who invented the seed drill – I thought our agent had made it up". He said if he could change one thing in his life, he would go back and change the name of the band to something less historical.<ref name="Jethro Tull Ian Anderson"/>

The band recorded a session with producer [[Derek Lawrence]] which resulted in the single "Sunshine Day". The B-side, "Aeroplane", was an old John Evan Band track with the saxophones removed from the mix. It was released in February 1968 on [[MGM Records]], miscredited to "Jethro Toe".{{Sfn|Rees|1998|pp=23–23}} The more common version of the single, with the name spelled correctly, is actually a counterfeit made in New York.<ref>{{cite web|author=Dag Sandbu |url=http://www.collecting-tull.com/Collectibles/7_JethroToe.htm |title=MGM Jethro Toe |publisher=Collecting-tull.com |access-date=11 November 2012}}</ref> Anderson met Hammond in London, the two renewed their friendship, and Anderson moved into a [[bedsit]] in Chelsea with Evan.{{sfn|Rabey|2013|p=35}} Hammond became the subject of several songs, beginning with their next single, "A Song for Jeffrey".{{sfn|Rabey|2013|p=36}}

Anderson possessed a large [[overcoat]] which his father had given to him with the words "You'd better take this. It's going to be a cold winter."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Ballad of Jethro Tull |date=2019 |publisher=Rocket 88 |location=London |isbn=9781910978429 |page=25}}</ref> Along with his flute, this overcoat became part of his early stage image. Anderson had purchased a flute after becoming frustrated with his inability to play guitar as well as Abrahams or [[Cream (band)|Cream]] guitarist [[Eric Clapton]]. Their managers had wanted him to remain a rhythm guitarist, with Abrahams as the front man,{{sfn|Rees|1998|p=24}} and Anderson said later:

<blockquote>I didn't want to be just another third-rate guitar player who sounded like a plethora of other third-rate guitar players. I wanted to do something that was a bit more idiosyncratic, hence the switch to another instrument. When Jethro Tull began, I think I'd been playing the flute for about two weeks. It was a quick learning curve&nbsp;... literally every night I walked onstage was a flute lesson.<ref name="Newsome">Newsome, Jim. "Living in the Present". Interview with Ian Anderson, 23 April 2002. [http://www.jimnewsom.com/IanAndersonInterview.html jimnewsom.com]</ref></blockquote>

The group got their first major break at the [[National Jazz and Blues Festival]] at [[Sunbury-on-Thames]] in August 1968, where they drew a rapturous reception and positive reviews in the music press. They said their success at Sunbury was a result of persistent touring, which had generated a grassroots following who came to the festival and encouraged the rest of the audience. Cornick recalled, "From that moment on, we were a big band".{{sfn|Rees|1998|pp=24–25}}

The group recorded their first album, ''[[This Was]]'', between June and August 1968. Released in October 1968, it reached number 10 in the UK charts.{{sfn|Rabey|2013|pp=41,42}} In addition to original material, the album included the 1961 [[Doctor Ross]] blues "Cat's Squirrel", which highlighted Abrahams's blues-rock style; and the [[Rahsaan Roland Kirk]]-penned jazz piece "Serenade to a Cuckoo", which gave Anderson a showcase for his growing talents on the flute.{{sfn|Rabey|2013|p=42}} Anderson described the group's sound around this time as "sort of progressive blues with a bit of jazz".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tullpress.com/rm12oct68.htm |title=Record Mirror, 12 October, 1968 |access-date=11 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807073024/http://www.tullpress.com/rm12oct68.htm |archive-date=7 August 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Following the album's release, Abrahams left the band in December to form his own group, [[Blodwyn Pig]].{{sfn|Rabey|2013|p=43}} Several reasons were given for his departure. Abrahams had heard that Ellis wanted Anderson to be the frontman and group leader, at his expense, and he realised that he was unlikely to have the majority share in songwriting.{{sfn|Rabey|2013|p=37}} Other reasons given were that Abrahams was a blues purist, while Anderson wanted to branch out into other forms of music; and that Abrahams was unwilling to travel internationally, or play more than three nights a week.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themarqueeclub.net/jethro-tull |title=Jethro Tull biography at themarquee.net |publisher=Themarqueeclub.net |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719175356/http://www.themarqueeclub.net/jethro-tull |archive-date=19 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.squirrelmusic.com/ |title=Mick's Bio at Mick Abrahams' official website |publisher=Squirrelmusic.com }}</ref> Abrahams himself described his reasons more succinctly: "I was fed up with all the nonsense and I wanted to form a band like Blodwyn Pig."<ref>Rock Guitar Daily blog. [rockguitardaily.blogspot.com/mick-abrahams]</ref>

The group tried several replacements for Abrahams. The first was [[David O'List]], who had recently left [[the Nice]]. After a week's rehearsal, O'List did not show up and lost contact with the group. The next choice was [[Mick Taylor]], who turned the group down because he felt his current gig with [[John Mayall's Bluesbreakers]] was a better deal.{{sfn|Rabey|2013|p=43}} Following this, they approached [[Tony Iommi]], guitarist for Earth (soon to be renamed [[Black Sabbath]]). Iommi had impressed Jethro Tull when Earth opened for them at a show in Birmingham; he briefly joined the band, but he quit after a few weeks and returned to Birmingham to rejoin Earth, feeling closer to his old band.<ref>[[Martin Popoff|Popoff, Martin]]. ''Sabotage!: Black Sabbath in the seventies''. Wymer Publishing, 2018, pp. 22-24</ref> He stood in with Tull for ''[[The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus]]'' on 11 December 1968, when the group performed "A Song for Jeffrey", although only Anderson's singing and flute were live. The rest was [[mime]]d to the studio track, which featured Abrahams' guitar playing.

The next choice was [[Martin Barre]], who had seen the band perform at Sunbury{{sfn|Rabey|2013|p=47}} and had auditioned for guitarist at the same time as Iommi. Barre arranged a second audition, and Anderson showed him new songs in a different style from the blues they had been recording. Anderson was impressed by Barre's technique and offered him the job.{{sfn|Rabey|2013|p=44}} Barre played his first gig with Jethro Tull on 30 December 1968 at the Winter Gardens, Penzance.{{sfn|Rees|1998|p=30}}