Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: A terrific and detailed history of one of the greatest rock bands. Scott Nollen knows his stuff. Highly recommended to any fan of the band.
Rating: 
Summary: OK. We finally get started!
Review: As Mr Parker so eloquently wrote, this is but a small beginning for what many of us hope will end up in a 'Tull' book that does this incredible band, and it's fans, justice.I feel NO band has ever taken the listener to the places Tull has. And they have done that all under the 'guise' of excellant musicianship, one-of-a-kind lyrical genuis, and kick butt rock and roll. So...I must agree that the work is fair, but not what some of us are looking for as the 'definitive work' for Jethro Tull, especially at the price. You see we 'still got something on my mind.'
Rating:
Summary: An Insider's View of the Band: Highly Recommended
Review: Being a fan of Jethro Tull since 1970, I thought I knew a lot about the band -- until reading this book. Scott Nollen offers great insight into their records, tours, and backstage antics. The book also offers a rare glimpse into Ian Anderson's childhood and early development in Scotland. But, a real highlight for me is the inside story from band members, including Ian Anderson, Glenn Cornick, and David Pegg. Why did Glenn Cornick, Mick Abrahams, and Clive Bunker leave the band? How did their music evolve from blues, Celtic, folk, jazz, rock, to heavy metal? It's all there. And, after all, Ian Anderson gives this "excellent book" a hearty endorsement in its preface. So, it must be pretty close to the mark. It's an excellent read!
Rating:
Summary: An Insider's View of the Band: Highly Recommended
Review: Being a fan of Jethro Tull since 1970, I thought I knew a lot about the band -- until reading this book. Scott Nollen offers great insight into their records, tours, and backstage antics. The book also offers a rare glimpse into Ian Anderson's childhood and early development in Scotland. But, a real highlight for me is the inside story from band members, including Ian Anderson, Glenn Cornick, and David Pegg. Why did Glenn Cornick, Mick Abrahams, and Clive Bunker leave the band? How did their music evolve from blues, Celtic, folk, jazz, rock, to heavy metal? It's all there. And, after all, Ian Anderson gives this "excellent book" a hearty endorsement in its preface. So, it must be pretty close to the mark. It's an excellent read!
Rating:
Summary: A good start...but still waiting for the definitive Tull bio
Review: For the casual fan, Nollen does a admirable job of chronicling Tull's history and impact on the rock music scene and
manages to get first hand accountings of Tull events from
such band members as Glenn Cornick, Dave Pegg and even Ian Anderson himself. However, after reading Nollen's book, more serious fans are apt to feel somewhat unsatisfied. For many,
the mid-to-late 70's is clearly Tull's halcyon period in terms
of creativity and popularity, and the lineup of Anderson, Barre,
Barlow, Hammond, Evans (& later, Glascock) remains Tull's strongest. It was during this period that Tull established and
then solidified it's position as one of the world's top groups
and produced (to many minds) it's most far-reaching works.
And while Anderson was clearly the guiding force behind the
band during this period, it's also clear that Barre, Evans et al,
contributed enormously to the group's sound, success and appeal.
However, with the exception of material recycled from "A New Day," (the Tull fanzine) and other sources already familiar to
Tull devotees, Nollen provides nothing new from these key band members. I've no doubt that Evans, Barlow and other former members of the group of their own story to tell, but aside from recycled snippets from other sources, we don't get it. More's the pity. We *do* get input from Dave Pegg...(the author's glee at being a friend of Pegg's is something that bleeds from almost every page of the book). However, I had a nagging feeling that Pegg was
pulling his punches...glossing over his prickly relations with Anderson's in order to maintain courtesy. Such "rising above" tactics may be admirable, but ultimately provides few insights to the behind-the-scene group dynamic that carried the band to the top and proved ultimately responsible for it's creative demise. (Which to many ears, took place following the Broadsword album.) So, from this quarter, it's a qualified "hats off" to Nollen
for a good try. However, I'm still waiting for the definitive
Tull bio. Someday when the world gets 'round to realizing that
Ian Anderson is one of the true musical giants of the 20th
century, we'll get the 'warts and all' bio I'm waiting for. One last note. All publications from McFarland are overpriced
and this one is no exception. Gary Parker
Rating:
Summary: Definitive book on Jethro Tull
Review: I have met Ian Anderson, and those readers who are expecting more than what is delivered in Scott Nollen's JETHRO TULL: A HISTORY OF THE BAND, 1968-2001, think again: You're not going to get it. Mr. Anderson is a very private individual and his music speaks for itself. Don't expect him to sit down and explain every minute detail about his music and the inner workings of the band! Scott Nollen has been as close an anyone ever will be to this elusive band and there are many moments of true gold in this book. I've been a Tull fan for 25 years, and this book gave me as much pleasure as I could expect, except from a great Tull album itself. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Definitive book on Jethro Tull
Review: I have met Ian Anderson, and those readers who are expecting more than what is delivered in Scott Nollen's JETHRO TULL: A HISTORY OF THE BAND, 1968-2001, think again: You're not going to get it. Mr. Anderson is a very private individual and his music speaks for itself. Don't expect him to sit down and explain every minute detail about his music and the inner workings of the band! Scott Nollen has been as close an anyone ever will be to this elusive band and there are many moments of true gold in this book. I've been a Tull fan for 25 years, and this book gave me as much pleasure as I could expect, except from a great Tull album itself. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Great Band. Great Book!
Review: I listen to all kinds of music, but mostly admire the adventurous, whether it be classical, jazz, blues, folk, country or rock and roll. It's either good or it isn't, right? WELL, JETHRO TULL have made some damn good music for more than 35 years, and this guy, Scott Allen Nollen, nails it down, mates! A great HISTORY of the band; a great album-by-album review; interviews with many of the major band members; unpublished photos from IAN ANDERSON himself; + the foreword from IAN, too! There are MANY insights into music in general here + lots of other great stuff! WELL WORTH THE INVESTMENT!
Rating:
Summary: Great Band. Great Book!
Review: I listen to all kinds of music, but mostly admire the adventurous, whether it be classical, jazz, blues, folk, country or rock and roll. It's either good or it isn't, right? WELL, JETHRO TULL have made some damn good music for more than 35 years, and this guy, Scott Allen Nollen, nails it down, mates! A great HISTORY of the band; a great album-by-album review; interviews with many of the major band members; unpublished photos from IAN ANDERSON himself; + the foreword from IAN, too! There are MANY insights into music in general here + lots of other great stuff! WELL WORTH THE INVESTMENT!
Rating: 
Summary: It could be worse
Review: I suppose if one knows nothing about Tull, this comprehensive overview could be very useful. If, however, you're a fan and already know the basic history, there is much less here than one might want. First, much is recycled from other sources. Second, the desciptions of the albums are far too subjective. Descriptive analysis of the music would have been worthwhile, but Nollen's opinions (and even worse, recycled reviews from Rolling Stone and the like) are unnecessary. Does anyone really care whether or not Nollen likes a particular album? A true history of the band, something that would detail the creation of the various songs, their instrumentation and studio techniques, how they relate to Ian Anderson's life, the details of their tours with descriptions of the staging, etc., i.e., something that does for Tull what "The Last Gang In Town" did for The Clash has, sadly, yet to be written.
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