Originally formed by singer-songwriter Ian Anderson in psychedelic 1968, the band Jethro Tull has been recording its own kind of rock and roll and touring the globe for more than three decades. This is a history of the band through the present, written by an acquaintance of several of its members. The book includes a chronology of all of the band's recordings and information on all accompanying tours, with the author's critiques as well as the band's own reminiscences and opinions of each album. Also included are previously unpublished interviews with founder Ian Anderson, long-time band member David Pegg, other band members Glenn Cornick, Andy Giddings and Doane Perry, and more. Boasting back-to-back number one albums in the early 1970s in the United States, British band Jethro Tull was once one of the biggest rock groups in the world. Led by erudite flutist Ian Anderson, Tull has blazed a wholly original trail in the rock world for nearly 35 years. Longtime fan Nollen (The Boys) parlays his friendship with the band into an engaging biography that benefits from the participation of former and current band members. The bulk of the book is one long chapter divided into sections for each of the band's 31 albums. Nollen includes vital statistics (band members, song titles, U.K./U.S. chart position, etc.), rates each album on a one-to-five scale, and provides critical analysis of virtually every song. Quotes from interviews with band members are accompanied by quotes from Anderson's hired hands, which offer great insight into the band. Though Nollen's book is better written and more comprehensive than David Rees's Minstrels in the Gallery, its relatively narrow appeal and high price make it an optional purchase for popular music collections. Also available are Greg Russo's Flying Colours: The Jethro Tull Reference Manual and Barbara Espinoza's Driving in Diverse: A Collective Profile of Jethro Tull. Lloyd Jansen, Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L., CA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. When it comes to codpiece-clad rock gods, one name is paramount: Jethro Tull. Of course, Jethro Tull is only the name of the band, and the divine codpiece clads prancing flautist Ian Anderson, the only original member of the band that gave us "Locomotive Breath" who is still in it. Like many acts that endure until its touring lineup is one founding member and a bunch of hired hands, Tull survives as a marketable live act and a consistent if uninspiring source of new recordings. It always had pretensions far beyond the top-40 charts, and its members happily reminisce about its role in rock history, amusing touring incidents, and life as bigtime rockers in the golden age of groupies. Nollen consulted other band members as well as Anderson, and it must be said that, although in the past the Tullsters, especially Anderson, were assailed for hubris and pompousness, they are no match for the chronically overexposed Pete Townshend on those scores. A welcome addition to comprehensive rock music collections. Mike Tribby Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved “an engaging biography that benefits from the participation of former and current band members...provides critical analysis of virtually every song...offer[s] great insight into the band...better written and more comprehensive than [the competition]”― Library Journal ; “a welcome addition”― Booklist ; “unusual...informative...a treasure trove...will delight”― Midwest Book Review ; “a detailed account...thorough”― Communication Booknotes Quarterly ; “well-balanced...highly recommended”― Cup of Wonder ; “comprehensive and entertaining...energetic work...a must”― Green Man Review. Historian, filmmaker and musician  Scott Allen Nollen  was educated in film and history at the University of Iowa.  Since 1986, he has written and edited more than 40 books on the history of film, literature and music, including volumes on Boris Karloff (now finishing his third), Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, John Ford, John Wayne and Ward Bond, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, Louis Armstrong, Paul Robeson, Frank Sinatra, Jethro Tull, Takashi Shimura and (with his wife, Yuyun Yuningsih Nollen) Chester Morris.