A Tull story?

Something different this weekend...in a musical vein...

One of my earliest writing pieces was an anecdotal story about a drumming experience I had back in the nineties. If anyone out there is wondering what it's like to unexpectedly secure an audition with a massive international band, read on to find out what happened to me back in the good old days of 1991. I found the story recently on a backup of my old music web site, so here it is -  a 'A Tull Story'

Incidentally, the latest edition of the Jethro Tull fan club magazine, 'A New Day', is available now and features not only my interview with the personable Martin Webb of A New Day but also with the many drummers who have played with JT over the years.

A Tull Story.....

I read the ad again: 'Long standing front man of Internationally successful Rock band seeks musicians for solo/second band projects' Worth a try, I thought. Call Kenny, it said. So I did...

Kenny turns out to be Kenny Wylie, tour manager for Jethro Tull. Sharp intake of breath. A biggie. Not only that, but my all time favourite band. Kenny says 'Send a tape with some of your stuff on it'. So I did. Two days later the phone rings. It's Kenny. 'You lucky drummer' he says; you've got an audition.' Which is how I come to be loading my kit into the car one grainy April morning in '91, heading for an early audition at a village hall deep in darkest Wycombe. Driving across Christmas Common it all seems unreal. I force myself to enjoy the moment.

I arrive at the hall, a run down looking place set back from the main road, park the car and walk in. It's about 9:45 am. There's no-one about. I wander around the hall, wondering if I'm in the right place. There's a small black stool upended on the floor near the even smaller stage. Some inappropriate sense of tidiness makes me bend and turn it over. Emblazoned on the top of the stool in white stencil is one word: 'TULL' My stomach does a small somersault. Oh Lord, this really is happening...

I walk back to the car and start unloading my kit. Kenny Wylie arrives presently, full of good humour and encouraging words. I slowly assemble the kit, chatting to Kenny about music, drums, hi-hat stands and so on. Someone else arrives. It's Martin. Handshakes and intros are swiftly followed by a sprightly David Pegg and finally a figure in black enters the hall, chewing vigorously on a stick of gum. It's Ian Anderson and I'm about to audition for Jethro Tull......

The next hour or so is a blur, but some images are still vivid. Motoring through the middle section of 'Farm on the freeway', the sheer adrenaline rush of playing through the guitar solo section of Aqualung, coming to that familiar dead stop - cut to Ian's acoustic guitar and voice: 'Dee, dee dee dee...'. 'Sleeping with the Dog' is next, a nice lazy blues which I feel totally at home with (surprise).

I go home on cloud 200 and grapple with normality. A couple of days elapse before I arrive home from work to find what looks like a particularly boring bill/letter on the doorstep....The phone rings. I leave the letter unopened and pick up the phone. It's Kenny. Have I got the letter? I look blankly at the letter again. 'Hang on'. I open it. 'Ian has been trying to get hold of you urgently - call him asap on....'. Two minutes later I'm talking to Ian - he's asking me questions about availability; can I come over to his studio to hear a couple of new songs needing drums adding for the new album? I tell him my diary is pretty free...

I arrive at the front of Ian's house. It's big. My feet make loud crunchy noises on the gravel. Any minute I expect to be thrown out for trespassing. A lady answers the door. Ian's in the studio. I follow meekly. And there he is, sat at the desk enclosed in headphones, beard wagging as he mimes along to 'Thinking Round Corners' (as it turns out to be). I listen to the embryonic 'Still Loving You Tonight' and a strange country twanged 'Truck Stop Runner'. We finish the evening in the local Curry House (where else?) where Ian regales me with tales of Tull past and present.

And the outcome of all this? A memorable day at Peggy's Woodworm studios where Matt Pegg and me record our parts for 'Truck Stop Runner' and then 'Still Loving You Tonight'. I think that 'Still Loving You' went down in three takes, the last take performed under Ian's surreal exhortation to play it 'like an Italian with .....'. No, I can't tell you what he said actually - best leave it to your imagination.

A few months later, one Saturday afternoon, Ian rang again to invite me + a bass player along for a 'rehearsal'. Hmmm. Anyway, me and my buddy Neil spent an excellent afternoon and evening with Ian and Martin rehearsing songs from their back catalogue for the 'A Little Light Music' tour. It was probably the most intense rehearsal I've ever experienced - a sort of unspoken 'no breaks and you'd better catch on quick' kind of thing - I think it was about 5-6 hours in total - oh, and the location was Ian's studio. It was a lot of fun playing old favourites like 'From a deadbeat to an old greaser' and 'Life's a long song'. Still, all good things come to an end and we even made the pub before closing time.

Think round corners, eh?
Scott H, August 1999

Wow, that sure takes me back. Incidentally the album was 'Catfish Rising' and you can purchase it from Amazon right here. And it's even got my name on it...