Ian Anderson Says He Was Embarrassed By The Name Jethro Tull

Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson recently addressed the band’s name ‘Jethro Tull‘ and confessed that he was embarrassed by the name once he found out what it meant, however, it was too late to change it.

Jethro Tull was initially formed as a blues-rock and jazz fusion band in 1967 in England. Soon after, they started to merge the genres of hard rock into their music and claimed success. In their earlier years, the band had to change their name often because they were having trouble booking repeatedly in the London scene. However, one day a club manager wanted to rebook them, and they picked the name Jethro Tull which stuck with them since then.

The name Jethro Tull is from an 18th-century agriculturalist who contributed to bringing the British Agricultural Revolution upon the country. He also helped develop a seed drill that ensured the seeds would be pushed underground evenly so that the crops grew at equal distances making the planting and growing crops process more economical.

Recently, the band Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson spoke about how he felt when he first found out who their name came from. It was completely unrelated to rock and roll, and Anderson was embarrassed to be called by his name. Regardless, the band received positive reviews, so they couldn’t change the name but, Anderson felt guilty for not liking it yet keeping it.

Here is what he said about the name:

“Our booking agent gave it to us, and when I realized who Jethro Tull was, I was embarrassed, but we couldn’t change it because we’d just got the Marquee residency and were beginning to get some positive responses. I’ve always felt a bit guilty about it.”

The name was given to them by their booking agent, and it doesn’t have a big brainstorming story behind it like most bands do. However not all bands have to romantically form their names, in these cases, people need to be able to remember it and associate it with the band. Hence, today, it doesn’t seem like people will think about the agriculturist instead of the rock and roll band.