Music Diary – 30th December

Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 30th December!

Clive Bunker (Jethro Tull)

Happy birthday to drummer Clive William Bunker, who was born on the 30th December 1946 in Luton, Bedfordshire (UK). Clive was the original drummer in Jethro Tull and a member from 1968 until 1971. With the band, he recorded the first four classic studio albums „This Was“ (1968), „Stand Up“ (1969), „Benefit“ (1970) and „Aqualung“ (1971).

Clive Bunker began playing in a band called „The Warriors“ in the sixties. Later he formed with guitarist Mick Abrahams the band McGregor’s Engine, before both founded in 1967 with Ian Anderson and Glenn Cornick Jethro Tull. Shortly after the release of the LP „Aqualung“, Clive Bunker decided to leave the band, get married and spend more time with his wife. Barriemore Barlow, a school friend of frontman Ian Anderson, took over his place.

Clive about his decision: „I had always told Ian, ‚If I find the right lady, I’ll be gone,‘ and I did just that. That was just at the start of their world touring in 1972, and I wouldn’t have been back in England for ages at a time. So I thought that I might as well end it then. Besides, Barrie was always in the background anyway, so I knew I wasn’t going to put them in a difficult situation. You must understand that back then, we didn’t have any time off; it was non-stop work, and I wanted to spend time with my wife.“

After his life with Jethro Tull, Clive played with many acts like Blodwyn Pig, Robin Trower, Aviator, Manfred Mann, Jack Bruce, Gordon Giltrap, Uli Jon Roth, Electric Sun, Steve Hillage, Solstice, Glenn Hughes and Jerry Donahue. Finally in 1998, Clive Bunker’s debut solo album „Awakening“ was released feat. contributions by old Tullers Ian Anderson, Martin Barre and longtime friends Andy Glass, Dave Lennox, Jim Rodford, John Batrum, Vikki Clayton and Graham Dee.

Interesting note:
Doane Perry, who became the new Jethro Tull drummer in 1984, was taught one of his first drum lessons ever by Clive Bunker! I did an interview with Doane and he talks about this historic meeting – you can stream the conversation here (the topic starts at appr. 19:10 min)!

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Music Diary – 10th September

Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 10th September!

Barrie „Barriemore“ Barlow (Jethro Tull)

On the 10th September 1949 Barrie „Barriemore“ Barlow was born in Birmingham, UK. Barlow joined Jethro Tull in May 1971 and replaced drummer and percussionist Clive Bunker, who decided to leave the band after the successful and legendary LP „Aqualung„.  Some of the best Tull albums were recorded with Barrie Barlow and John Bonham from Led Zeppelin said, that he is „the greatest rock drummer England ever produced“. Jethro Tull recorded with Barlow the outstanding studio albums „Thick as a Brick“ (1972), „A Passion Play“ (1973), „War Child“ (1974), „Minstrel in the Gallery“ (1975), „Too old to Rock’n’Roll: Too young to die!“ (1976), „Songs from the Wood“ (1977), „Heavy Horses“ (1978) and „Stormwatch“ (1979). Also the live album „Bursting Out“ (1978) features Barriemore Barlow.

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Music Diary – 26th June

Hey Ho – Let’s Go!

Welcome to my music diary for today, 26th June!
On this day I completed my Jethro Tull collection with two nice vinyls:
In 1996 I bought the UK version of the single „Broadsword„/“Fallen on Hard Times“ which was originally released in 1982 to promote the awesome album „The Broadsword and the Beast„.

And in 2001 I received a copy of the „Aqualung“ album – but not the regular one! I got the very special „Quadradisc“ version of it which was first released back in 1975.

And here’s a birthday for today:
Richard McCracken was born on 26th June 1948! He was the bass player in the supergroup called Taste (from 1968 until 1970) which featured the outstanding guitar player Rory Gallagher and drummer John Wilson! So happy bday to Richard!

Cheers and spread the word!

Alex Melomane

Music Diary – 13th June

Welcome to my personal music diary, dear musiclovers all around the world!

On this day I attended two shows of my all time favorite bands:
In 2007 I was still a huge fan of the legendary Jethro Tull and so I attended their show in Munich at the wonderful Circus Krone. Nowadays I’m tired of Ian Anderson’s „Greatest Hits“ tours and since Martin Lancelot Barre left the band I’m not really interested in this band which created such wonderful albums like „Aqualung“, „Thick As A Brick“, „Songs From The Wood“ or „Heavy Horses“. So it goes, nobody knows …

In 2011, and one day after the show in Nuremberg, the one and only Slim Cessna’s Auto Club played a free show in Munich at the Theatron. It was funny to see how the crowd reacted to their intense performance. But they really loved it – the merchandising was sold out after the show 😉

Videos, pictures and setlists of these two performances can be found here (scroll down to 13/06):
https://melomaneblog.wordpress.com/category/concerts-june
Cheers,

Alex Melomane