“I’d met Leslie West, and like a lot of guitar players, you couldn’t meet Leslie West and come out unscathed”: Martin Barre explains how the Mountain man influenced his most iconic solo on Jethro Tull’s Aqualung

(Left) Martin Barre plays a PRS onstage at Bogie's on March 10, 2019 in Westlake Village, California and Leslie West, and (right) a black and white image of Leslie West with a Les Paul Junior from June 1971.

Martin Barre might protest that he is “not and never will be a guitar hero”, but he’s certainly looked and sounded like one at numerous points in his career – and perhaps never more so than on Jethro Tull’s Aqualung.

However, in a recent interview with Guitarist, he explains the song’s tone was influenced by another six-strong icon.