“I suspect they’ve had a lesser impact on the music world due to the complexity of their music”: No-Man’s Tim Bowness on his prog hero, Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson

Tim Bowness and, inset, Ian Anderson.

In 2017 Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson guested on Tim Bowness’ solo album Lost In The Ghost Light. Two years later Bowness told Prog why Anderson was his prog icon – and speculated on why Tull didn’t seem as influential as might be expected.

“My first encounter with the music of Jethro Tull and Ian Anderson came through an advert placed on my school noticeboard in 1980. Somebody was selling a copy of Aqualung cheaply. Due to my interest in progressive music, I’d heard of Jethro Tull but at that time didn’t own anything by the band.