Jethro Tull Book Coming in 2019

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Jethro Tull, 1988 (L-R: Martin Barre, Ian Anderson, Doane Perry, Maartin Allcock, and Dave Pegg) in an uncredited photo from Allcock’s website

Jethro Tull leader Ian Anderson revealed on the group’s social media pages on October 15 that the first official book about the band is in the works. The Ballad of Jethro Tull, described as “an illustrated, oral history of the band,” is expected in 2019 from publisher Rocket 88.

In a promotional clip, Anderson notes: “After 50 years of making music, we’ve decided that the time has come to create an official Jethro Tull book. We’ve all climbed into our lofts and delved into our cellars to find photographs and materials.”

Registering at JethroTullBook “will get you a discount on the price and let you stay up on the progress of the book.” The form requires your name, email address and country.

The website indicates that “exclusive interviews with band members past and present tell the full Tull story.”

Anderson has been celebrating the group’s 50th anniversary with a career-spanning CD collection, with tracks selected by Anderson, and extensive touring. Tull is performing in Europe and the U.K. through the remainder of 2018. The tour resumes after a month off for the holidays with scattered additional European dates through March 2019. A deluxe 50th anniversary edition of the band’s 1968 debut album, This Was, arrives November 9.

Watch Anderson’s announcement about the book

On September 16, Maartin Allcock, a multi-instrumentalist who performed with Tull starting in the late ’80s, died at 61. The group’s Facebook page paid tribute to “his joy and exuberant commitment to music of all kinds – even ours.”