QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

Jethro Tull (1674 – 1741) was an English agriculturist who helped to bring about the British Agricultural Revolution of the 18th century. He perfected a horse-drawn seed drill in 1701 that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows, and later developed a horse-drawn hoe. Tull's methods were adopted by many landowners and helped to provide the basis for modern agriculture. 

As regards the band by that name, at first the new band had trouble obtaining repeat bookings, and they changed their name frequently in order to continue playing the London club circuit, using aliases such as Navy Blue, Ian Henderson's Bag o' Nails, and Candy Coloured Rain. The names were often supplied by their booking agent's staff, one of whom, a history enthusiast, eventually named them Jethro Tull after the 18th-century agriculturist. The name stuck because they were using it when the manager of the Marquee Club liked their show enough to give them a weekly residency. 

In an interview in 2006, the group’s bandleader, founder, principal composer and only constant member, Ian Anderson, said that he had not realised it was the name of "a dead guy who invented the seed drill - I thought our agent had made it up". He said if he could change one thing in his life, he would go back and change the name of the band to something less historical.