Jethro Tull

Jethro Tull, aka the saga of everyone's favorite madcap flautist and his netherworldly parishioners, began in England in the late '60s. It was one of many experimental periods in rock 'n' roll, when the miscegenation of folk, sylvan mysticism, Heavy Metal thunder, and Skiffle seemed viable. "Aqualung" from 1971 remains the group's calling card. Who could deny a fully bearded man, dressed in tartan, hopping on one leg while playing flute and breathing life to the indelible image "Sitting on a park bench / eyeing little girls with bad intent / snot running down his nose / greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes"? Though JT would release a steady stream of work for the faithful, they would surface once more in the spotlight with their controversial win of the Grammy award for the inaugural Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal category in 1989. Ever the English wiseguys, JT's latest CD, ingeniously titled j-tull.com, finds them with the usual arsenal of wind instruments and palatable riffs for both knights and knaves.