| B i o g r a p h y |
Martin Lancelot Barre
(born 17 November 1946, Kings Heath, Birmingham, West Midlands,
England) is an English rock musician. Barre has been the guitarist for
rock band Jethro Tull since 1969. He has appeared on every Jethro Tull
album except their debut This Was (1968). Barre has stated in
interviews that guitarist Leslie West from American rock band Mountain
was a direct influence on his playing. He has also acted as a flautist
both on-stage for Tull, and in his own solo work. Barre began his career
playing saxophone with the Birmingham band, The Moonrakers, in the
early 1960s. During July 1966, he joined Beau Brummell‘s former backing
band, The Noblemen, with fellow ex-Moonraker, Chris Rodger, and the
group subsequently changed their name to The Motivation. The band also
comprised singer Jimmy Marsh, bassist Bryan Stevens, keyboardist Mike
Ketley and drummer Malcolm Tomlinson. The group appeared at London’s
legendary Marquee Club on two occasions and also supported Cream at the
Upper Cut in the Forest Gate district of London. They also performed at
the Piper Club in Rome for six weeks in mid-1967.
In the summer of 1967, Marsh and Rodger left and the others brought in
former Clayton Squares singer Denny Alexander and became The Penny
Peeps. Signed to Liberty Records, the band released two singles in
1968—”Little Man With a Stick” backed by “Model Village” and “I See the
Morning” backed with “Curly, Knight of the Road”. By this point, Barre
had switched to lead guitar and his impressive solo on “Model Village”
has made the track a popular collectors’ item. Alexander left the band
in mid-1968 and the group became a blues outfit under a new
moniker—Gethsemane. The new band recorded further material, which was
never released, and broke up in mid December 1968, when after a brief
career in Fat Mattress with Noel Redding of Jimi Hendrix fame, Barre
joined Jethro Tull.
By the end of 1968, Jethro Tull‘s Ian Anderson was going through
conflicts with his then blues guitarist Mick Abrahams. After having a
brief stint with Earth (and future Black Sabbath) guitarist Tony Iommi,
Iommi auditioned and joined Jethro Tull briefly as a guest, appearing on
the Rolling Stones “Rock and Roll Circus” TV special miming to “A Song
for Jeffrey”. Additionally David O’List of The Nice auditioned for the
Jethro Tull lead guitarist slot without success. Barre came to audition
for Anderson, but was so nervous that he barely played. For his second
audition, Martin Barre didn’t bring an amplifier or a guitar cord. Even
so, Ian Anderson still approved Barre as Abrahams’ permanent
replacement. Today, Barre is the next longest-standing member in Jethro
Tull next to Ian Anderson.
For four decades, Barre’s career focused on Jethro Tull but in the 1990s
Barre began to perform as a solo artist, and has recorded five albums: A
Summer Band (1992), A Trick of Memory (1994), The Meeting (1996) and
Stage Left (2003) and Away With Words (2013). On these recordings, Barre
combined rock and guitar-oriented fusion in his sound. The Meeting
(1996) features the bassist Jonathan Noyce, who was then introduced to
Tull vocalist and flute player, Ian Anderson by Barre and played with
Jethro Tull in 1996-2007. Stage Left, saw Barre essay a number of blues,
acoustic folk and even ambient electronic styles. In 2004 in support of
Stage Left, he played a number of solo dates and played at all of the
Tull gigs in 2005. According to his official website, he has also
recorded work on the recent album by veteran British folk music outfit,
Pentangle.
In 2012 he toured with a band, which he called Martin Barre’s New Day,
and included Pat O’May, John Mitchell, Frank Mead, Jonathan Noyce and
Geoff Dunn. Martin’s guitar playing has earned him a high level of
respect and recognition; he was voted 25th best solo ever in the USA and
20th best solo ever in the UK for his playing on ‘Aqualung’. His
playing on the album ‘Crest of a Knave’ earned him a Grammy award in
1988. As well as performing on numerous Jethro Tull albums, Martin has
worked live with many other artists including?Paul McCartney, Phil
Collins, Gary Moore, Jo Bonamassa and Chris Thompson and has shared a
stage with such legends as Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and Led
Zeppelin. Martin has put together a band to play the “classic” music
from the Tull catalogue. His band, under the title of Martin Barre’s New
Day is a total commitment to give the Tull fans and a broader audience
the chance to hear tracks not performed for many years. The band
includes other members of Tull and top musicians from a similar
background.
jethrotull.com
Official Homepage: www.martinbarre.com