There are few rock musicians that can say they’ve experienced all the different phases the musical form has taken in the last forty years or more. One of them is Jethro Tull vocalist, flautist, violinist, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter, Ian Anderson. I spoke with him by phone earlier this month as he was preparing to tour Europe and Asia.

In 1967, Anderson was among the shaggy remnants of two recently disillusioned and disintegrated blues groups, the John Evan Band and McGregor’s Engine, which formed into a unit and filled some contractually obligated gigs left over by the members of John Evan Band.

“We really didn’t know much about playing our instruments at that time,” said Anderson. “I could play violin and guitar, but had only recently taken up the flute. And I was terrible — we were all terrible.”

Eventually the band, which featured Anderson, Mick Abrahams, Glenn Cornick, and Clive Bunker accidentally hit upon a sound that propelled them out of the sphere of blues and into an edgier rock sound.

“We were all interested in jazz and blues. I was a fan of singer Mose Allison’s work at the time, and tried to incorporate Allison’s riffing style into the work. Like so much jazz, the riffing bled into my instrumental work, especially the flute and suddenly we found ourselves with a rock sound that captured some of the better elements of jazz and blues. We really weren’t sure where it was all going at the time.”

After experimenting with some terrible names, the group’s managers came up with Jethro Tull, the eighteenth century agriculturist, inventor, and musician. “It just fit” said Anderson, “We were at a stage where we too were experimenting, and sowing seeds if you will.”

The historically referenced name and the progressive sound they created landed the band a residency at London’s Marquee Club a year later. They put out the blues based album “This Was” and continued to pursue their more experimental sound. It was during this time that Anderson immersed himself in songwriting. “Writing was always my forte. The musical side of me matured at a much slower rate than my songwriting ability.”

Anderson’s honed his lyrical focus into what he viewed divided people and worked continually to expose those elements of culture and religion that separated people. “At the time, there was snobbery among the religious set here that acted like a giant wall between people. I wanted to capture these attitudes.”

Anyone familiar with Jethro Tull knows that Anderson’s lyrics are intense and complex, mixed occasionally with simple nursery rhymes. “My songwriting reflects a lot of what I’m thinking at that moment,” said Anderson, “Its stream of consciousness, so if I read something and it seems too intense, I add elements of comic relief. Although I think that even the simpler concepts emphasize the metaphors in the songs.”