I was a devoted Jethro Tull fan growing up, so I relished every chance I had to speak to founder and leader Ian Anderson.

In this conversation, which took place during the 1993 tour celebrating the band’s 25th anniversary, Anderson, then 46 years old, talked about Tull’s legacy (“almost an important band”), the best Tull albums (Stand Up, Songs From The Wood and Crest of a Knave, because they contain “the right balance of serious, humorous, complex and simple stuff”) and an event that brought together 16 of the first 22 members of Tull (there have been many more members since).

Anderson is consistently erudite and witty—very much a reflection of the music he’s made over the past fifty-plus years. And sometimes, as you’ll see when he gets to talking about Metallica and Guns ’N Roses, he also can be very wrong.

One note: In this interview, he refers to an upcoming Jethro Tull album that the band recorded in 1972 but never released because the recording sessions “foundered in technical disarray.” That record was “Nightcap,” and it is, indeed, a mess. 

For more information about Jethro Tull, visit jethrotull.com.

And if you want to listen to the best of Tull, I recommend: “For A Thousand Mothers,” “To Cry You a Song,” “My God,” “Dharma for One” and “Cold Wind to Valhalla.” Anderson also has released several solo albums, the best of which are “Divinities: Twelve Dances With God” and “The Secret Language of Birds.”