Tony Williams' birthday

Tony Williams, bassist of Jethro Tull in 1978, one of the many "meteors" that have revolved around Ian Anderson, has a birthday today, August 19th.

Legend has it that Jethro Tull was supposed to leave for a major American tour in the fall of 1978, which also included the famous date of October 9 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

But the sudden heart operation sustained by John Glascok sent the band into crisis. Anderson first contacted old bassist Jeffrey Hammond Hammond, who declined the invitation.

The choice fell on a musician from the Blackpool ring, not famous, but who was known a bit by all the members of Tull; Tony Williams, did not know any Jethro songs, so, with "a lot of patience", Anderson and Barre transcribed all the bass parts, taken from the live masters, and taught them to Tony, who learned immediately!

As a complete stranger Williams had his magic moment, playing at the Madison concert, and was seen by millions of people, something that perhaps did not happen to musicians who played for years in Jethro Tull.

The strange thing is that other "meteors" have had this privilege: Mark Craney (drummer) and Eddie Jobson (keyboardist), with Tull for a single tour, appeared on the video "Slipstream", official footage of the band, as if to say, "in the right place at the right time".

Happy Birthday Tony

Wazza