Fans — and even some audience members — were rightly outraged, though TULL's record label tried to make light of the faux pas by placing a Billboard ad that read, "The flute is a heavy, metal instrument."
In a recent interview with VRP Rocks, ex- TULL guitarist Martin Barre, who was in the group for 43 years and performed on 11 gold and five platinum albums, including the Grammy-winning "Crest Of A Knave", was asked about why and his bandmates did not accept the Grammy Award in person. (Blabbermouth reports).
He said "No. Well, the record company didn't think we'd get it. And they said that we stood no chance. And they said, 'Don't go.' I mean, I really wanted to go. Even as a loser, I wanted to be there. So I have to say it was their mistake and their lack of confidence in the band. But, yeah, what a shame, 'cause at the biggest moment possibly ever in my career and maybe Ian's [Anderson, JETHRO TULL leader] and the others', it was lost forever and it didn't come across well that we weren't there. It just looked really bad."
He continued: "But despite that, I'm proud of it, and it's a big, big deal. It's a big deal for me because essentially it was me, Ian, and Dave Pegg that wrote, arranged and recorded that album. So I feel a big, big part of it. And yeah, dare I say I deserve it. I don't have a problem with it. Because to me it doesn't just represent one album; it represents years and years of a band putting something into the system. And I think that year, whoever it was,
"Rearrangement of songs is a dangerous direction to go in. I try to stay within the guardrails, but we occasionally have fun. Some of the old tracks are a bit bland in today’s world. There are not many, so we may try a bit of rearranging. But I don’t rearrange as an exercise. We do have fun with it, example is we do a rearranged “Eleanor Rigby.”
I think everyone my age was influenced but the Beatles. They were the best band, the most original, most inventive band, so everyone of that era thought they were hugely influential. Not many didn’t like them, at least in England. The Beatles were leaders, and I remember when Sgt. Pepper came out, they re-established themselves. Putting themselves right at the top again by blowing everybody away. They were artists and came out with albums that bypassed all the trends that were happening. I don’t mean to be disrespectful of “Eleanor Rigby”’s songwriting, but our arrangement is a bit of fun, and the song shines through. But re-arrangements, as a rule, can become a dangerous habit. (goodmanproject)
