The book by Giuseppe Scaravilli 'Jethro Tull, 1968-1978' (Europa Edizioni) was published in January 2018. It tells the story of Jethro Tull year by year, from 1968 to 1978. A wider appendix that goes from 1979 to today, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the band. Each chapter takes the title from the record and the year it deals with: for example. This Was, 1968, Stand Up, 1969, etc. Living in the Past, the "aborted" French recordings of 1972 and Bursting Out are not left out, although they are not works that are part of the discography in the proper sense of the term. So each chapter does not just talk about the record (or discs) published in that year, but also of the tours, anecdotes, the lineup of concerts, the change of formations, stage clothes, etc. The films and the existing television appearances and subsequent remix versions by Steven Wilson are also treated. The writing, however, is smooth and edited in the form, telling the story with precise details even in the dates, but trying to be pleasant and not too pedantic. There are not many books dedicated to Tull in Italy, and the work in question tries to fill this gap. As Giuseppe Scaravilli writes in the preface, it is the book "that I myself would have dreamed of seeing on the shelves of a bookshop". The approach is both that of the historian and that of the musician, and makes use of decades of passion, listening (also of bootleg) and various readings on the subject Jethro Tull, without forgetting a personal point of view. Many beautiful photos (restored for better quality) accompany the work, with a central insert, plus other images not all known. I really think it's a compelling (and exhaustive) reading both for those who already know this group well, and for those who want to learn more.
