John Evan
Encyclopedia
John Evan played keyboards
for Jethro Tull
from April 1970 to June 1980. He was educated at King's College London
.
Evans was born in Blackpool
, Lancashire
. He changed his name when his first band, The Blades, changed their name to The John Evan Band. Jeffrey Hammond
apparently thought 'The John Evan Band' sounded better than 'The John Evans Band'.
Later on, Evan was attending college when he happened to recognize his former band mates on radio with the song, Living In The Past, remarking years later that it stood out to him because of its quite unusual time signature for a Pop song. In 1970, he played as a session musician on Tull's Benefit
album (where upon his acknowledgement reads: "...and John Evan, who played keyboads for our benefit."), and was eventually convinced by Ian Anderson
to leave school to become a full-fledged member of the band. In addition to his many distinctive contributions to the group's overall musical sound and stage personality, it is also notable that Evan composed the memorable piano introduction to the legendary Tull song, Locomotive Breath
(the opening of which foreshadows with a Bluesy smoke-steeped power, building brilliantly towards the relentless and indelible impact of the piece as a whole), having achieved this task in studio while some of the other band members were out to lunch.
Whilst with Jethro Tull, Evan had a penchant for wearing his trademark white suit, along with a yellow shirt underneath and a pink-and-yellow polka-dot tie. Evan can be seen wearing this outfit in photographs on the album War Child
, and the live album
Bursting Out
, while a painted version of him is seen wearing the suit and tie on the inside cover of the Aqualung album. During concerts, Evan's wildly rendered pantomime gestures would conjure visions for audiences of a cross between Harpo Marx
and The Hatter
from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
(sans the hat). Because of the familiar white suit, Anderson was known to jokingly refer to Evan (during band member introductions) as "everyone's favourite ice cream salesman".
Regrettably, Evan departed Jethro Tull in July 1980. He then went on to form Tallis
with fellow departing Tull member, David Palmer
. After many years running his own construction company, during which he would occasionally be recognized by die-hard Tull fans, he now resides in Australia
. He also appeared in the 2004 DVD, Jethro Tull - A New Day Yesterday: The 25th Anniversary Collection (1969–1994) (originally released in 1994 on VHS), the 2008 DVD, Jethro Tull - Their Fully Authorised Story (1968–2008), and the 2009 DVD/CD combo, Jethro Tull - Live at Madison Square Garden (1978).
With Jethro Tull:
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
for Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
from April 1970 to June 1980. He was educated at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
.
Evans was born in Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. He changed his name when his first band, The Blades, changed their name to The John Evan Band. Jeffrey Hammond
Jeffrey Hammond
Jeffrey Hammond sometimes credited as Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, is a former bass guitar player for the progressive rock band Jethro Tull....
apparently thought 'The John Evan Band' sounded better than 'The John Evans Band'.
Later on, Evan was attending college when he happened to recognize his former band mates on radio with the song, Living In The Past, remarking years later that it stood out to him because of its quite unusual time signature for a Pop song. In 1970, he played as a session musician on Tull's Benefit
Benefit (album)
Benefit is the third album by Jethro Tull. It was released in April 1970. It was the first album to include pianist and organist John Evan , and the last to include bass guitarist Glenn Cornick. It reached #3 in the UK album charts.The album has more hard rock than its predecessor, Stand Up...
album (where upon his acknowledgement reads: "...and John Evan, who played keyboads for our benefit."), and was eventually convinced by Ian Anderson
Ian Anderson (musician)
Ian Scott Anderson, MBE is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work as the leader and flautist of British rock band Jethro Tull.-Early life:...
to leave school to become a full-fledged member of the band. In addition to his many distinctive contributions to the group's overall musical sound and stage personality, it is also notable that Evan composed the memorable piano introduction to the legendary Tull song, Locomotive Breath
Locomotive Breath
"Locomotive Breath" is a song by the English progressive rock band Jethro Tull from their 1971 album, Aqualung. It is notable for a long bluesy piano introduction and its flute solo by rock flute virtuoso Ian Anderson...
(the opening of which foreshadows with a Bluesy smoke-steeped power, building brilliantly towards the relentless and indelible impact of the piece as a whole), having achieved this task in studio while some of the other band members were out to lunch.
Whilst with Jethro Tull, Evan had a penchant for wearing his trademark white suit, along with a yellow shirt underneath and a pink-and-yellow polka-dot tie. Evan can be seen wearing this outfit in photographs on the album War Child
War Child (album)
War Child is the seventh studio album by Jethro Tull, released in October 1974.Originally meant to accompany a film project , it was reinstated as a ten-song, single-length rock album after failed attempts to find a major movie studio to finance the film.The "War Child" movie was written as a...
, and the live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
Bursting Out
Bursting Out
Bursting Out is a 1978 live album by rock band Jethro Tull. It was recorded at various locations during the European Heavy Horses tour of May and June 1978, but it is not certain where each track was recorded...
, while a painted version of him is seen wearing the suit and tie on the inside cover of the Aqualung album. During concerts, Evan's wildly rendered pantomime gestures would conjure visions for audiences of a cross between Harpo Marx
Harpo Marx
Adolph "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian and film star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances...
and The Hatter
Mad Hatter
Hatta, the Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. He is often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Carroll...
from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
(sans the hat). Because of the familiar white suit, Anderson was known to jokingly refer to Evan (during band member introductions) as "everyone's favourite ice cream salesman".
Regrettably, Evan departed Jethro Tull in July 1980. He then went on to form Tallis
Tallis
-People:* Gorden Tallis, an Australian rugby league player* John Tallis, cartographer* Raymond Tallis, an English geriatrician and intellectual* Thomas Tallis , an English composer-Other:...
with fellow departing Tull member, David Palmer
Dee Palmer
Dee Palmer is an English composer arranger and keyboardist best known for having been a member of the rock group Jethro Tull.Palmer studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music with Richard Rodney Bennet,winning the Eric Coates Prize and The Boosey and Hawkes Prize...
. After many years running his own construction company, during which he would occasionally be recognized by die-hard Tull fans, he now resides in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. He also appeared in the 2004 DVD, Jethro Tull - A New Day Yesterday: The 25th Anniversary Collection (1969–1994) (originally released in 1994 on VHS), the 2008 DVD, Jethro Tull - Their Fully Authorised Story (1968–2008), and the 2009 DVD/CD combo, Jethro Tull - Live at Madison Square Garden (1978).
Album discography
With The John Evan Band:- Live 1966 (A New Day RecordsA New Day RecordsA New Day is a record label from England . It was founded by Dave Rees and evolved from his Jethro Tull fanzine of that name.-External links:*http://www.anewdayrecords.co.uk/ Official Site...
)
With Jethro Tull:
- BenefitBenefit (album)Benefit is the third album by Jethro Tull. It was released in April 1970. It was the first album to include pianist and organist John Evan , and the last to include bass guitarist Glenn Cornick. It reached #3 in the UK album charts.The album has more hard rock than its predecessor, Stand Up...
(as session musicianSession musicianSession musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
) - Aqualung
- Thick as a BrickThick as a Brick-Differences between various CD releases:By 2011 the album received three major releases on CD: the first release , the MFSL-release , and the 25th Anniversary Edition . Whereas the first release and the MFSL-release run with identical speed, the 25th Anniversary edition runs 0.5% slower...
- Living in the PastLiving in the Past (album)Living in the Past is a double album quasi-compilation collection by Jethro Tull which contains album tracks, outtakes, the "Life Is A Long Song" EP, and all of their singles non-lp tracks except "Aeroplane", "Sunshine Day", "One For John Gee", "17" and the original United Kingdom version of...
(compilation) - A Passion PlayA Passion PlayA Passion Play is a concept album, and the sixth studio album, released by Jethro Tull. Apparently concerning the spiritual journey of one man in the afterlife, it is similar to Thick as a Brick in that it is one long track split across both sides of the LP vinyl record, save for the interruption...
- War ChildWar ChildWar Child or Warchild may refer to:* Child soldiers, children who are used in war, as soldiers or in combat support* Military brat, military slang for a child or teenager of a military family* Refugee, children who are refugees of war...
- Minstrel in the GalleryMinstrel in the GalleryMinstrel in the Gallery is the eighth studio album by British band Jethro Tull, released in September 1975.Ian Anderson's lyrics and subject matter show an introspective and cynical air, possibly the byproduct of Anderson's recent divorce from first wife Jennie Franks and the pressures of touring,...
- Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! is the ninth studio album released by British band Jethro Tull. It is widely considered a concept album. The remastered 2002 CD version contains two bonus tracks that were cut from the original LP, "Small Cigar" and "Strip Cartoon"...
- Songs from the WoodSongs from the WoodSongs from the Wood is the tenth studio album by Jethro Tull and is considered to be the first of a trio of folk rock albums despite the fact that folk music elements are present in the work of Jethro Tull both before and after this trilogy...
- Heavy HorsesHeavy HorsesHeavy Horses is the eleventh studio album by Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1978. It is considered the second album in a trilogy of folk-rock albums by Jethro Tull, although folk music's influence is evident on a great number of Jethro Tull releases...
- Bursting OutBursting OutBursting Out is a 1978 live album by rock band Jethro Tull. It was recorded at various locations during the European Heavy Horses tour of May and June 1978, but it is not certain where each track was recorded...
- StormwatchStormwatch (album)Stormwatch is the twelfth studio album by the rock group Jethro Tull. It is considered the last in the trilogy of folk-rock albums by Jethro Tull...
- 20 Years of Jethro Tull20 Years of Jethro Tull-Disc two:Flawed Gems and Other Sides Of Tull-Disc three:The Essential Tull-LP Track listing:The track numbers shown below are for the five LP set...
(compilation) - 25th Anniversary Box Set25th Anniversary Box Set25th Anniversary Box Set is a 1993 limited edition box set by Jethro Tull. It includes some of the band's best-known compositions from 1969 to 1992, many of them previously unavailable in the versions presented here...
(compilation) - Nightcap (compilation)
- Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 is a live album by Jethro Tull, released on 2 November 2004. It was recorded on the fifth and last day of the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, where Jethro Tull were second on the bill between The Moody Blues and Jimi Hendrix.-Track listing:# "My Sunday...
(as session musician) - Live at Madison Square Garden 1978Live At Madison Square Garden 1978Live At Madison Square Garden 1978 is a concert video and an album by english rock band Jethro Tull, released in 2009. It was recorded on October 9, 1978 at Madison Square Garden in New York City....