Goodbye to Mick Abrahams, founding member of Jethro Tull

The English guitarist has died at the age of 82 Mick Abrahamsoriginal guitarist of Jethro Tull and founder of Blodwyn Pig. To succeed him in the band of Ian Anderson was Martin Barre who thus remembered him on Facebook. “My friend and mentor Mick Abrahams is gone. He was really kind to me and that is something I will never forget! He was a magnificent guitarist who gave us so much! Rest in peace.”

Abrahams co-founded i
Jethro Tull
in 1967 together with the singer
Ian Anderson
to the bassist
Glenn Cornick
and the drummer
Clive Bunker
. He played on the band’s debut album,
“This Was”
released in October 1968. In December of the same year he left the group, also due to some disagreements on the musical direction of the band. Abrahams leaned towards a blues rock and jazz fusion side, while Ian Anderson took the group towards those prog and folk rock sounds that would over time become their trademark.

After leaving i
Jethro Tull,
Abrahams formed the blues rock band dei
Blodwyn Pig
. Whose first two albums,
“Ahead Rings
Out”
of 1969 and
“Getting to This”
in 1970, both entered the Top Ten in the UK album chart. In 2018, speaking to Prog about the band, Abrahams declared: “We could compete with any group. We didn’t care if we were on the bill with Crimson or Zeppelin. Nothing changed for us, and nothing upset us.”

THE
Blodwyn Pig
they disbanded for the first time in 1970, and then reformed several times over the years. Abrahams formed i
Wommett
and then embarked on a solo career, releasing his first album,
“Mick Abrahams”
in 1971. Abrahams’ last solo album,
“Revived!”
came out in 2015. Among the many guests also present
Martin Barre
.

About fifteen years ago, in November 2009, he had health problems that made it almost impossible for him to play the guitar. Also in the chat with Prog he said: “I had two heart attacks and a stroke almost simultaneously. They left their mark on me. Today I can play the guitar a little with others, but I’m not even remotely at the level I once managed to reach. This disturbs me.”