Wednesday 15 October 2008

This Month's Unlikely Prog-Rocking Cat (And Under The Paw) Fan: Ian Anderson From Jethro Tull

As someone who lives musically in 1971 on a near-permanent basis, I was extremely pleased to get an email yesterday from Ian Anderson, the lead singer of one of my favourite bands, Jethro Tull, about how much he'd enjoyed Under The Paw...

"A man who knows his cats - almost as much as the cats know the man!" wrote Ian. "Fascinating insight and anecdotal musings.... Never mawkish or sentimental but filled with the respect, love and regrets all cat-lovers know so well. Purr-fect for the Christmas stocking."

It turns out Ian's interest in cats goes further than just writing a song called Cat's Squirrel. He keeps Bengals, and even has a kitten advice page on the Tull website, for "new parents"! What with this and my discovery last month of Rick Wakeman's secret feline love, it's clearly only a matter of time before we find out that Keith Emerson owns his own cat sanctuary, where Mike Rutherford and the guitarist from Greenslade help out with poop patrol.

3 comments:

CatWitch said...

Ha! This is all rather uncanny, as I've recently re-kindled an interest in Jethro Tull (because one of my faves, Nick Cave, is a huge fan) & hubby just bought me a double cd 'best of' affair. What joy to know that the man is a cat fan AND a fan of yours =^.^=

florid nightingale said...

The man who stood on one foot playing the flute in ways never before heard is also a supporter of big cat sanctuaries. I saw this somewhere sometime on some website, so I know it's true. Jethro Tull got me through high school.

Anonymous said...

Never mind the prog rocker, I prefer to live in 1965 or 1979 musically but the cat is the most adorable creature ever!