Mick Abrahams

Overview

musical style: 

photograph of Mick Abrahams

Mick Abrahams (born Michael Timothy Abrahams on 7 April 1943 in Luton, Bedfordshire) is a British guitarist and band leader, best known as being the original guitarist for Jethro Tull. After leaving Tull, Abrahams went on to found British blues rock band Blodwyn Pig. As well as his solo recordings, he toured and recorded several albums as the Mick Abrahams Band.

Abrahams played on the debut Tull album "This Was" in 1968 but conflicts between Abrahams and Ian Anderson over the musical direction of the band led Abrahams to leave once the album was finished. While Anderson wanted to incorporate more overt folk and jazz influences, Abrahams wanted to pursue a more blues/rock direction.

Abrahams went on to found Blodwyn Pig and the group recorded two albums, Ahead Rings Out and Getting to This before breaking up in 1970. Abrahams soldiered on with the short-lived Wommet, then the Mick Abrahams Band and has continued to release albums by himself and with reunited versions of Blodwyn Pig.

Abrahams caused some controversy in Tull fan circles for his formation of a band called This Was in the late 1990s, which reunited the members of the first incarnation of Jethro Tull (with the exception of Ian Anderson) to perform songs from that era of Jethro Tull's music. Tull fans disapproved but Ian Anderson apparently was not too offended, as in recent years Abrahams and Anderson have guested on each other's records. Abrahams has also participated in Jethro Tull reunions as well as one-off projects and gigs over the years.

Abrahams suffered a heart attack in November 2009 and has had various health issues since then. Read more about Mick Abrahams on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

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