Mick Abrahams, the original guitarist of UK prog rock icons Jethro Tull, has died at the age of 82. Abrahams passed away on Friday, December 19, according to friends and family members.
Martin Barre, who took over from Abrahams in Jethro Tull, paid tribute to the guitarist on Facebook.
“My friend and mentor Mick Abrahams has passed away,” Barre wrote. “He was incredibly kind to me and I’ll never forget that. What a magnificent guitarist, who gave us so much. Rest in peace.”
Abrahams, born on April 7, 1943, in Luton, joined The John Evan Band at the end of 1967, right before they changed their name to Jethro Tull.
Abrahams played guitar on Jethro Tull’s 1968 debut “This Was” (RockLine review), which leaned more toward blues and jazz than what came later, and what earned Jethro Tull their reputation as one of the pioneering prog rock bands.
Abrahams left the band after the release of “This Was” because of tension with frontman Ian Anderson.
According to Abrahams, the story went something like this. Ian Anderson’s stance of treating Jethro Tull as his personal project, where only the singer and flutist had the final say, really got under Abrahams’ skin. Ian simply wasn’t willing to let anyone else bring their own initiatives and ideas into the band. So Abrahams decided to go. But he told the band members he’d stay on as guitarist until they found a proper replacement. The anecdote goes that a meeting was soon called between him and the band’s manager Terry Ellis. Ellis told him that Ian and the rest of Jethro Tull didn’t want Abrahams in the lineup anymore and that he was therefore fired. Abrahams replied that he didn’t understand how he could be fired when he’d quit the band three weeks earlier. The parting with Ellis wasn’t exactly friendly either, as Abrahams told him to get lost.
After leaving Jethro Tull, Abrahams formed Blodwyn Pig, released the albums “Ahead Rings Out” (1969) and “Getting to This” (1970), and played the Bath Festival Of Blues, Isle Of Wight and Reading festivals.
After the band split in 1972, he formed the short-lived Wommett, followed by The Mick Abrahams Band.
Abrahams then worked as a solo musician, occasionally joining the activities of Blodwyn Pig and the Mick Abrahams Band.
Despite a heart attack in 2009 that seriously limited him, the musician never stopped playing and recording. His latest and final album was “Revived” from 2015.
