Martin Lancelot Barre was born on November 17, 1946. He joined Jethro Tull in 1968 as their guitarist, appearing first on the "Stand Up" album. He has gone on to a brilliant career in the group, performing on every release since, as well as three solo albums.
Martin's guitar style is unique in his flashy movement between rhythm and lead playing, his bluesy solo licks that are tinged with metal tones, and his mastery of harmonic overtones in his solos. He is considered to be a 'guitarist's guitarist' but his tone and playing are well-sown into the consciousness of 70s rock fans; most notably with his solo in "Aqualung," voted time and again as one of the best rock solos of all time. Martin has humorously told of being in the studio at the same time as Zeppelin, and the solo was a first take while Jimmy Page looked in through the control room. Early in Martin's career, his tone and approach were very like Clapton's, but soon took a less swinging and more aggressive edge.
Many say that during the 70s, Barre was among the premiere of performing rock guitarists, and his tone and show-stopping extended solos were among the finest examples of arena rock. His earliest gigs with Tull were in support/bill-sharing with Jimi Hendrix, who was a fan and friend of Tull. Listening to rare live shows or bootlegs, it's hard not to agree. Martin's classic no-frills Les Paul into a huge stack tone was positively punishing. His solos in extended jams near the end of Tull shows were always excellent and super-charged.
Other well-known Tull songs Martin played on: "Bungle in the Jungle," "Thick as a Brick," "Too Old to Rock and Roll; too Young To Die," "Teacher," "Living in the Past," "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day," "Farm on the Freeway" and "Rocks on the Road."
It is surely worth mentioning that Martin's performing in Jethro Tull is based upon the compositional skill of flautist/guitarist Ian Anderson, the wild-eyed front man of the group. Martin has risen to this challenge of being both a supporting player and a soloist with complete professionalism and smoothness.
Over the years, Martin has switched around on guitars. His stage rig quieted over the years, and some concert goers felt that Martin was 'turned down too much' from the 80s onward. Also, Martin's later style became more technical, echoing styles of Joe Satriani, Mark Knopfler, Steve Vai and Brian May. However, this appeared to be a ruse, as Martin still has command of many varying styles of guitar playing.
As any Tull fan will tell you, there is a large body of 'unreleased' music in the Tull catalog. These hundred odd tracks of unreleased, B-sides, ep tracks, studio mishaps, live bits, etc. never were on one of your older brothers albums, and are a good percentage of some of Martin's finest playing. Songs like "Saturation," "Witches Promise," "Man of Principle" "Lights Out," et al really show the muscle of his playing.
His crystal-clear acoustic guitar work relies on well-manicured nails and reflect a classical sense. His solo albums, "A Trick of Memory," "The Meeting," and "Stage Left" (in reference to his long-standing position on the Tull stage) are all extremely catchy and show off Martin's compositional and singing skills as well.
Since the 80s, Martin has become an avid runner, hiker and watersports participant. This resulted in a lean and mean looking Martin, in comparison to his cherubish 70s look, and still keeps fit to this day. Both he and Ian have recently expressed their disdain for 'loud rock music' after almost four decades of ruthless touring. 2006 marks the first year in fifteen or so that hasn't seen Tull touring the year through. Over the past five years or so, Ian has hired a 'solo band' and has other guitarists playing Tull and Ian's solo material. Only recently was this group (mistakenly) billed as Jethro Tull and Ian seems intent on keeping the two entities separate. Martin and Ian plan to tour acoustically in 2006 as well in the UK.
Martin owns and operates a recording studio and lives with his wife Julie and his children Cameron and Jennifer in British Columbia, Canada.
