Mick Abrahams, the original guitarist with prog icons Jethro Tull, has died at the age of 82.
Abrahams passed away on Friday December 19, according to friends and a family member.
Tull mainman Ian Anderson paid tribute to his former guitarist, saying, "It is with great sadness that we learned yesterday of the passing of Jethro Tull founding member Mick Abrahams. Mick was vitally important to the early Tull formation out of the ashes of The John Evan Band and McGregor’s Engine, the blues band he formed with Clive Bunker in the Luton/Dunstable area.
"We all offer our condolences to Mick's family and close friends, who can feel justifiably proud of his achievements and musical legacy."
Martin Barre, who succeeded Abrahams in Jethro Tull, paid tribute to the guitarist on Facebook.
“My friend and my mentor Mick Abrahams has passed,” wrote Barre. “He was so nice to me and that is something I will never forget. What a magnificent guitar player who gave us so much. Rest in peace.”
Born in Luton on April 7, 1943, Abrahams joined The John Evan Band in late 1967, shortly before they changed their name Jethro Tull.
Abrahams played on Tull’s 1968 debut album, which showcased a bluesier and jazzier sound than the groundbreaking progressive rock style with which they’d subsequently make their name.
Abrahams left the band after the release of This Was, due to tensions with frontman Ian Anderson.
“I got very pissed off with Ian Anderson, who saw Tull as his band, and he wasn’t prepared to let anyone else voice their opinion on what was going on,” Abrahams told Prog in 2018. “So I left. But what I told them at the time was that I’d stay on until they found a replacement for me, because there was no way I wanted to leave them in the shit.
“A short while later, I was called to a meeting at the office of Terry Ellis, the band’s manager. You know what he said to me? ‘Ian and the boys don’t want you in the band any more so you’ve been fired.’ I just replied to Terry, ‘How can you fire me when I quit three weeks ago? Just go fuck yourself!’”
Post-Jethro Tull, the guitarist founded Blodwyn Pig, releasing the albums Ahead Rings Out (1969) and Getting to This (1970), and appearing at the Bath Festival Of Blues, the Isle Of Wight Festival and the Reading Festival.
“From the beginning of Blodwyn Pig I had a vision for what I wanted,” Abrahams told Prog. “Essentially I’ve always thought of myself as a blues player, but with a little country, jazz and other styles thrown in for good measure. I never wanted us to be seen as performing one type of music or another. However, we inevitably began to get lumped in with certain other bands of the era.”
After that band dissolved in 1972, he put together the short-lived Wommett, followed by The Mick Abrahams Band.
Abrahams subsequently juggled a solo career with sporadic Blodwyn Pig and Mick Abrahams Band reunions.
Despite a heart attack in 2009 that impaired his mobility, Abrahams continued to play and record. His most recent album was 2015’s Revived, released under his own name.
