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Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Mick Abrahams (1943-2025) memorial edition

Brian Leiter

Mick Abrahams was the original guitarist for Jethro Tull, but left after their first album, This Was, in 1968 because Abrahams wanted to push the band in a more blues rock direction, and Ian Anderson did not. On that first album, Abrahams did the arrangements for the instrumental “Cat’s Squirrel,” perhaps his most memorable contribution to that debut.

After Tull, Abrahams formed Blodwyn Pig, which had some moderate success in the UK, but not in the U.S.. The band produced a lot of very good numbers for fans of British blues rock in the late 1960s. My personal favorites from their 1969 debut are the lead number, “It’s Only Love,” and “Same Old Story.” “Long Bomb Blues” from their 1970 album is also a favorite of mine. I was less fond of his later work, solo and with others, but I welcome comments from readers about their favorites by Abrahams from any period of his career. Please post links.

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6 responses to “Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Mick Abrahams (1943-2025) memorial edition”

  1. John Fischer

    I recall a song by Jethro Tull called, “Thick as a Brick.” I enjoyed that a lot. Of course, my brain was, no doubt, addled by marijuana.

    Reply
  2. Richard Elliott

    Thanks for posting, Brian.

    By my understanding it was Mick Abrahams’ departure from Tull that saw Ian Anderson replace him with a little-known Brummie blues guitar player with some missing fingers, called Tony Iommi. It was quite a brief stint, but I think he went on to play guitar in some other band, after that…

    Reply
  3. John Greenwood

    Hi Brian

    Thanks for the memorial to Ian Anderson, the guitarist on Jethro Tull’s first album, This Was, which I bought at the time and still play. I saw Ian with the original JT line up at the Sunbury Blues and Jazz festival in 1968, then saw him again with Blodwyn Pig at the 1969 Plumpton Blues and Jazz festival. Both times he played Cat’s Squirrel, even better live. Both festivals had fantastic line ups, and looking over them, I was reminded of a blues turned rock band that I don’t think you have featured on your great moments in obscure rock and roll (apologies if I missed them), namely the Groundhogs.

    The original band comprised John and Peter Cruickshank and Tony McPhee (the later leader of the band through their ship of Theseus changes), calling themselves the Groundhogs after the song ‘Ground Hog Blues’ by John Lee Hooker, who they supported on his 1964 UK tour. Tony McPhee left the band to join John Dummer’s Blues Band, whose first album Cabal (1969) was also a classic (as well as McPhee, it featured Dave and Jo-Anne Kelly). McPhee left the band shortly afterwards to reform the Groundhogs with Peter Cruickshank and Ken Pustelnik, now morphed into a blues and increasingly rock band. They were very popular at the time as a live act, supporting the Stones on their UK farewell tour in 1971 (who left for France to avoid UK taxes). Their two early albums, Thank Christ for the Bomb (1970) and Split (1971) were critical and commercial successes. Although my preference remains with Cabal, I think they deserve recognition on your site. Tony McPhee died in 2023 I believe.

    Here’s taste of them live:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sOPiUattJ8&list=OLAK5uy_nrrUdj2u8n9-3MatZNnaRY32WRRW4EBgo

    And a link to Cabal for the blues purists:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCDXdLsWJ-Q

    Link to festival line-ups:

    https://www.ukrockfestivals.com/9th-nat-jazz-time-line.html

    Reply
    1. Brian Leiter

      Thanks for these links. I have featured The Groundhogs in the past. See:
      https://leiterreports.com/?s=groundhogs

      Reply
      1. Brian Leiter

        And thanks esp. for the pointer to the John Dummer Blues Band, which I did not know!

        Reply
      2. John Greenwood

        So you did, must have missed it. But very glad you gave them the credit they deserved.

        Reply

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