Editing Ian Anderson (section)

===Early career===
[[File:Ian-Anderson-in-Helsinki-1970.jpg|thumb|upright|Anderson and [[Glenn Cornick|Cornick]] (far left) performing with [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]] in [[Helsinki]], 19 January 1970]]

While a teenager, Anderson took a job as a sales assistant at [[Lewis's]] department store in Blackpool, then as a vendor on a news stand.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}

In 1963, at 15 or 16 years of age, Anderson formed The Blades from among school friends: Michael Stephens (guitar), [[John Evan]] (keyboards), [[Jeffrey Hammond]] (bass) and [[Barriemore Barlow]] (drums). This was a [[soul music|soul]] and [[blues music|blues]] band, with Anderson on vocals, guitar and harmonica; he had yet to take up the flute. They played their first show at the Holy Family Church Hall in [[North Shore, Blackpool|North Shore]].<ref name=":0" />

In late 1967, Anderson was still holding down a day job, cleaning the Ritz Cinema in [[Luton]], including the toilets, in the mornings, "which took me half the day" he said in a later interview. He took an old, chipped [[urinal]] from the cinema storeroom and had it for a time after leaving the job. It was not, however, the urinal which "was bolted to the side of John Evan's Hammond organ on stage" and figured in early 1970s Tull performances.<ref>Wiser, Carl, [http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/ian_anderson_of_jethro_tull/ "Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull" (interview)], ''Songfacts'', n.d. Retrieved 6 March 2013.</ref>

At this time, Anderson abandoned his ambition to play electric guitar; this was allegedly because he felt he would never be "as good as [[Eric Clapton]]". As he himself tells it in the introduction to the video ''[[Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970]]'', he traded his electric guitar in for a flute which, after some weeks of practice, he found he could play fairly well in a rock and blues style. According to the sleeve notes for the first Tull album, ''[[This Was]]'' (1968), he had been playing the flute only a few months when the album was recorded. His guitar practice did not go to waste either, as he continued to play acoustic guitar, using it as a melodic and rhythmic instrument. As his career progressed, he added soprano saxophone, mandolin, keyboards and other instruments to his arsenal.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

[[File:Jethro Tull Ian.jpg|thumb|upright|Anderson performing with [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]], Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 24 March 1977]]

His tendency to stand on one leg while playing the flute came about by accident, as he had been inclined to stand on one leg while playing the harmonica, holding the microphone stand for balance. Anderson became known for his famous one-legged flute stance, and was once referred to as a "deranged flamingo".<ref>Hume, Paul, and Richard Harrington. "Performing Arts: Philadelphia Orchestra Jethro Tull". The Washington Post 22 November 1997: B6. WP Company LLC D/b/a The Washington Post. Web. 5 October 2014.</ref> This stance is on many album covers of Jethro Tull. During a long stint at the [[Marquee Club]], a journalist described him, wrongly, as standing on one leg to play the flute, when in fact he was originally playing the harmonica on one leg.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS_PGPwWVmE | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/SS_PGPwWVmE| archive-date=17 November 2021 | url-status=live|title=Interview With Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson (CLCI Webzine 17 March 2018) |via=YouTube |access-date=20 March 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He decided to live up to the reputation, albeit with some difficulty. His early attempts are visible in ''[[The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus]]'' (1968) film appearance of Jethro Tull. This was referenced in the facetious liner notes for ''[[Thick as a Brick]]'' in a quote about "the one-legged pop flautist, Ian Anderson".