John Evan Meets Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

John Evan, born John Spencer Evans on 28 March 1948, in Derby, Derbyshire, is a musician and composer best known as the keyboardist for Jethro Tull. While his birthplace is often cited as Derby, the official Jethro Tull website claims he was born in Blackpool. His father was a headmaster at a Derbyshire village school, and his mother was a concert pianist and piano teacher. The family relocated to Blackpool, Lancashire, in October 1949. Evan was educated at Blackpool Grammar School, where he met future Jethro Tull members Ian Anderson and Jeffrey Hammond. He later attended Chelsea College, now part of King’s College London. As a young musician, Evan participated in Blackpool’s vibrant music scene alongside Anderson, Hammond, Barrie Barlow, and Glenn Cornick. His early band, The Blades, eventually became The John Evan Band—renamed at Hammond’s suggestion, who felt “John Evan” had a better ring than “John Evans.”

In 1970, Evan contributed as a session musician to Jethro Tull’s Benefit album and shortly afterward joined the band as a full-time member. His contributions to Jethro Tull’s sound and performance style were significant. Evan composed the iconic piano introduction to Locomotive Breath in an impromptu studio session. He was also known for his distinctive on-stage persona, frequently donning a white suit, yellow shirt, and polka-dot tie, a look immortalized in the artwork for Aqualung and the photographs on War Child and Bursting Out. Ian Anderson humorously referred to him as “everyone’s favourite ice cream salesman” due to his outfit. Evan’s theatrical pantomime style during performances brought an eccentric flair, with audiences likening him to a mix of Harpo Marx and the Mad Hatter from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Evan remained with Jethro Tull until the “Big Split” of July 1980. He subsequently formed the band Tallis with fellow ex-Tull member Dee Palmer.

After leaving Jethro Tull, Evan largely stepped away from professional music. He appeared in several retrospective projects, including the DVD Jethro Tull – A New Day Yesterday (2004), Their Fully Authorised Story (2008), and Live at Madison Square Garden (2009). In 2018, he made a playful cameo as a flower in a video segment for Jethro Tull’s 50th Anniversary tour. Evan later emigrated to Australia, settling in Melbourne. While he no longer plays piano due to hand injuries from long-distance cycling, he remains active in music by singing in local choirs.