Mick Abrahams Band - At Last (Reissue) (1972/1991)

Mick Abrahams Band, an English rock band. Known today primarily as a co-founder of JETHRO TULL, singer and guitarist Mick Abrahams was one of the brightest representatives of the progressive blues scene of Britain at the turn of the 1970s. His individual, though not very even, talent appeared in the early TULL recordings, Blodwyn Pig albums, and in rare solo works. Mick Abrahams (born April 7, 1943, Luton, England) began playing guitar in a school team back in the late 50's. After going through all the local dance floors, he received the first professional engagement, accompanying the now half-forgotten rocker Dicky Pride, and in 1963 he formed his own band THE HUSTLERS. They traveled along the roads of southern England with a repertoire of rock'n'roll and blues standards, until they met the famous pop singer Nilu Kriscen, who hired them as their back-up group. So THE HUSTLERS turned into THE CRUSADERS, and Mick took the place of Ritchie Blackmore. The alliance lasted two months - from March to May 1965, after which THE HUSTLERS regained independence, although Abrahams remained with Neil until October, when after the performance in Manchester he left and organized there the bit group TOGGERY 5 (two singles on Parlophone). In January 1967, he returned to Luton and collected the blues band McGREGORY'S ENGINE. The group stayed together for a year and broke up after an unsuccessful attempt to win over the audience of London clubs. In November of the same year, Abrahams and drummer ENGINE Cleve Bunker joined the JETHRO TULL. Emotional and nervous, improvisational in nature guitar style Abrahams in no small measure determined the original sound of TULL, but his blues technique was far from the tastes of Ian Anderson; exactly one year after the release of the album Mick was forced to leave.