Blodwyn Pig

An offbeat branch within the late-1960s British progressive and blues-rock landscape, Blodwyn Pig was launched by Mick Abrahams, the guitarist who exited Jethro Tull once This Was had been completed. Bassist Andy Pyle, drummer Ron Berg, and multi-instrumentalist Jack Lancaster—who supplied the band’s most singular hues through saxophone and flute—rounded out the lineup. Across their pair of albums the musicians pursued a jazz-inflected blend of blues and progressive elements that recalled Jethro Tull yet carried a gentler touch, while also echoing the late-1960s, horn-driven Bluesbreakers of John Mayall or the approach of Colosseum, albeit with broader stylistic range. Both LPs reached the British Top Ten, though the players’ instrumental command was undercut by slender vocals and material that, while frequently inventive, remained uneven. Abrahams’ exit after the 1970 release Getting to This effectively brought the original run to a close. A short-lived reunion occurred in the mid-1970s, and a separate configuration featuring Abrahams resurfaced in the late 1980s, yielding two albums during the 1990s.