“Teacher” by Jethro Tull

"Teacher" first slipped out in 1970 as the B-side of Jethro Tull's Chrysalis single "The Witch's Promise"; a fresh recording then landed on the American edition of Benefit and became a US radio hit. Ian Anderson wrote it and sings it, and his target is the self-appointed guru who milks his followers for his own gain. Some took it as a dig at the band's manager, Terry Ellis, and by Anderson's account Ellis still believes it, but Anderson says he had the creepy guru types in his sights, the ones leading impressionable young minds astray, the Beatles' among them.

John Evan brings Hammond organ, piano, accordion and synthesizer to the party, Glenn Cornick plays bass and Clive Bunker handles drums and percussion, with Andy Johns engineering. It's blues rock with a sneer on its lip.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.