Former Jethro Tull arranger and keyboardist Dee Palmer has died, aged 88, after a period of illness.
Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson paid tribute to Palmer, saying, “We learned today of the sad passing of former Tull member Dee Palmer, who died at home in Shropshire, supported by some family members at the bedside.
“Dee had not been well during the last couple of years but last time we spoke earlier in the year, was still planning to record with an orchestra the music score of the ballet The Water’s Edge, which Dee, Martin Barre and I had written for performances by the Scottish Ballet in 1979. I had agreed to play flute on the new recording and assumed it was delayed but still on the cards.
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“Dee first had written brass section parts and conducted them on the track Move On Alone, written by Mick Abrahams, for our first album This Was back in 1968. A few months later, I asked him to come up with the lovely string quartet arrangement for A Christmas Song, which was released on the B-side of our single Love Story in November 1968.
“Following on during the next years, Dee was to continue in the arranger and conductor role notably on the Aqualung, WarChild, Minstrel In The Gallery and Too Old To Rock And Roll…. albums, eventually joining Tull as second keyboard player covering all the string parts on electronic keyboards from 1976 until 1980.”
Born in Hendon on July 2, 1937, Palmer studied at the Royal Academy Of Music, winning the Eric Coates Prize[3] and the Boosey And Hawkes Prize. She was later appointed a Fellow Of The Royal Academy Of Music in 1994.
Palmer’s early work in the industry was arranging and conducting recording sessions, and her first album project was Bert Jansch’s 1968 release, Nicola. She came to the attention of Jethro Tull, having been recommended to the band’s then manager, Terry Ellis who offered her work on This Was.
Having worked as an arranger on some of the band’s seminal 1970s albums, Palmer jpined the band officially as a keyboardist in 1976, recording Songs From The Wood, Heavy Horses and Stormwatch.
Following the dissolution of the classic mid-late 1970s line-up for the band, ahead of the recording of 1980’s A album, Palmer formed Tallis with fellow Tull keyboardist John Evan, although despite initial interest, no recording deal was forthcoming. A Tallis album by the name of In Alia Musica Spero was released through A New Day Records in 2021, featuring both Palmer and Evan and with contributions from Barriemore Barlow, John Glasock and Gordon Giltrap.
Palmer worked on various albums of orchestral arrangements of the music of Tull, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes and more, and in 2018 released her own solo album, Through Darkened Glass, which featured Martin Barre, with whom Palmer would appear at Cropredy festival a year later.
Pat Kent of Facebook’s The Jethro Tull Group also paid tribute to Palmer, saying, “Her musical talents extended far beyond Tull. Dee’s knowledge of composition, arrangement and orchestration was extraordinary. She was one of those musicians who understood not just notes, but how music breathed and moved. Her fingerprints can be found across a body of work far broader than many realise.
“What always struck me, however, was that despite her achievements, she could converse with world-class musicians and famous artists one minute and then be laughing over a cup of tea the next with any fan. She wore her knowledge lightly, never needing to impress anyone because her work spoke eloquently enough on its own. She loved the fans and they loved her.
“As the years passed, our friendship grew, and I came to admire not only her talent but her resilience, her intelligence and her generosity. She was always willing to share her experiences, always happy to help people understand the music she loved so deeply. She spoke candidly of her life and her times in Tull. I am indebted to her help in helping me with a spin me back down the years.”