Wild Turkey featuring Glenn Cornick

[sotdude]

Heard about these guys for years, but only just recently decided to seek out their 2 albums 'Battle Hymn' and 'Turkey'. Obviously Cornick's time spent in Jethro Tull rubbed off a little bit, as there are plenty of bluesy/folky/hard rock bits on these releases that appeal to my love for Tull. Vocals are decent, and some good guitar work throughout. 'Battle Hymn' is my favorite of the 2, as it's a little more consistent and a bit more rocking overall. Funny how they got the opening slot on the Black Sabbath tour that year-can only imagine how they went over in front of Sabbath fans.

[mogrooves]

'Battle Hymn' is my favorite.

+1

[sotdude]

The Mason Records remasters of these have some cool bonus live tracks, including 2 lengthy blues rock jams on Battle Hymn featuring Bernie Masden on guitar & vocals, pre-Whitesnake so I'm guessing around his time in Babe Ruth or UFO

[Jymbot]

Tweke Lewis

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s145/baggra/Bitco/psych/tigerhead.jpg

[Lino]

I have only Battle Hymn but I dig it!

[bRETT]

I have only Battle Hymn but I dig it!

The second album "Turkey" is even better I would say. Co-singer Jon Blackmore is gone and it loses the doomy touches. Often it sounds like a really good WIshbone Ash album.

There are two latter day reunion albums. "Stealer of Years" is decent but sounds like a different band (though it largely isn't). The other (You & Me & the Jungle) I haven't heard.

[raconteur troubadour]

As I've been getting back into vinyl, Battle Hymn was one of the cheap Lp's I bought, excellent find, a lost gem.
Funny, after Benefit, Glenn didn't like the direction Tull was going in and split to form Wild Turkey which was destined to fade into obscurity after 2 poorly selling albums. Meanwhile Tull's next album was Aqualung which launched them into stardom. Epic bad timing on Glenn's part.

[Joe F.]

Funny, after Benefit, Glenn didn't like the direction Tull was going in and split to form Wild Turkey which was destined to fade into obscurity after 2 poorly selling albums. Meanwhile Tull's next album was Aqualung which launched them into stardom. Epic bad timing on Glenn's part.

Glenn didn't leave Tull of his own accord, he was forced out by Ian who wanted to bring in his buddy Jeffery Hammond.

One of the Tull DVDs has some footage of a lot of the former band members all getting together at an event. Someone asks Glenn why he left when he did and his reply is "You should probably ask Ian that".

I've never heard any of the Wild Turkey albums. Sounds like I need to remedy that.

[raconteur troubadour]

Glenn didn't leave Tull of his own accord, he was forced out by Ian who wanted to bring in his buddy Jeffery Hammond..

Thanks for schooling me on that, I found an interview with Glenn online and post some of the pertinant tidbits :

Sean: Jethro Tull have been described as being a very “tame” band offstage, yet you were always described as the “party animal.” Was it just that you were more socially outgoing than the others? If so, did that cause a lot of tension?
Glenn Cornick: That story is somewhat of an exaggeration though the band as a whole were not very social. I was the one, however, who really enjoyed touring and who really thought life on the road was great. When I think of the alcoholics, druggies and womanisers who have been in the band since, I think my exploits pale in comparison! I wasn't aware at the time of any tension but I suppose it was possible with Ian's narrow minded values.

Sean: Here’s the big question everybody wants to know: under what circumstances did you leave Jethro Tull, and why? Did you leave on good terms?
Glenn Cornick: I was fired from the band. At the end of an American tour, we were waiting at Kennedy Airport to fly home and I was taken aside by our manager and told that Ian no longer wanted me in the band. My flight had been changed so that I wouldn't be on the same plane as them and no real reason was given.

Sean: The sound of the bass (and the music, for that matter) changed dramatically after you left. What did you think of the bassplayers that followed you, notably Jeffery Hammond-Hammond and John Glascock?
Glenn Cornick: I had known Jeffrey from the old days and, though, he is a great guy and a great artist, he has never made claim to being a bass player so he played whatever Ian told him and Ian has absolutely no conception of bass playing. In case anyone is wondering, everything that I ever played with Tull was my own creation with no input from Ian. I don't know much about John Glascock's playing as I had stopped listening to the band by then. I've barely heard anything they've done since Thick as a Brick. I saw John play once with Carmen but don't remember much of them.
I had someone ask recently which songs I had played bass on. I told them that, if they could hum the bass line, it was probably me! No one since has has used the bass line as a melodic contribution to the songs.

So, seems like Glenn was part of building the Tull machine (he's on This Was, Stand Up, Benefit) and then was sacked just before they hit paydirt with Aqualung.
Never realized that Ian Anderson was such a control freak. Here's the whole interview with Glenn:
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?1814131-Attention-all-Tull-Fans-The-Glenn-Cornick-Interview

[progmeister]

Glen was also later in "Paris" with the recently departed Bob Welch and I believe Hunt Sales on drums. I remember the album having some great moments. I too really appreciated Glen's playing in Tull and thought he was sorely missed when he left.

[jkelman]

Never realized that Ian Anderson was such a control freak.
Really? Wow, seemed to me after This Was, that Tull was absolutely Anderson's band, and that he was absolutely in control of everything about it. He became the sole writer, was the primary focus onstage (though others garnered attention, it was largely centered around his antics) and, with the exception of Barre, and certain instances where musicians came and went of their own accord (specifically Pegg, Conway and Mattacks, who all had plenty of other activities occupying them), Anderson has always been in control of who was in the band.

[Reginod]

Right off the bat, I'd say that I like Turkey a smidge better than Battle Hymn, but let me go play the latter again and that could change.

Stealer Of Years and You & Me In The Jungle aren't bad, but predictably they are quite different and considerably more conventional than what the band had produced a quarter-century prior.

[Calabasas_Trafalgar]

Glen was also later in "Paris" with the recently departed Bob Welch and I believe Hunt Sales on drums. I remember the album having some great moments. I too really appreciated Glen's playing in Tull and thought he was sorely missed when he left.

The drummer was Thom Mooney from Todd Rundgren's early band The Nazz

[Trane]

Well, I just reserved the two WT album my library system has... it's time for a re-appraisal...

From memory, I never thought much (too hard-edged for my tastes) from what I'd heard back in the mid-90's... I thought Cornick might have regretted leaving Tull

[gregory]

I think WT was a good band, I like both early studio albums. Battle Hymn is heavier, than Turkey, but both are good, melodic, progressive hard rock.
Besides mentioned albums, I have the interesting compilation, Rarest Turkey, with some nice demos and albums outtakes.

[Larry Canary]

The drummer was Thom Mooney from Todd Rundgren's early band The Nazz

Mooney appeared on the first self-titled Paris album. Thanks in large part to Mooney's style, it had quite a bit of a Led Zeppelin-ish sound.

Hunt Sales played on their second album, Big Towne 2061. He didn't have the heavy Bonham-like style. This album sounded less like Zep but I like the songs better than the first. Glenn also played a fair amount of keyboards on these albums.

[sotdude]

Battle Hymn is the heavier of the two albums, but Turkey is quite good in its own right-has a sort of Wishbone Ash quality to some of the songs, with plenty of dual lead guitar stuff going on.

Heard a lot of good things about the Paris band-need to check that out!

[spacefreak]

Glen was also later in "Paris" with the recently departed Bob Welch.

Yes, their debut is an excellent hard rock album with a strong LED ZEPPELIN vibe. Can't say the same for Big Towne, 2061 that sounds slightly inferior (yet still decent) to my ears.

[Jymbot]

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s145/baggra/Bitco/psych/a_560x0.jpg


Spyros: you hear Led Zeppelin in "Battle Hymn"???

Now you done gone ruined it for me.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

Interesting regarding Glenn's comments about Jeffery Hammond-Hammond and Ian having no concept of bass playing. I actually find Jeffery's playing to be my favorite amongst the Tull players! I also love the way the lines are composed with the bass seldom taking the root in the chord being played. Many times, the lines add counterpoint to the music and fill out the chords. This method of composing results in a lot of the characteristic timbre of the Tull sound.

[bRETT]

Heard a lot of good things about the Paris band-need to check that out!



I'm gonna cast a dissenting vote on that one-- I bought the first album because I loved everyone's previous bands, but Paris did nothing for me. Total sludgefest-- When it came to heavy guitar rock with doom'n'gloom lyrics, Bob Welch just wasn't the man for the job. Plus, he rhymes "Some call it a planet" with "I just can't under-stannit".

[mogrooves]

Paris did nothing for me.

+1. Dumb, but not in a good way....

[Trane]

Yes, their debut is an excellent hard rock album with a strong LED ZEPPELIN vibe. Can't say the same for Big Towne, 2061 that sounds slightly inferior (yet still decent) to my ears.

I remember Paris being even blander than WT (then again, I haven't heard them since the 70's >> i got rid of their debut fairly quick)

OK, I just relistebed to both WT albums in stock atmy library (BH and SoY)...

If they've survived the years pretty wxell... you'd have a hard tilme telling there are 25 years between them), it still relmains that I vew the band as an uninventive pedestrian hard-rock band (as I'd remembered it when I first heard them in the early 90's (missed them in the 70's >> to young)... kind of like Cactus

Mind you, given their 71-72 existance, they were more among the pioneers than the followers... but still, there were dozens of group as heavy with better material to offer... Not saying they were bad musos (with the names in the band, they could've been considered as a "supergroup") per se... I believe it's in the songwriting itself that their weakness lies in...

[gregory]

I don't know much about John Glascock's playing as I had stopped listening to the band by then. I've barely heard anything they've done since Thick as a Brick. I saw John play once with Carmen but don't remember much of them.
I had someone ask recently which songs I had played bass on. I told them that, if they could hum the bass line, it was probably me! No one since has has used the bass line as a melodic contribution to the songs.


:)This conclusion is fantastic, according that he "barely heard' anything from Tull since TAAB.

[BarryLI]

Glenn didn't leave Tull of his own accord, he was forced out by Ian who wanted to bring in his buddy Jeffery Hammond.

One of the Tull DVDs has some footage of a lot of the former band members all getting together at an event. Someone asks Glenn why he left when he did and his reply is "You should probably ask Ian that".



Just read an interview with John Evans in David Rees' A New Day Magazine Book #1, where he's asked about Cornick's unexpected departure. Conventional wisdom was that Cornick was flipping birds and getting wasted, both no-no's in Captain Anderson's Book of On the Road Rules so he got sacked. Evans' take was that Cornick was getting very sloppy when performing, that he was more intent on dancing around on stage than playing the correct notes. He said that Anderson spoke to him about it repeatedly but Cornick wasn't responsive to his "suggestions." As I recall Evans was not too thrilled about his own sacking in 1980 when he, Barrie, and David Palmer received mailed printed letters that they were out of the band, so it's hard to think he's giving Ian a pass as there's definitely no love lost between the two. Anderson has asked Evans (who lives in Australia) to do a one-off show here and there, and Evans has always told Ian to bugger off.

[gregory]

Anyhow, I love his Wild Turkey project, ( both albums are good, and Rarities compilation is good also).

[bill g]

I had the first Wild Turkey album back in the day. At the time, Easter Psalm stood out as my favorite, remember loving that tune, but I was a teenager. I wonder how I'd like it today.

[gregory]

I had the first Wild Turkey album back in the day. At the time, Easter Psalm stood out as my favorite, remember loving that tune, but I was a teenager. I wonder how I'd like it today.
Yes, great tune. One of their best.

[cupwonder]

I have a few of their albums, and I really like Battle Hymn. For a while, I was in contact with Glenn, but I lost touch with him. Great guy, and very talented.