What was the >real reason< why Glenn Cornick got fired from Jethro Tull after all?

That's a shame. I had a brief look for it myself before contributing here. Glenn didn't exactly haul Ian over the hot coals (that's not 'the Tull way') but he was critical. When he was asked if Ian was 'the Boss' in the Bruce Springsteen sense, he replied: 'Yes, I suppose he was. But not in an affectionate way!'

 

Glenn was actually married at this time - to Judy Wong, secretary to Clifford Davis, the then-manager of Fleetwood Mac. I think he got married shortly after Ian married Jennie (ie, early 1970). You can see a pic of Glenn and Judy (and Ian and Jennie) on the inner gatefold of Living In The Past.

 

For me Hammond was adequate, but Glascock was so much better.. He was driving and not just trying to keep up...

 

Maybe Ian thought it was just a matter of time before Glenn got busted for his extracurricular activities and he didn't want to be in the position of scrambling for a bass player in the middle of a booked tour.

 

Well if Glenn did have a problem with drugs, and given his hippy looks and all that, I guess this theory would make total sense. By then the group's live material was already quite distanced from your average blues cover group's, and Glenn being busted or worse would certainly have constituted a serious issue for the group...

 

By the end of 1970, Ian clearly wanted to take Tull into more complex musical waters, far away from their blues-rock beginnings.

Clive Bunker's departure from the band has always intrigued me more than Glenn Cornick's. As far as I'm aware, he's the only person ever to leave a 'hot act' to get married and I've often wondered whether he decided to jump before he was pushed, particularly after the fractious experience of making the Aqualung album....

 

I loved being on the road though the others were not so keen on it. We would go to the States for 30 days and play 30 different cities! It was fast and exciting and very hard work. We were playing on an equal level with all the great bands in the world. We were friends with all those bands and people who, 18 months earlier had been my heroes. Amongst many others were Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Zepplin, Mountain, Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck Group, Eric Clapton, Chuck Berry, Creedence Clearwater, Booker T and the MG's and dozens more! Surprisingly, we were quite straight. There were almost no drugs around and not a lot of drinking. It was such hard work that there wasn't time to lose control. We had to be up every morning by at least 7 A.M. to eat breakfast and get to the airport to get to the next city.

 

^Those are Glenn's words? Interesting!

 

Being someone that doesn't know much about the early history of the band, but does know about their bass players -

John Glascock has to be the "gone too soon" for that one, one of my all time favorite players.

 

Not only was it a leap for him, but Tull was on a downward trajectory, sales wise, starting at the very time he joined. If he received performance royalties, Too Old, Songs and Horses certainly didn't sell in the same numbers as prior albums.

 

Was that downward slide the same with the concert attendance? I'd always thought they had remained huge throughout the 70s, at least in America.

 

The Too Old tour was probably their biggest, including the date at Shea Stadium.

Looking on Wikipedia, every album (after the first) made the US Top 20 until Stormwatch (#22), and Songs made #8. So they weren't topping the charts anymore but still doing quite well.

 

They must have since despite getting every Tull album I want in my collection, I still find the entire set at the local record store. I'm fairly sure collectively I'm seen their entire discography until Crest of a Knave on vinyl in person in 2018. So I can't imagine sales were that low.

 

Jeffrey H-H had a slight behind-the-beat feel that I wouldn't confuse with "trying to keep up". His style fit perfectly with Barlow's fatter snare sound, whereas Cornick and Bunker could be described as more jazzy and snappy. I've learned bass lines by all three 70s Tull bassists. It's me that tries to keep up.

 

Everything through Stormwatch except This Was and Too Old went gold in the US. But they weren't charting as high.

 

They were, but it was quite a gentle decline, certainly in America. I think HH was the first album to miss the top ten since Benefit, wasn't it? Too Old....was not a a good place to start, though......

 

No, Too Old only hit 14.

 

...which is probably all it deserved. I always think of it (when I think of it at all) as the 'runt of the litter' in the Tull run from 1968 to 1979. Aside from the title track, I don't think there's a memorable song on there.

 

Wow!!

 

Interesting chart. Just reminds me; that although there was some excellent work done in the aftermath; with Mick Abrahams' departure the direction of the band took a nosedive; from it's initial British blues/rock based foundation... which personally and I stress personally, influenced and "sent" me.

*My Favorite 2 Tull albums were: This Was and Ahead Rings Out.

 

I've always been a fan of "From a Deadbeat to an Old Greaser", but it's not anything I'd think had radio appeal.

 

In my top 10 JT songs, believe it or not.

 

Though I think Cornick was the best bass player they've ever had, the band did record "Aqualung" and "Thick as a Brick" (two of the best four albums the band ever did -- "Stand Up" and "Benefit" being the other two, IMO) with Hammond in the band, so...

... and you had to love Jeffrey's zebra outfit with a zebra-striped bass which blended in with it:




.

 

years ago, the guy who gave me this on VHS insisted that Ian is playing a jazz cover song during the jam part of Bouree. He didn't recognize it, and neither do I.
Anyone have any insights?