On August 29th 2014, bassist Glenn Cornick passed away after suffering heart failure. Although he recorded with a variety of bands including Wild Turkey and Paris, it is for his contribution to Jethro Tull’s early, Mr. Cornick will be most fondly remembered.
It’s hard to imagine ‘Living In The Past’ without his warm bass sound filling the intro. His other work with Tull was often equally thoughtful, his playing adding much to the dark tones of 1970’s ‘Benefit’ – his last recordings with the seminal prog rock outfit. While four years with his own band Wild Turkey between 1970-74 went largely unnoticed by comparison despite touring with Black Sabbath, the band released two studio albums in their original lifespan. Perhaps better documented – although not necessarily for the right reasons – was Cornick’s brief stint with Paris, a hard rock outfit fronted by Bob Welch, recently departed from Fleetwood Mac. In Welch’s own words, the unsubtle hard rock this new band played was a reaction to the slickness of Mac, almost created to displease them. The material wasn’t for everyone, but again, Cornick gave his all.
In later years, Cornick resurrected Wild Turkey in the mid-90s in addition to contributing to five songs for a Jethro Tull tribute disc, reuiniting him with other ex-Tull alumni Clive Bunker and Mick Abrahams.
Glenn Cornick’s recorded output was certainly scant compared to many, but the quality of his work should not be understated. Below, Real Gone looks back at Cornick’s career through audio/visual clips.