Glenn Cornick

Glenn Douglas Barnard Cornick (23 April 1947 – 28 August 2014) was an English bass guitarist, and the original bassist for the British rock band Jethro Tull from 1967 to 1970. Rolling Stone has called his playing with Tull as "stout, nimble underpinning, the vital half of a blues-ribbed, jazz-fluent rhythm section".

Cornick attended Barrow-in-Furness Grammar School for Boys, and then moved to Blackpool. The first group he played with was "The Executives", a group that played versions of famous songs in clubs and pubs. Later, he joined a soul band called John Evan Smash in which Ian Anderson and guitarist Mick Abrahams were also members. Drummer Clive Bunker, who was a friend of Abrahams, then joined them to form Jethro Tull.

Cornick toured and recorded with Jethro Tull from late 1967 to late 1970. He played on the band's first three albums, This Was, Stand Up and Benefit, playing a role in the arranging of the music, being one of the few members of Jethro Tull with some musical training. One of the few live recordings of Cornick with Jethro Tull is the video Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970, recorded in 1970 and released in 2004. He was fired from the band, mainly because his lifestyle was more inclined to partying than other members'.

After leaving Jethro Tull, Cornick played as a session musician for Leigh Stephens on his 1971 album And a Cast of Thousands. In the same year, he formed Wild Turkey, initially with: Graham Williams (guitar), Alan 'Tweke' Lewis (guitar), John "Pugwash" Weathers (ex-Pete Brown & Piblokto! and later in Gentle Giant) on drums and Gary Pickford-Hopkins (ex-Eyes of Blue) on vocals; but Weathers and Williams left to join Graham Bond's Magick before Wild Turkey recorded any material – soon after, Weathers joined the progressive rock band Gentle Giant. They were replaced by Jon Blackmore (guitar and vocals) and Jeff Jones (ex-Man) (drums) who joined Cornick, Tweke and Pickford-Hopkins to record Wild Turkey's first album Battle Hymn – which only reached number 193 in The Billboard 200. The band released a second album, Turkey, before splitting up.

Cornick then joined the German band Karthago, with whom he recorded just one album, Rock'N'Roll Testament, before leaving and moving to Los Angeles to form Paris, with guitarist Bob Welch (ex-Fleetwood Mac) and Thom Mooney (ex-Nazz) on drums. They recorded an eponymous album, Paris, in 1975, before Mooney was replaced by Hunt Sales (ex-Todd Rundgren's Runt), and in 1976 recorded Big Towne, 2061. Paris disbanded in 1977.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.