Battle Hymn

After being “excused” from Jethro Tull, bassist Glenn Cornick forged a friendship with drummer John Weathers, which led him to South Wales and its vast pool of musicians, including vocalist Gary Pickford-Hopkins, previously with Weathers in Eyes Of Blue and Big Sleep. Guitarist Graham Williams jumped on board, but shortly thereafter he and Weathers and were off to join Graham Bond’s Magick. Fresh from Man, Jeff Jones replaced Weathers, while another Welsh guitarist, Alan “Tweke” Lewis, was recruited more nefariously. By the time Wild Turkey got around to record their debut album with Black Sabbath producer Rodger Bain, the lineup consisted of Cornick, Pickford-Hopkins, Lewis, Jones and South London guitarist Jon Blackmore. Battle Hymn is a mix of hard-driving progressive rock (“Butterfly”), folk (“Dulwich Fox”) and at its best, a combination of the two (“Gentle Rain,” “One Sole Survivor”). “Sanctuary” is a dead ringer for Gnidrolog. The band spent most of the following year touring the world with Black Sabbath. Despite good reviews and large audiences, the album barely scraped the bottom rungs of the US charts. Blackmore was then replaced by Mick Dyche and roadie Steve Gurl joined on keyboards before their second album, Turkey, which saw release in 1972. A little harder-edged than their debut, it again stalled in the charts. The band continued touring well into 1974 (with Bernie Marsden on guitar) and demos for a third album were recorded; but after Pickford-Hopkins joined Rick Wakeman’s Rock Ensemble, Wild Turkey called it a day. Cornick went on to play with the German group Karthago for a spell, before forming Paris with Bob Welch and Thom Mooney. Lewis was off to Man, while Gurl and Marsden joined Babe Ruth.