Q&A With Tony Williams (Bass in 78, incl. Madison Sq Garden)

[geostrehl]

As a token of my genuine appreciation of this Tull forum, I contacted Tony Williams (of Stealer's Wheel and Tull in '78, including the historic Madison Square Garden concerts) and inquired about his willingness to partake in a fan Q&A. He kindly obliged. The Madison Square Garden footage is, without a doubt, among the most widely appreciated 70's Tull footage. I readily admit to re-watching the MSG show over and over again. 
Anyways, he's definitely willing to answer questions, so let's have 'em! I'll take questions for the next 2 weeks!

[steelmonkey]

Wow. This is great....questions to follow.

[nonrabbit]

Many thanks Geo for organising this!

[nonrabbit]

I'll kick off the proceedings ( with more to follow)


Hello Tony,

Thanks for agreeing to do this.


You've worked with a few Scottish songwriters/ musicians over the years - Ian, Joe and Gerry, did you notice any similarities or major differences in their approach to the job in hand and to you?

Patti ( Scotslass)

[maddogfagin]

Hi Tony

You were with Glenn Cornick in The Executives prior to him joining The John Evan Blues Band. What are your memories of The Executives as a performing band ?

You played the North American tour of 1978 with Jethro Tull, deputising for an unwell John Glasscock. What was it like being thrust into the limelight and playing in front of so many people and what was it like to be playing the bass guitar, an instrument that you didn't normally play ?

Do you still perform in public with any bands and if so what genre of music do you play ?

Cheers

Graham aka Maddogfagin, Launceston, Cornwall

[nonrabbit]

Hi Tony - if I may quote;

"There'll be buckets, spades and bingo, cockles, mussels, rainy days,
seaweed and sand castles, icy waves,
Deck chairs, rubber dinghies, old vests, braces dangling down,
sun-tanned stranded starfish in a daze.

Oh Blackpool"


I'm not sure how old you were when you moved to Blackpool( maybe early teens as Ian A was?) however I'm interested in the effect (if any) that bright, bustling, circus-like, carnival -like Blackpool of the 60's would have had on your desire to go into music or to play or write?

It is quoted by someone who knew Ian in those days that when he got to about 16/17,he preferred the back lanes of Blackpool to walking down through the swarms of tourists - standing out a bit in his garb and manner ( I'll avoid the word "hippie" as he denies ever being or looking one!) Was that you as well?

Here's a thread that's in progress about this very subject;

jethrotull.proboards.com/thread/3034/blackpool-mafia-early-years

Many Thanks

Patti

[bunkerfan]

Hello Tony and thanks for agreeing to answer questions here on The Jethro Tull Forum


How old were you when you moved to Blackpool and what was the reason for going there?

I suppose Blackpool was a lot like here in County Durham in the sixties with loads of bands playing the clubs and pubs. Were you only in The Executives or did you play with other bands at the time?

Have you got any recordings of The Executives?

Can you remember the day being asked to play with Tull after John Glascock became ill and were you exited at the prospect or maybe a little nervous? Where were you at the time and who contacted you?

Thank you

John/bunkerfan

County Durham

[nonrabbit]

Hi Tony,


So what was it like onstage at Madison Square Gardens in 1978?


When you recorded "Stuck In The Middle With You" in 1974 (again such a pleasure to have you here!) you obviously didn't realise that it would become a classic eighteen years later re Reservoir Dogs - what kind of a thrill does that give you?

Any stories/memories of Stealers Wheel that we might not know?


Thanks
Patti

[bunkerfan]

I came across this on t'internet

[geostrehl]

Sept 23, 2016 19:04:12 GMT bunkerfan said:

I came across this on t'internet

Great picture! I fwd it along to Tony Williams, as well as the questions so far. 
I'm gonna finish this off next weekend, so we got one more week to come up with some questions!
Be well, all

[steelmonkey]

Mr Williams...I will ask the more gossipy questions as my polite British friends have displayed characteristic reticence. How was the esprit de corps of Tull on the tour you joined? Was there a sense that the core group, some together since 1966, were winding down or running out of road? Visible divisions? Simmering discontent? Quiet resignation? Or were the wholesale changes made the following year truly surprising? While it is well understood that The Jethros were not exactly 'The Partridge Family' behind the scenes and offstage...was the mood simply a bit more businesslike than fans fantasies of rock and roll camraderie or was it extreme ? Please take this battery of enquries as cue to gossip, name names, point fingers and otherwise add some tabloid fun to our forum, You know...whos wife had eyes for whos guitar tech etc.

[jackinthegreen]

I would love to know more about the MSG gig.... ...how real was it, because it was being filmed, I guess many takes etc, the crowd look too enthusiastic for 1978,  if it was 72/73 maybe... ..Cheers Tony, hope you're well.

[geostrehl]

Here is the first batch of answers. Enjoy!!!!

Patti says:

Hello Tony,

Thanks for agreeing to do this.

You've worked with a few Scottish songwriters/ musicians over the years - Ian, Joe and Gerry, did you notice any similarities or major differences in their approach to the job in hand and to you?

Hi Patti

Gerry and Joe were from the hard end of Glasgow and had spent most of their lives there most of their music was based on personal experiences whilst growing up in their neighbourhood Paisley.

Ian on the other hand didn’t become Scottish until later in his life. He came to Blackpool when he was in his early teens and had originally been brought up in a more sedate part of Scotland he seemed to embrace his Scottish heritage much later in his career.

Graham says:

Hi Tony

You were with Glenn Cornick in The Executives prior to him joining The John Evan Blues Band. What are your memories of The Executives as a performing band ?

Hi Graham

Before I joined they were more of an instrumental outfit but I managed to steer them towards Tamla and Philadelphia sounds. The singer was Roy Carr who was the son of our manager Tony Carr and later became a house writer for the NME. Roy also played drums so Steve Urwin the regular drummer and I would come out front and sing gospel duets and Martha and the Vandellas stuff.

I had heard Glenn play with other bands in town and loved his style and attitude and I approached him to join the Execs at first he said no but then came to see us play at a local ballroom and quickly changed his mind. We became great friends and he even took over my mum’s apartment when she moved. His future step dad Alex Cornick used to drive our van and one day Glenn’s mum came to see us and sat up front with Alex things went from there and they married.

You played the North American tour of 1978 with Jethro Tull, deputising for an unwell John Glasscock. What was it like being thrust into the limelight and playing in front of so many people and what was it like to be playing the bass guitar, an instrument that you didn't normally play ?

It was a little hairy to start with but I had played bass when Barrie and I had a band in Blackpool called Requiem. The other guy in the band was called Mike Proctor who played great Hammond but couldn’t handle bass pedals so I bought a bass.

When I got the call I started rehearsing every hour of the day and up until the early hours. I didn’t know a single Tull song throughout except the riff from Aqualung. So by the time we flew out to the East Coast I was about 70 % Ok. The first two obscure gigs were rough but by the time I'd re-worked the bits I fluffed I was on course. The first night somewhere up in Buffalo was quite nerve racking but for the first time I wasn't out in front it was Ian, and to be honest everyone looked as nervous as I felt.

After a couple of gigs I felt really at home working to big audiences and really enjoyed it.

Do you still perform in public with any bands and if so what genre of music do you play ?

I don’t really perform in public anymore – not announced any way, I sometimes guest with local musicians including Tony Mitchell who is ¼ of the current Stealers Wheel line up. Tony has a mixture of tastes and styles and I usually join him in his acoustic sets. In the studio Tony and I write and arrange tracks for Stealers. We have a deal with Ktel for remastered back catalogue and also covers of songs we were inspired by. We have a new 7 track CD on iTunes at the moment called Going Back. We are finishing off mastering some original material as we have also been approached by a major label to bring the Stealers Story up to date. The other two original members Paul Pillnick and Rod Coombes are both contributing to the new material

Patti also says:

Hi Tony - if I may quote;

"There'll be buckets, spades and bingo, cockles, mussels, rainy days,

seaweed and sand castles, icy waves,

Deck chairs, rubber dinghies, old vests, braces dangling down,

sun-tanned stranded starfish in a daze.

Oh Blackpool"

I'm not sure how old you were when you moved to Blackpool( maybe early teens as Ian A was?) however I'm interested in the effect (if any) that bright, bustling, circus-like, carnival -like Blackpool of the 60's would have had on your desire to go into music or to play or write?

I moved to Blackpool from my home town of Durham City which is not too far from the Scottish borders. The local accent is called ‘geordie’ and many of the phrases and words are the same as the Scottish dialect. My middle name is Turnbull which is Scottish and was my Grandfather’s name. When my older brother got married I wore a Kilt. I reflect this as it’s a strange coincidence.

I arrived in Blackpool when I was 13 exactly about the same time as Ian (he’s 3 days older than me we were both born in August 1947) I already played guitar but didn’t know anyone back in my home town that did but when I came to Blackpool I met loads of kids with guitars and I was in a band within six months. Blackpool was the capital of entertainment of the UK and there were loads of variety theatres with musical acts from around the world. On Sundays the well known London Bands used to play on the three piers that jut out from the shore line.

Can you believe that Gene Vincent played a summer season in Blackpool towards the end of his career? There were local bands playing in every pub and many Liverpool bands used to travel to Blackpool for gigs including an unknown band called the Beatles. Bands were competitive and from competition comes creativity and improved musicianship. I moved to London when I was 16 with a local band called the Trackers. We were ‘discovered’ by a group of young Jewish businessmen who spotted us playing to enthusiastic crowds in a local ballroom. We went down to London as a pseudo Liverpool band but after several months in the capital playing blues clubs and watching the Stones, The Who, Georgie Fame, and other new bands we dropped the ‘Yeah Yeah’s’ started wearing ‘mod’ clothes and came back to Blackpool on the bus now calling ourselves ‘ The Rackets’ instead of the Trackers we ended up playing in a strip club in Blackpool and eventually broke bigger into the other bars at the time we were considered a little strange. So in short Blackpool was a great influence on me wanting to play music enjoy the alcohol and attract girls.

It is quoted by someone who knew Ian in those days that when he got to about 16/17,he preferred the back lanes of Blackpool to walking down through the swarms of tourists - standing out a bit in his garb and manner ( I'll avoid the word "hippie" as he denies ever being or looking one!) Was that you as well?

Maybe in a way I always liked to dress out of the norm and had longish hair but I never avoided the main streets, knowing Blackpool as I do it would be really hard to get from one end of town to the other just by using back alleys for instance John Evan’s house where they used to rehearse backed on to a park and didn’t have an alley.

First time I met Ian he was sitting in the back of a Ford Transit Van eating Fish and Chips he was dressed all in black but I wouldn’t say he looked like a hippy.

So what was it like onstage at Madison Square Gardens in 1978?

It was really weird back stage was quite dim and dismal the dressing rooms were damp and cold I imagined all the great fighters who must have sat on the benches waiting for their turn to go out and earn a dollar in the hardest way ever possible. The gig was in two halves as we had to wait to link up with the Satellite as the broadcast was going out live around the world. The first half we played some of the lower key stuff then we had to go off and come on again. I don’t think all the audience got it and our return to the stage was a little luke warm. The sound system wasn’t too good either and it was the most nervous I had seen Ian on the tour. His vocals were not as good as they had been, but I just got my head down and tried to enjoy the gig. I knew my family were watching at home so I had a few secret little gestures just for them

When you recorded "Stuck In The Middle With You" in 1974 (again such a pleasure to have you here!) you obviously didn't realise that it would become a classic eighteen years later re Reservoir Dogs - what kind of a thrill does that give you?

It’s a great surprise for any artist to have a rejuvenated hit especially one that was featured in such a cult movie. Did you know it’s the first time a movie scene was cut to fit the track rather than the other way round? That’s some honour. Tarrantino still claims its one of his favourite tracks and he did use it again in Pulp Fiction. The strangest thing is that we never intended to release it as a single. It was the quickest song we did for the album and it really was just a filler. The story is all about a party we went to full of arsey record execs and they had run out of beer so we were pretty peed off.

It was a friend of mine from Chicago who was visiting me. I took him to Apple studios and got Geoff Emmerick the engineer to play him all the tracks. As soon as he heard Stuck he said ‘that’s a Hit’ I said no way it’s nothing like Stealers Wheel. Later after releasing two tracks from the album that didn't chart too well we remembered what he said and released Stuck the rest as you say is history.

Any stories/memories of Stealers Wheel that we might not know?

We had a bit of a party one night when we were recording the first album in Apple studios. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were producing the album and Geoff Emerick was the engineer.

Leiber and Stoller were of course the incredible writers who had worked with Elvis and many other great artistes Geoff Emmerick had been the engineer on the Beatles Sgt Peppers.

Everyone wanted to meet Jerry and Mike and one night Tony Meehan the ex-drummer from the Shadows turned up closely followed by George Harrison. A few minutes later Ringo walked in in a long black cloak. Ringo recognised our Guitar player Paul Pilnick as I think they had worked together in one of the Liverpool bands. Someone sent out for more beer and I ended up with a six pack of my own playing solo pool in the green room. Next thing I heard was ‘I’ll play you for one of your beers – in advance’ it was John Lennon. He had a couple of beers but I beat him at pool. We all ended up in the main studio with Tony Meehan on piano and everyone else messing around on the various instruments in the studio I had no idea what we played but you could say that we played with the Beatles.

John says:

Hello Tony and thanks for agreeing to answer questions here on The Jethro Tull Forum

How old were you when you moved to Blackpool and what was the reason for going there?

I was 13 John and my mum and dad wanted to buy a small hotel (Guest House) we had been coming to Blackpool for our holidays every year since I was born, in fact the whole family used to take over a Guest House, grannies, aunts and uncles. Cousins Etc. My mum and dad bought a small place on Cocker Street


I suppose Blackpool was a lot like here in County Durham in the sixties with loads of bands playing the clubs and pubs. Were you only in The Executives or did you play with other bands at the time?

I played in a few bands Terry and the Trackers AKA The Rackets before joining the Execs then I joined a resident band playing in a local pub we called ourselves Treacle. There then followed a series of residencies with my own band Malibu in various night clubs and pubs. A friend of mine Chris Riley suggested that we formed some sort of a local super group while we still played in our regular outfits. We used to rehearse in a bar on the sea front at Cleveleys on Sunday afternoons when the place was shut. We were in to Weather Report, the Brecker Brothers and Steely Dan. This band evolved into the Tony Williams Band and we stayed together before and after I played with Tull

Have you got any recordings of The Executives?

I don’t but I know there are some out there the band recorded several singles whilst I was with them and afterwards I think there might be something on You Tube.

Can you remember the day being asked to play with Tull after John Glascock became ill and were you exited at the prospect or maybe a little nervous? Where were you at the time and who contacted you?

Barrie called me and said ‘I’ve been waiting for 5 years to make this call you're joining Tull’

I though he meant on guitar and I said ‘No Way’ I can't handle that. Then he said on bass and I thought OK that might work. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone until it was nearly time to fly to the USA but I had been traveling down to London every weekend to rehearse.

When Barrie first called I was thrilled and a little nervous but when it all began to fall into place I felt like one of the guys. Obviously the first few shows were quite nerve racking but to say I enjoyed life on the road would be an understatement – I had a ball.

[bunkerfan]

Tony

Thank you so much for all your answers. I'll go through them in detail when I have time to read them all carefully.

I have to say the line... "Barrie called me and said ‘I’ve been waiting for 5 years to make this call you're joining Tull". Sent a shiver down my spine so I'm thinking it must have been a huge shiver for you.

Cheers

John

[steelmonkey]

Great Q and A...thoughtful, interesting and authentic answers. Thanks to all involved.

[maddogfagin]

Sept 27, 2016 23:12:42 GMT steelmonkey said:

Great Q and A...thoughtful, interesting and authentic answers. Thanks to all involved.

Thanks to Tony Williams for participating with this Q & A.     Also thanks to geostrehl for organising it.

[nonrabbit]

Many thanks Tony for answering my questions.

"....Next thing I heard was ‘I’ll play you for one of your beers – in advance’ it was John Lennon. He had a couple of beers but I beat him at pool."
Brilliant! What great memories - thanks for sharing.

[geostrehl]

Ok, I sent him the last 2 questions.

[geostrehl]

steelmonkey asks:

Mr Williams...I will ask the more gossipy questions as my polite British friends have displayed characteristic reticence. How was the esprit de corps of Tull on the tour you joined? Was there a sense that the core group, some together since 1966, were winding down or running out of road? Visible divisions? Simmering discontent? Quiet resignation? Or were the wholesale changes made the following year truly surprising? While it is well understood that The Jethros were not exactly 'The Partridge Family' behind the scenes and offstage...was the mood simply a bit more businesslike than fans fantasies of rock and roll camraderie or was it extreme ? Please take this battery of enquries as cue to gossip, name names, point fingers and otherwise add some tabloid fun to our forum, You know...whos wife had eyes for whos guitar tech etc.

Hi Like most big groups Tull didn't 'hang out' with each other either on or off tour. Barrie and I went out together a lot during the 78 tour and I also went for a few meals with Ian. but other than that there was very little band camaraderie. There were a few 'business meetings' when we were rehearsing in the UK that I wasn't involved in where the rest of the band would retire to another room and discuss (argue) out their differences which I presumed at the time were all based on finance. Barrie is a forthright chap and I guess the other members relied on him to air their differences.
There were always rumbles about group 'earnings' while on tour as nearly every band on the road loses money but does so to promote the sales of new albums. Even in 78 Tull were not selling in big numbers mainly charting around number 16 in the in each state so I think some of the guys were unhappy about tours cutting into their overall earnings. I know they argued this with Ian so he, I believe, offered them all fixed salaries and he took over the risk of the tours. Having done so he lengthened the tours, cut down on the limo's and other luxuries and actually made a profit on tour which was and is still pretty much unheard of.
I can't report any wild, rock&roll family misbehaving's (apart from perhaps my own) as there really wasn't any. The mood was always businesslike and all about money.
Tull hadn't had any really big hits since the earlier 70's so the band was certainly 'tired' of playing the same old numbers and although everynight had to be perfect in terms of performance playing Aqualung for the 1000th time must be a little numbing, for me the material was all still new.

There was definitely a 'him' and us attitude in regard to Ian and the rest of the band when we flew (which was everyday) Ian paid for a seat for his Martin guitar so he always sat on his own. He was the boss and the others the 'workers'.

I understand the split started at first with John's behaviour I think he was going through a difficult patch and Ian must have thought he wanted to make changes that's probably when he made the deal with Martin over the name. My guess is he saw a more financially viable way of keeping the band going I also understand that the eventual split with Martin was not very amicable or at least not perhaps the story they have both told.
Why Martin formed a Tull tribute band I will never know but good luck to him.


jackinthegreen asks:

I would love to know more about the MSG gig.... ...how real was it, because it was being filmed, I guess many takes etc, the crowd look too enthusiastic for 1978, if it was 72/73 maybe... ..Cheers Tony, hope you're well.

Hi. There were no re-takes the whole thing was live and broadcast all over the world. We did have to go off stage for a few moments while the satellite linked up and then go back on as if we were just starting but no overdubs or edits that's us playing live you can see and hear.
interestingly enough my bass is cranked up in the mix which I am not sure if Ian liked or not I think he often though I was a bit loud, but not blowing my own trumpet the clip on You Tube and the CD set is the best mix I have heard of any of Tull's performances.
As for the crowd - well it's New York and Tull were huge there.

Thanks


There have been a few bands called the Executives and I noticed that an Australian band of the same name has been posted on the forum website. This is not the band I was in but here are some recordings we made.












Cheers

Tony Williams

[geostrehl]

I hope you all have enjoyed this!!!! It's been my pleasure!

[maddogfagin]

Sept 29, 2016 14:51:07 GMT geostrehl said:

I hope you all have enjoyed this!!!! It's been my pleasure!

A big thanks for organising this q&a, also to TW for the interesting and indepth replies.

[Deleted]

Sept 29, 2016 14:51:07 GMT geostrehl said:

I hope you all have enjoyed this!!!! It's been my pleasure!

Well done! Even from an Ian Anderson only perspective...

[steelmonkey]

One more round of thanks from me to Tony W and Geostrehl. Theres a lot good and fun about our Tull club...the Q and A's are right up there with the best. I have an image of grumbling musicians as Ian's guitar is being offered champagne and hot towels while everyone else is bucking up to be strapped atop the station wagon from airport to Motel 6.

[nonrabbit]

Sept 29, 2016 16:11:31 GMT steelmonkey said:

One more round of thanks from me to Tony W and Geostrehl. Theres a lot good and fun about our Tull club...the Q and A's are right up there with the best. I have an image of grumbling musicians as Ian's guitar is being offered champagne and hot towels while everyone else is bucking up to be strapped atop the station wagon from airport to Motel 6.

and me.
I love our Q&A's ( it's a great thread to ponder away on) and Tony's is the latest, great addition.

Thanks to all.

[geostrehl]

I've emailed Dave Pegg a few times (he even commented on one of my Tull YouTube cover!) Shall I try to arrange one with him?

[nonrabbit]

Sept 29, 2016 16:47:41 GMT geostrehl said:

I've emailed Dave Pegg a few times (he even commented on one of my Tull YouTube cover!) Shall I try to arrange one with him?

Please do. That should be fun!

[JTull 007]

Sept 29, 2016 14:51:07 GMT geostrehl said:

    I hope you all have enjoyed this!!!!     It's been my pleasure!

                      Great Q & A indeed! Thank you Geoff
I learned more about Tony Williams than I ever could have known before.  WOW !  

[geostrehl]

Sept 29, 2016 23:43:25 GMT JTull 007 said:

Sept 29, 2016 14:51:07 GMT geostrehl said:

    I hope you all have enjoyed this!!!!     It's been my pleasure!

                      Great Q & A indeed! Thank you Geoff
I learned more about Tony Williams than I ever could have known before.  WOW !  

I know, right?! 
As a kid, I had a bunch of my dad's old Tull tapes. When I hit about 10, I saved up my lunch money and picked up a used copy of the "20 Years of Jethro Tull" VHS tape. My first video exposure to Tull was "Thick as a Brick" from the Madison Square Garden show. I must've watched it 500 times. Being a kid with no internet, I thought that Tony had always been Tull's bassist. Of course, after I graduated from dad's second-hand Tull tapes, I learned of Glenn Cornick, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, Dave Pegg, and the rest. Over the next nearly 2 decades, I never really thought about Tony. Out of nowhere, I was watching that footage again and thought, "Who is that? It's not Glasscock. It's not Jeffrey. Who is this?" Thanks to Mr. Google, I actually tracked down Tony. Sent him a nice email. 

From a musician's point of view, he is damn awesome. Think about it... he was a guitarist. Stealer's Wheel is not super difficult stuff - like, at all. Not a knock or anything - it's great stuff! But to join Tull and play that complex stuff soooo quickly, well, that's something else! The '78 tour had some pretty busy stuff going on. Tony took on a very, very difficult role, and he did it like a champ. What a dream! I still believe that the MSG footage is some of the best footage ever! '76 in Tampa is pretty sweet, too. Gotta love "Crazed Institution" live. Still, the Madison Square Garden footage is fantastic. Tony is the man. 
I respect him for his ability. Even more, I respect him for his honesty. I don't know if dear old Ian has other past members under a gag order or anything, but Tony certainly paints a very clear image of what it was like to be in the band in '78. 

Just Wond'ring Aloud... I wonder what would've happened if Tony had a longer stint in Tull. What would "Stormwatch" have sounded like?

[steelmonkey]

It's great to pick out the Bass lines that Ian plays on Stormwatch...well played, perfect 'time' as we know he has ( the rhythmic equivalent of perfect pitch according to an old English gent named Ginger Baker) and...he mixed them up nice and loud. !

[Tull50]

Simply excellent!
I congratulate everyone involved in this Q & A, particularly to Geoff