Glass Tiger returns with a roar
JUNO Award winners take the stage tonight in St. John’s with Johnny Reid
“We have lots of connections with Alan being Scottish, Wayne Parker our bass player was born in Ireland, my father’s from Grand Falls-windsor, so I have a great East Coast connection with my family.”
Sam Reid, Glass Tiger keyboardist
Glass Tiger returns to St. John’s today to celebrate their 30-year career as part of a tour with Johnny Reid. The two acts also collaborated on a new album called “31.”
Sam Reid (keyboardist), whose roots are in Newfoundland and Labrador, revealed the idea for “31” came from a casual chat between Glass Tiger lead singer Alan Frew and Johnny Reid when their paths crossed at a Cape Breton golf tournament. Frew had recently recovered from a mild stroke, and they were talking about how important health, family and friends were, as well as the fact that Glass Tiger was fortunate enough to have the same lineup for over 30 years.
“It was Johnny’s idea,” Sam said. “At the time, we were working on a new record for our 30th and Johnny said, ‘You know what I would love? If you came down to Nashville, and we spent time with some of your songs I grew up with when I came (to Canada) from Scotland. I’d love to take a shot at reimagining them, because I think of them as family members you already have.’”
The result was “31,” which features highlights from the band’s repertoire refashioned, as Johnny puts it, in a “simple, honest and humble” way that accentuates the Celtic touch that is part of Glass Tiger’s signature sound.
“I think a lot of people were surprised to hear some of the new versions,” Sam said. “I mean, it’s a bit different, even for us. If it wasn’t for Johnny Reid’s vision on that, it would have been very difficult for us to play around with the arrangements and style without somebody on the outside, directing us.”
Celtic connections
The Celtic flavour consciously woven through “31” is something Sam acknowledges the band members was comfortable with.
“If you look at our history, on ‘Thin Red Line,’ it had a Scottish feel…. We have ‘My Song’ with The Chieftains, we did ‘My Town’ with Rod Stewart. We have lots of connections with Alan being Scottish, Wayne Parker our bass player was born in Ireland, my father’s from Grand Falls-windsor, so I have a great East Coast connection with my family.
“I still have a sister living there, and I had an Irish mother. Celtic music is very close to all our hearts, so it didn’t take convincing to lean that way. There’s wonderful Irish Celtic players that popped onto ’31,’ Dan Dillon and Brian Hanlon. Having Alan Doyle on a track just enhances the kitchen party vibe, ya know?”
Doyle is featured on the newly minted version of “My Song,” and it was the one he asked to do with the band when they approached him.
Musical friends
Sam said considering “the whole idea of the songs being ‘friends,’ we started to think about artists we’d love to work with, and who we actually were friends with. We reached out to a number of them — Alan Doyle being one. Julian Lennon wanted to do ‘Thin Red Line,’ and we did a First Nations version of ‘Diamond Sun’ with Susan Aglukark, as well as a French version of ‘Someday’ with Véronic Dicaire. It’s a great compliment to have them on the record.”
Glass Tiger has shared the stage with some musical juggernauts over their 30 years because of their strategy to make a name for themselves.
“Rather than go into Europe and wade our way through smaller clubs, our management at the time had a theory that it’d be better to get on a big tour,” Sam recalls.
On tour with Tina Turner
In 1987, they opened on Tina Turner’s Break Every Rule tour, and the impact wasn’t lost on Sam.
“She did seven nights in Munich alone, for 17,000 to 20,000 (people) a night – it was just a massive tour, she’s a huge artist. That worked, but we ended up being a professional opening band. We opened for Journey, Tina, the Moody Blues, Cheap Trick, Meatloaf. Roxette was another. You go out there, work really hard, and get more traction than doing a small club, a little bit at a time.”
Glass Tiger has come a long way from the early days when they were originally known as Tokyo — a group the young lads formed by combining the remnants of two local bands.
So, where and when was their big break?
“We were still a bar band playing southern Ontario, doing showcases hoping to get signed, like every other band,” Sam said. “We met a fella named Derick Sutton who managed Styx, and he was quite interested in helping us. (Sutton) pulled a favour because he knew the tour manager for Culture Club. When they came to Toronto, we opened both nights. We invited Capitol Records and brought in every fan we could. That was the turning point for us. The week after, Capitol Records offered us the deal that started everything. It was a very important event in our history. The only thing we changed from that point was the band name. We weren’t 100 per cent convinced we wanted to be labelled (Tokyo) for our entire career.”
Tokyo no more
Where did the name Glass Tiger come from?
“Naming a band is a very precarious thing, and it’s such a silly thing when you think about it,” Sam said. “Trying to find a name that people agree on is one thing, then trying to find one you feel represents the music you create is another. I remember before a band like The Police (was) an item and they were coming over as an import from the U.K., a friend said, ‘You gotta see this band called The Police.’ I thought it was hilarious — what’s next? The Firemen? I just didn’t get it. But after you become a fan of The Police, the name doesn’t sound that silly. So, basically whatever name you pick, you grow into it. And, that was the reason we started tossing names around. One of the guys was reading a book, I think it’s a Norman Mailer book, and the term in it was “paper tiger” which is an interesting combination of words, but it actually means false strength. So, we were like, ‘That’s not very good, we don’t want that.’ Then Alan suggested we change the ‘paper’ to ‘glass,’ and we were like, OK, that’s cool, and unanimously said that’s it.”
Record deal in hand, and a shiny new name to grow into, the band met with their label to figure out the debut release.
Sam flashed back: “They loved all of the original material but felt we were just missing the single. So, Dean Cameron at Capitol Records said, ‘I think it would be really good for you to connect with Jim Vallance. He’s written all these major hits for Bryan Adams, and I would love to send him your stuff, see what he thinks.’ So, Jim flew from Vancouver to Toronto, came to our rehearsals and invited myself, Alan and Al Connelly to Vancouver. There, we wrote ‘Don’t Forget Me’ and ‘Someday’ within two hours. It was just great chemistry. Jim was not only an amazing songwriter, but we were really young and we didn’t know the process. Jim was really helpful in teaching us how to co-write properly and how to make it work. He was always respectful of everybody’s opinion, and it was like magic.”
Bryan Adams’ relationship to Vallance would lead to their paths crossing a number of times, and Adams sometimes popped in to see how recording was going. Those friendly visits ultimately led to Adams guesting on the debut Glass Tiger album.
“When ‘Don’t Forget Me’ came up, (Bryan) actually sang on ‘I Will Be There’ as well — that was just a quick session we did at Eastern Sound in Toronto, when he flew in to do the JUNOS one month in 1986. He just did it as an overdub; we didn’t know how that would work, it just clicked.”
Sam confirmed the band is working on a new album, and they hope to return to the studio once this tour wraps. While new material years in the making is seen as overdue for many fans, Glass Tiger is taking a beat to soak up life and celebrate all that they have done, and everything they look forward to doing in the future.
They continue to be a fiercely proud Canadian band that takes nothing for granted. And, that their success is a result of hard, dedicated work that is rounded out by ensuring they always give back.
Juno-award winning Glass Tiger makes a special appearance at Johnny Reid’s “Revival” tour tonight at Mile One in St. John’s at 7 p.m.