Glenn Tipton

Christine: Hi Glenn! It's a pleasure to speak with you today.

Glenn: Hello, Christine. Same here.

Christine: Great. Well, of course, everyone knows you as half of the twin-guitar attack from Judas Priest, and that you are much loved and well respected for that, and I'm throwing you the horns right now!

Glenn: Thank you.

Christine: But today, we want to talk about these releases that you have coming up on Rhino Records in March, Baptizm of Fire and Edge of the World, which are both some solo recordings that you did about 10 years ago.

Glenn: That's right.

Christine: So, can you tell us a little bit about these releases?

Glenn: Yeah, well, basically, Christine, going back 10 years, Priest had...as you know, Rob had gone and done his own thing. So, we were sort of up in the air and didn't really look like we were going to continue. Being a fairly prolific chap, I'd started to put pen to paper and put some songs together. And I approached Cozy Powell to play--who I'd known for a number of years--to see if he was interested. And he liked the stuff. And then we were looking around for a bass player, and we thought about John Entwistle because we had the same manager, Bill Curbishley, and I approached John in planning some tracks. And then that led to the first sessions that we did in a little studio in Wales called Rockfield...no, sorry...called Montevelli.

And I took them back to Atlantic, who were interested in the solo project as such who liked the tracks...really liked the tracks. But they suggested, in inverted commas, that the lineup was a little old school, and it would be much more sellable if I went ahead and did some more tracks with some younger guys and blended everything together.

So, I'd got very little choice at that point in time. So, that's what I did and, in all honesty, a great album came from it, which is my first release, Baptizm of Fire, and it featured Billy Sheehan, Brooks Wackerman, Robert Trujillo, Shannon Larkin, and C.J. deVillar...lots of young, enthusiastic musicians, who were fantastic to work with. So, in a sense, you know, a good album came out of that.

But in the back of my mind, I always felt that the original batch of songs, which was myself, Cozy, and John, had a great depth of character and that...you know, I always felt they should see the light of day. And recently, Warner's, i.e. Rhino, heard the tracks, and they agreed. So, they decided to release that album, and in the same breath...I mean it was sort of from the same era...to remaster Baptizm of Fire and release that with a couple of extra bonus tracks on it, because that was obsolete and nobody could buy that. And that is the sort of history of how it came about, really.

Christine: And so the tracks on Edge of the World, were those recorded around the same time?

Glenn: Exactly, yeah, yeah. Those are...were actually the first batch of songs that I did. And then I went on to record the other tracks with...on Baptizm of Fire, you know, like with...with the young guns, so to speak.

Christine: So, then were you part of the remastering process for Baptizm of Fire?

Glenn: Oh, absolutely! I mean we...I produced the album with Mark Dodson, but myself and Sean Lynch, who I've worked with for years and he's worked with Priest, we remastered the Baptizm of Fire tracks. And then there's the extra tracks, which one is a really big...I'm very much into film sound tracks. I love the great big size of...and emotive songs. And so "Himalaya" is, I suppose in a sense, a very big track. And then "New Breed" was really good for me because it's a track I wrote with my daughter, Corinna, and my son, Ricky, plays drums on it. So, it was really exciting, really, to work with members of my own family for the very first time.

Christine: That's really interesting.

Glenn: Particularly, as I never realized my son was a drummer. He was a guitar player as far as I was concerned and then suddenly ends up playing a fantastic drum track and totally floored me, you know. Of course, I haven't complimented him too much, you know. Can't do that to your own son.

Christine: So, might you work with your family again on something?

Glenn: I'm not sure. I'm not sure, you know. I'm sure I will, yes, work at some point, particularly with my son, but my daughter's moved on to other things now. So...who knows? Who knows?

Christine: Given that your mates on these recordings have since passed, is there any possibility that you might put together a band and actually tour in support of some of these recordings?

Glenn: Well, in terms of Baptizm of Fire, obviously, you know, some of the...well, all the musicians that I played with were incredible musicians, and it's not out of the question that we would, at some point in my career, form a band. I mean, going back when I first did the tracks with Cozy and John, we intended to go out on tour. There was...there was no Judas Priest as such, Christine, and I have to point out to people, you know, that I did the solo albums for the right reasons at that...at that point in time, you know. It looked like Priest has got no future and it...you know, there's reasons to do a solo album...one is to work with other musicians, which is exciting, and another is you can touch on areas both lyrically and musically that wouldn't be appropriate, as for instance, with me and Priest. And so, that was the reason that, you know, I started to do these tracks.

And, at some point in the future, it would be nice to go out and play the tracks, particularly of Baptizm of Fire, and then I think it would be acceptable to move across to the Edge of the World tracks and play some of those, as well. But I always have to add at this point that the main priority in my life, and the main love, will always be Judas Priest, you know. It would always...it would always come first. If there was an opportunity to go out and play stuff on a solo, I know I would love to do it, and you know, it is likely that will occur at some point in the future. But I would never let it compromise Priest, for my sake and for the fans really, because Priest is the most important thing to me. And I'm just a solo guitar player on a solo album, but I'm very proud to be just a fifth member of Judas Priest, you know. It means a lot to me. I'm proud to be in the band.

Christine: Well, it means a lot to us fans, too. I have a lot of love for Judas Priest myself, so that's good to hear. But it would also be really exciting to see you kind of break out of that and express yourself in the ways that you have on Baptizm of Fire and Edge of the World.

Glenn: You know, it's something that I would love to do, and if the Priest schedule allows it, it would be so much fun to go out there and play tracks like "Voodoo Brother" and "Baptizm of Fire," or "Give Blood" or "The Holy Man" off the new album. I don't know whether you've heard them yet, but they're...they're just...and I was so proud to play with everybody on these albums--not just the young guys, obviously--John and Cozy. You know, they're not with us anymore, and it's so sad. Cozy was such a good friend of mine, and I still can't believe he's not around. And, you know, for those guys' sakes, I'd like these songs to live on, because they've inspired so many people through the years. So, it would be a lasting tribute if we could...if we could do something like that.

Christine: I think that the fans would appreciate that as well, and of course, we know how important and influential Cozy Powell and John Entwistle have been for a lot of musicians for a very long time, as well as yourself and your band mates in Judas Priest. I did hear both of the releases, and they are both quite epic. I enjoyed them quite a bit.

Glenn: I like the word "epic." Thank you.

Christine: Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to sort of give us an overview on these releases today. And I wish you much success with them. Anything you care to add?

Glenn: Well, with Priest I'm starting to put pen to paper next month and, hopefully, this year now, we'll have another new Priest album out. So it's exciting times, and, as I say, it's...to play with all these guys on the solo stuff for me has been a privilege, and not just the young guys--the old guys and certainly John and Cozy. So, I just hope everybody, you know, views them in the right light and appreciates what it's all about, because it's all about these guys living on. They've inspired so many people, and for me, it was just one of the best times in my life to work with them.

Christine: Well, we really appreciate you bringing those out for everyone to hear again. Baptizm of Fire, of course, was released previously, but it's great to have it remastered and brought to a new generation, actually, and that you're going to share Edge of the World with us all, too, now.

Glenn: Thanks a lot, Christine.

Christine: It's also very exciting to hear that Judas Priest is working hard and will be back and hopefully to tour the States again, too.

I really appreciate your time, Glenn. It's really been an honor to speak with you, and again, best wishes and Happy Valentine's Day.

Glenn: Thank you very much. Same to you, Christine. Good speaking to you.

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