Phoenix (Wishbone Ash) (LP 4953 - 4959)

Wishbone Ash  Wishbone Ash (Vinyl and CD, MCA Records, 1970) *****  

Wishbone Ash  Pilgrimage (Vinyl and CD, MCA Records, 1971) ***** 

Wishbone Ash  Argus (Vinyl and CD, MCA Records, 1972) ***** 

Wishbone Ash  Wishbone Four (Vinyl and CD, MCA Records, 1973) **** 

Wishbone Ash  Live Dates (Vinyl, MCA Records, 1973) **** 

Wishbone Ash  There's the Rub (Vinyl, MCA Records, 1974) *** 

Wishbone Ash  No Smoke Without Fire (Vinyl, MCA Records, 1978) *** 

Genre: Rock, blues rock, prog rock

Places I remember: RCA Music club, Real Groovy Records, The Warehouse

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Queen of Torture (Wishbone Ash)

Gear costume: Vas Dis, Jail Bait (Pilgrimage), Warrior (Argus)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: I spent a lot of the early seventies listening to those first three Wishbone Ash albums, especially Argus. Sounds had rated it the best album of 1972 so I ordered a copy from the RCA Record Club. When it came, I listened to it closely - especially those twin lead guitars. I was hooked.

Looking at my collection of Wishbone Ash albums, I've realised that I didn't stop with those early seventies ones, so I'll divide their work into two posts - the seventies albums and the rest.

The band for these early seventies albums was: Andy Powell - lead guitar; Ted Turner - lead guitar, vocals; Martin Turner - bass, lead vocals; Steve Upton - drums. Each are superb musicians. The criticism about the singing has always seemed churlish to me. I love the combined vocals of the Turners and Powell.

After Argus, my next stop was their debut and then Pilgrimage - both are also five-star classics, no bother! The two songs on side two of the debut launched them as a prog rock beast of a band. These three albums have a definite progressive feel, which I love. 

Argus had a cohesive theme that appeared to concern a pastoral and warring medieval England, and it also had that iconic cover which I used to stare at for an hour while it played. All up Argus was the band at the peak of their powers.

Wishbone Four I did avoid for a while as reviews at the time implied it was a more basic rock album to the first three. That's certainly the impression gained from the cover which is the first to feature the group members.

Gone are the medieval themes and the songs about warriors, kings, swords, pilgrims, and there is no phoenix. Nor are there any lengthy guitar wig outs on Wishbone Four. Instead, the album was harder rocking while still retaining some folk-rock elements. It remains a really good companion to the first three.

Live Dates is a double live album, also from 1973. It's great, in that it concentrates on songs from each of the first four albums. My predilection for Argus and younger material means I enjoy those songs the most. 

It was also the last appearance for Ted Turner, who left the band at this point. For their next studio album, There's The Rub, he was replaced by Laurie Wisefield on guitar.

As well as that change, the album was recorded in America with an American producer Bill Szymczyk who gave the band a smoother, slicker sound. That change in direction meant some of the older fans of the band decided this wasn't for them - I was one of them. 

The brilliant songs of the past just weren't there on There's the Rub. The closest one to them, and the highlight of the album was Persephone - a slowish bluesy song with some beautiful guitar interplay between Powell and Wisefield.

My collection gets rather patchy after There's the Rub, so their final album I have from the seventies is 1978's No Smoke Without Fire, It saw Laurie Wisefield emerge as the principal songwriter.

The problem is that although Laurie is a good guitarist he is an average songwriter and an average singer, so these albums that he dominates are...average. 

Although it starts with a good track, You See Red, the songs lack the inspiration and progressive nature of those first three albums.

 

Where do they all belong? The eighties onwards are next.