Wishbone Ash
are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular records include Wishbone Ash
(1970), Argus
(1972), There's the Rub
(1974), and New England
(1976). They were one of the first of many bands to come who used twin lead guitars.
Wishbone Ash are considered to be one of the major innovators of the harmony twin lead guitar format. Their contributions helped in Powell and Turner being voted "Two Of The Ten Most Important Guitarists In Rock History" (Traffic magazine 1989), and part of the "Top 20 Guitarists Of All Time" (Rolling Stone magazine). Melody Maker (1972) described Ted Turner and Andy Powell as "the most interesting two guitar team since the days when Beck and Page graced The Yardbirds".
Formed in Devon, United Kingdom, in 1969, out of the ashes of organized in July 1966 trio The Empty Vessels (later renamed to Tanglewood), which had featured Wishbone Ash's founding members Martin Turner (bass/vocals) and Steve Upton (drums and percussion), the original line-up was completed by guitarists/vocalists Andy Powell and Ted Turner. In 1974, Ted Turner left the band, and was replaced by Laurie Wisefield. The band continued on with strong critical and commercial success until 1980.
After revolving line-ups featuring former members from King Crimson, Trapeze, and Uriah Heep, Laurie Wisefield quit in 1985. In 1987, however, the original line-up reunited for several albums - "Nouveau Calls", "Here to Hear", and "Strange Affair" - until 1990, when Steve Upton quit the band. After Martin Turner was replaced in 1991, the band recorded "Live In Chicago", before Ted Turner quit in 1993. Since 1995, the band have continued with mixed critical and commercial success, changing members on several albums. In 2004, Martin Turner formed his own version of Wishbone Ash, and tours frequently.
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WISHBONE ASH TICKETS
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History
Formation and rise to fame (1969-1980)
Wishbone Ash were formed in October 1969 by
bass guitarist
Martin Turner and drummer
Steve Upton. When Tanglewood's original guitarist, Martin's brother Glenn Turner left the trio and returned to his native
Devon, their manager,
Miles Copeland gave an advertisiment for a guitar player and also for a keyboardist. After an extensive search for a guitarist, the band could not decide between the final two candidates,
Andy Powell and
Ted Turner. It was suggested that they try both guitar players "just to see what it sounds like". Differing from the twin lead sound of
The Allman Brothers Band, Wishbone Ash included strong elements of
progressive rock, and also of
folk and
classical music. After the band members wrote several suggested band names on two sheets of paper, Martin Turner picked one word from each list - 'Wishbone' and 'Ash'.
[1]
In early 1970, the band scored an opening spot for
Deep Purple. During sound check, Purple guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore was warming up alone onstage when
Andy Powell walked up, plugged in, and began jamming along with Blackmore. Blackmore later recommended the band to producer
Derek Lawrence and helped them secure a record deal with
Decca/
MCA Records.
The band's
eponymous debut album,
Wishbone Ash
, was released in 1970. One year later, the group released
Pilgrimage
. The band struck gold in 1972 with
Argus
, their commercial peak. The album was voted by the readers of
Sounds
magazine as the "best rock album of the year", also "Top British Album" (Melody Maker magazine). "Argus" is now regarded as one of the all-time classic rock albums. The band were getting international acclaim for their live performances as they gained popularity around the world.
[2]
The band had now begun to play major arenas as headliners.
Wishbone Four
(1973) was the band's first record without producer Derek Lawrence, as the band decided to produce the album themselves. In 1973, the band released a double live album entitled
Live Dates
. Not long after, guitarist
Ted Turner left the band and continued to write, and play music. After replacing Turner with guitarist Laurie Wisefield, the band relocated to America and recorded the
There's the Rub
(1974) album.
Locked In
(1976), produced by
Tom Dowd, saw the band moving towards US soft-rock territory and the group even began touring with a keyboard player.
1976's
New England
returned to the traditional Wishbone Ash style.
Front Page News
(1977) was the band's final US-recorded album of this period and contained a mix of rock numbers with more mellow tracks as well.
In 1978, after years of experimental albums, the band decided to return to its roots with
No Smoke Without Fire
, the first to be produced by Derek Lawrence since
Argus
in 1972. The album contained mainly songs written by Laurie Wisefield and Martin Turner. The band spent six months making the next album,
Just Testing
. Released in February 1980, the album contained mostly Martin Turner material. Pressured by
MCA to make more commercial music, the band considered bringing in a lead singer and restricting Martin Turner's duties to bass guitar only. After 11 years, the band's front man and co-founder found himself in what he regarded as an untenable position and reluctantly parted company with Wishbone Ash.
Lineup instability (1981-1986)
Turner was replaced by
John Wetton, formerly of
King Crimson and several other classic groups.
Number the Brave
was released in 1981 and featured Wetton's
lead vocals on just one song, although during album sessions he had offered songs such as "Here Comes the Feeling" that would eventually sell millions when released on
Asia's 1982 debut album. Wetton did not continue with Wishbone Ash beyond the album sessions and continued with Asia. Wishbone Ash were dropped by
MCA the same year.
Wetton was replaced on the
Number the Brave
tour by former
Uriah Heep bassist
Trevor Bolder. Also joining the band was female backing vocalist,
Claire Hamill, who had sung on both the
Just Testing
and
Number the Brave
albums. The new Wishbone got mixed reviews. In 1982 , after Hamill's departure, the band experimented with
heavy metal on the
Twin Barrels Burning
album. Surprisingly, the album became the highest charting Wishbone Ash album in years.
Trevor Bolder left the group to rejoin
Uriah Heep in 1983, to be replaced by bassist/vocalist
Mervyn Spence (ex-
Trapeze). The group continued with a heavy metal side on 1985's
Raw to the Bone
, which became the first Wishbone Ash album not to make the charts. Not long after, Laurie Wisefield quit after being in the band for eleven years for a varied career that would include work with
Tina Turner,
Joe Cocker,
Roger Chapman,
Jeff Wayne and the
Queen musical
We Will Rock You
. He was replaced by
Jamie Crompton, who in turn was succeeded briefly by top sessioner
Phil Palmer. Early in 1986, Mervyn Spence quit as well, to be replaced by ex-
Kinks bassist
Andy Pyle.
Reunions and departures (1987-1994)
In 1987,
I.R.S. Records founder and original Wishbone manager
Miles Copeland began a series of albums entitled "No Speak", which featured all instrumental music. In order to launch the label successfully, Copeland needed a big name band that would bring publicity to the project. Copeland approached the four founding members of Wishbone Ash about having the original line-up record an all-instrumental album. For the first time in 14 years, Andy Powell and Steve Upton joined forces with Martin Turner and Ted Turner to record the album
Nouveau Calls
, released in 1987. The original line-up's tour of 1988 was a huge success, as the band played large venues for the first time since the late 1970s. In 1989, the band released a full-fledged reunion album with vocals entitled
Here to Hear
, featuring mainly songs written by Ted Turner, and Martin Turner.
In 1990 the band went back into the studio to record the follow up to
Here to Hear
. The band were shocked when founding member Steve Upton, the band's drummer for their entire career, announced his retirement from the music business. They quickly enlisted session drummer
Robbie France to help out on some studio tracks and live shows. The band permanently settled on drummer
Ray Weston.
Strange Affair
was released in 1991.
Later in 1991, the band decided to continue without founding member Martin Turner, with the bassist/vocalist being replaced by returnee
Andy Pyle, who had been in the band years earlier. The band toured throughout 1992/93, releasing the live album
The Ash Live in Chicago
. 1994 saw the second and final departure of Ted Turner.
Revolving line-up era again (1995-present)
At this stage Andy Powell, the only surviving original member decided to re-structure Wishbone Ash. In addition to forming a completely new line-up (Ray Weston had begun lining up new projects while
Andy Pyle's services were dispensed with), Powell also reviewed the way in which the band's business affairs were managed. Whereas the band had previously existed as a true group democracy and members received income on an equity share basis, the new set-up would see Wishbone Ash operating very much as Andy Powell's personal business venture, with musicians hired on a session basis. Powell enlisted guitarist/songwriter Roger Filgate, bassist/vocalist
Tony Kishman joined and drummer
Mike Sturgis. The new line-up debuted on a short UK/European tour in the Spring of 1995.
By the time of the band's 25th anniversary tour in late 1995, Tony Kishman was finding touring difficult due to other performing engagements in the
United States. Founding member Martin Turner returned to hold the bass and vocal position for touring duties, although Tony Kishman would be recalled to record lead vocals for the band's next album.
Illuminations
was released in 1996 and featured the Powell, Filgate, Kishman, Sturgis line-up. Powell relied on fan donations and outside assistance to help finance the album. Original member
Martin Turner, who honoured the bulk of touring commitments to promote the album, was not featured on the album and was not retained for future studio/live projects, though he would remain part of the overall Wishbone Ash set-up through his work in assembling various archival releases, album remasters, etc.
By 1998, Kishman, Sturgis and Filgate had departed. Powell initially contacted members of the Mk.2 Wishbone Ash line-up with a view to a reformation in support of the then recently released 'Distillation' CD boxed set. Martin Turner and Laurie Wisefield were interested, but both had reservations about the business structure, in particular the notion of being effectively employed by Powell as hired hands. Powell pursued the idea no further and instead formed another new line-up with bassist Bob Skeat, guitarist/vocalist Mark Birch, and former drummer Ray Weston. During the line-up changes, Andy Powell released two electronic dance albums on UK indie label Invisible Hands Music under the name Wishbone Ash. The albums were ambitious dance projects that contained electronic beats blended with Wishbone Ash guitar riffs.
Trance Visionary
was the first of the pair, spawning a 12" single of four mixes that was a clubland smash and reached number 38 on the UK dance chart. Original members of the band were particularly offended that the album featured samples from their original recordings which were neither credited in the sleeve notes or in the songwriting credits (Powell and producer Mike Bennett took all songwriting credits).
Psychic Terrorism
followed.
The band then released an acoustic album of classic and new songs entitled
Bare Bones
before hitting the road in 2000 to celebrate their 30th anniversary. A filmed show was held at
Shepherds Bush Empire in London, where the band welcomed special guests Laurie Wisefield and Claire Hamill as well as other friends for a star-studded concert that resulted in
Live Dates 3
and a live DVD.
In 2001, Mark Birch was replaced by guitarist
Ben Granfelt. The band hit the road for their most extensive touring schedule in years. Wishbone Ash returned to the studio in 2002 for the
Bona Fide
album. 2003 saw the band touring across the world with
Savoy Brown, playing their largest number of American dates since the 1980s.
Ben Granfelt left the band to continue working on his solo career. Granfelt's mentor, Muddy Manninen, joined the band. In late 2006, the band released a new studio album entitled
Clan Destiny
. In 2007, longtime drummer Ray Weston left the band, stating that he was tired of constant touring and wanted to concentrate on different things
[3]. He was replaced by seasoned session drummer
Joseph Crabtree, known for his work with
Pendragon and
King Crimson violinist
David Cross. In late 2007, the band released their latest album
Power of Eternity
; their first with new member Joseph Crabtree.
Controversy
The months leading up to their 40th anniversary proved to be controversial. Andy Powell's attempted registration of Wishbone Ash as a trademark led to a response from the three founding members, whereby they also asserted their entitlement to the name. According to founder member Martin Turner, Andy Powell had registered the brand name as a trademark in 1998 for his own use. This was done without the required consultation of the other co-owners of the brand (the original band members), who had at no time sold or otherwise forfeited their rights. Turner also stated that Powell had sold rights to many of the original band's co-owned recordings without their consent.
[4]
Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash
In 2005 original Wishbone Ash member Martin Turner formed his own band under the name
Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash
. Turner's band has released live albums containing Wishbone Ash songs as well as a re-recording of the original band's 1972
Argus"
album. This band is not affiliated with Powell's Wishbone Ash in any way.
Special events
Wishbone Ash have developed two group gatherings, AshCon in the
UK and AshFest in the
United States. These began in 1994 and have developed into gatherings of the 'faithful' and have since become annual fixtures.
Band members
Discography
References
- Wishbone Ash Biography
- Wishbone Ash Biography
- Front Page News: Ray Weston
- Wishbone Ash