| THROW DOWN THE SWORD WISHBONE ASH ARGUS WAS AND STILL IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE ALBUMS . WISHBONE AT THE APOLLO THEATRE FRIDAY 11TH OCTOBER 1974 The very first concert I went to . Myself, Spoffer and big George. Wishbone Ash were unique among the early British progressive-rock bands because of the twin guitar attack by Andy Powell and Ted Turner, now replaced by Guitarist Jyrki “Muddy” Manninen who brings a blues-y style to the band. With Muddy, Wishbone Ash regains a slide guitarist. Wishbone Ash has had a hugely successful career on both sides of the Atlantic for over 35 years including 12 UK Top 40 albums. Still under the leadership of guitarist and singer Andy Powell, the brand new studio album, CLAN DESTINY is classic Wishbone Ash Wish Bone Ash were unique among the early British progressive-rock bands because of the twin guitar attack by Andy Powell and Ted Turner. Not quite the Allman Brothers, they delivered hard-rocking instrumental passages that worked wonders as background muzak for blue-collar barbecues. Martin Turner was not much of a singer or songwriter, but the guitars and the rhythm section were more than adequate. Wishbone Ash (MCA, 1970) features only six songs, including one of their classics, Lady Whiskey, and two lengthy jams: the 11-minute Handy and the 10-minute Phoenix.
On the mostly instrumental Pilgrimage (1971) the two lengthy tracks, the live 10-minute boogie Where Were You Tomorrow and the 8-minute The Pilgrim, were not as brilliant, but Jail Bait was another classic.
Argus (1972) fused the best of the first and second album. THe 9-minute Time Was was classy and conceptual progressive-rock, while King Will Come, Blowin' Free, Throw Down The Sword and Warrior were granite-solid, melancholy, occasionally epic, compositions.
Four (1973) was inferior on all counts, despite attempts to improve the arrangements with keyboards and horns. Rock And Roll Widow, No Easy Road, So Many Things To Say were merely passable, and the lengthy track, Everybody Needs a Friend, was disappointing.
After replacing Ted Turner with Laurie Wisefield, they continued releasing albums that did not break any new ground, but sounded more and more like their southern-rock counterparts. There's the Rub (1974), the last of their important recordings, still featured an imposing FUBB (besides diligent replicas of their classic style such as Hometown, Persephone and Don't Come Back), but Locked In (Atlantic, 1976) was merely a collection of AOR songs, and that would be the format also for New England (Atlantic, 1976) and Front Page News (1977). No Smoke Without Fire (1978) seemed to return to longer jams, such as The Way Of The World, but Just Testing (1979) marked another low point and another crisis. After Martin Turner also departed, the band released two more albums, Number The Brave (1981) and Twin Barrels Burning (1982). After a three-year hiatus, Raw To The Bone (1985) was basically the band of newcomer Mervyn Spence, vocalist, bassist and songwriter. STRANGE AFFAIR Took in the Strange affair gig at the Glenhead Tavern Duntocher | |