Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Wishbone Ash
Label: Decca Records
Released: 1970
Runtime: 41:33
Rating: 4.5/5
At the turn of the sixties into the seventies, three wonderful and totally different bands showed up, and their musical language brought progressive rock fans and hard rock diehards together under one roof. What they all had in common was that fans adored them, especially in continental Europe, while the deeply frustrated British music critics of the day despised them with every fiber of their being, so for most of their careers they were doomed to go without any real commercial success back home. Fans of Uriah Heep and Atomic Rooster were soon crossing paths with the enigmatic Wishbone Ash, who took their name from a dowsing rod (a Y-shaped stick for finding precious metals), and it was love at first sight. The inspiration for the name came from the shape of the Flying-V guitar, which has always been the main weapon and trademark of guitarist/singer Andy Powell, still the only original member of this legendary British art rock band.
Besides Powell, the cult lineup that cut their best records also had lead vocalist and bassist Martin Turner, second guitarist Ted Turner and drummer Steve Upton. Wishbone Ash earned their cult status above all through their multi-part (three-part) guitar harmonies, which had a major influence on later hard rock and metal bands like Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden. They laid out that stylistic blueprint already on their self-titled debut, a remarkably interesting mix of hard blues rock, progressive rock, jazz and folk, and one that can rightfully be counted among the best debuts in the history of rock music. The guys got lucky when the legendary Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore joined Powell for a guitar jam one day, and on a joint tour in 1970 he helped them land a deal with MCA, where they stayed for a full eleven years.
Funnily enough, probably for the sake of compactness, the singles picked were “Blind Eye” and “Queen of Torture,” which are actually the least interesting tracks on this excellent debut. The opener “Blind Eye” can’t yet be called a showcase of this legendary band’s true potential, but it’s still a dynamic hard blues rocker with a bouncy rhythm, razor-sharp guitar phrases and lively arrangements on a honky-tonk piano. The first real taste of that unmistakable Wishbone Ash atmosphere comes with the evergreen “Lady Whiskey,” where the three-part guitar harmonies, directed by Powell and Ted Turner, come into their own for the first time, while Upton’s mighty drum fills tie it all together. Atmospherically, rebellious anger and melancholy keep blending, with the classic heartbreak coming through thanks to Martin Turner’s excellent vocals. Powell’s dynamic guitar solo, which melts perfectly into the central melody, shows exactly why Ritchie Blackmore recognized raw talent the moment he heard him play and jumped in on the jam.
“Errors Of My Ways” is one of the album’s two peaks. This is where you get that pastoral-epic element of the signature Wishbone Ash sound, as the melancholy-tinged three-part guitar harmonies, usually tied to hard rock, subtly slip in a touch of folk. That very winning recipe is what always marked their best work. Powell and Ted Turner take the masterfully laid-out arrangements further with complex guitar improvisations that, despite their intricacy, blend smoothly into the melodic scheme of this legendary track, which fans have all but made their own folk song. The fighting-mood “Queen of Torture” is a shorter hard rocker with a galloping rhythm and a tasty weave of guitar harmonies; a real little school for every hard rock and classic metal band that followed. The progressive-rock-flavored “Handy,” the longest track on the album, opens with a clever bass improvisation that brings in a pinch of jazz, followed by a shift into a melody soaked in melancholy, where the three-part harmonies reign once again. From there, mighty guitar solos build the dramatic mood nicely. The biggest surprise comes in the closing, blues-tinged section, when the vocals unexpectedly jump in for just a single verse.
But the album’s peak, in every respect, is the legendary progressive rock epic “Phoenix,” still one of the band’s best and most beloved achievements and a must in every one of their live sets. Here the four-piece slowly and with remarkable subtlety build the drama by weaving ‘weeping’ guitar harmonies. Eventually, in the closing chorus, it reaches an epic boiling point. Through the lyrics it’s easy to picture the mythological bird, the ancient symbol of rebirth, life and also destruction, rising reborn from the ashes and leaving a scorched wasteland behind it as it soars into the heights. “Phoenix” carries a special emotional meaning for all those Wishbone Ash fans who happened to read the epic comic book masterpiece Dark Phoenix Saga, which came out ten years after this album and fits the structure and message of this unforgettable evergreen perfectly in terms of atmosphere.
People often say that “every beginning is humble.” That’s definitely not true of Wishbone Ash’s self-titled debut, which still ranks among the best albums by these legendary British art rockers, who hit an extraordinary artistic maturity very early on. Sadly, that turned out to be a double-edged sword, since by their third album, the unforgettable masterpiece “Argus” (1972), they had already reached their creative peak. There was simply nowhere left to go, so everything that came after stayed in the shadow of their first three albums.
Lineup
Andy Powell – guitar, vocals
Ted Turner – guitar, vocals
Martin Turner – bass, vocals
Steve Upton – drums
Production
Derek Lawrence
Track list
1. Blind Eye
2. Lady Whisky
3. Errors of My Ways
4. Queen of Torture
5. Handy
6. Phoenix
