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Album Retrospectives
PILGRIMAGE
1971
TRACK LISTING (click on title for song lyrics)
1) Vas Dis 2) The Pilgrim 3) Jailbait 4) Alone 5) Lullaby 6) Valediction 7) Where Were You Tomorrow
Line-up: Martin Turner (bs/voc), Andy Powell (gtr/voc), Ted Turner (gtr/voc), Steve Upton (dr).
Produced by Derek Lawrence
September 1971 saw the UK release of the second Wishbone Ash album, "Pilgrimage". The album featured seven cuts - six recorded at De Lane Lea studios, plus a version of the band's traditional set closer "Where Were You Tomorrow" from a live recording made at Leicester De Montfort Hall in June 1971.
As with the band’s first album, a diverse range of influences such as blues, jazz, R&B and folk were clearly evident, and the album opened with "Vas Dis", a cover which had already become a live favourite and a showcase for Martin Turner's scat-singing.
""Vas Dis" was written by a jazz musician, Jack McDuff, and we arranged it for dual lead guitars, which was not the easiest thing in the world to do. He had a live album out with that track on."
"The Pilgrim" had also been tried out on live audiences. Aside from a brief vocal chant from Martin and Andy, it was basically a highly intricate instrumental piece, evolving from a peaceful opening section before changing pace and bursting into an up-tempo 7/4 section based around a Martin Turner bass riff and displaying the guitar skills of Ted Turner and Andy Powell.
"I was really into "The Pilgrim" from the standpoint of a musical version of "Lord of the Rings"", reveals Martin Turner, "but that was probably just because I was reading the book at the same time that we were putting the tune together. That's what it meant for me, but I don't think it meant that for anyone else in the band."
"Jailbait" was the album's first true vocal number. Sung by Ted Turner, the song is a natural successor to the first album's "Blind Eye", being an R&B influenced number. The song, which was inspired by an experience Ted had had in America during the band's first US tour, would remain a staple of Wishbone's live set for many years to come.
Closing the album's first side is "Alone", a short instrumental piece, which fades in and out, hinting that only a segment of the recording was included. Martin Turner would later reveal that this was indeed the case and that the tune had originally been part of a longer track featuring a full vocal and lyric, which MCA took a distinct disliking to. Although Martin, who had been responsible for the song's lyric, felt particularly insulted by the edit at the time, with hindsight he now regards the song as being "very limp" and is clearly embarassed with what he describes as his "choir boy vocals". Despite this, both the edit and full version contain some beautiful, haunting playing from both guitarists. The full, vocal version would finally surface in 1997 on the German 4CD "Distillation" compilation from Repertoire Records.
Side Two of "Pilgrimage" opens with "Lullaby", representing Wishbone Ash at their most restrained. The largely acoustic piece, which again had been premiered on recent live shows, was recorded without drums.
""Lullaby" was the product of getting two guitarists together, developing a chord sequence, turning it inside out and getting a tune out", reveals Andy Powell.
One of the album's finest yet often overlooked cuts was undoubtedly "Valediction". Continuing the folk-rock direction of "Errors of my Ways", "Valediction" added a couple of new twists in the form of an almost reggae-like middle section and a three part harmony vocal - arguably the band's finest vocal work to this point.
""Valediction" was really nice", admits Martin Turner. "Andy's solo on that was a really exceptional piece of playing."
The album closes with "Where Were You Tomorrow", recorded live in Leicester. Although it could be argued that the inclusion of the studio version (recorded though never released until MCA’s US 1992 "Time Was" collection") would have resulted in better continuity, the live recording - which, incidentally, is the earliest official surviving concert recording of the band - perfectly recaptures the climax of an early Wishbone Ash gig.
"Pilgrimage" reached no.14 on the UK album chart and "Disc and Music Echo" described the album as: "an album with a lot of ingenuity, good music and outstanding playing". The band, however, had reservations about the hurried way in which the album had been recorded.
"It took a week altogether", reveals Ted Turner. "It was a pity we had to rush it. It was rushed simply because we wanted it to be released in America before we started the tour. In fact it came out two weeks after we arrived.
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