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Album Retrospectives
WISHBONE FOUR
1973
The early months of 1973 saw Wishbone Ash - like Traffic and Led Zeppelin before them - retreating to the countryside to prepare for their next album. The band and their road crew spent three weeks in an isolated cottage in Angesey, N.Wales writing and rehearsing.
As Andy Powell recalls: "A lot of bands were going out to the country to write. We put everything into the back of a truck and moved to a cottage on the island of Anglesey, off the Welsh coast. All of us were stuck in a sicx-room cottage several miles from anywhere with no phone, no TV, no radio. There was a sign on the gate - "Pen-Y-Bonc" - that we always took to be the name of the cottage. Years later someone told us that it meant "Please close the gate" in Welsh!"
With an album's worth of material composed, Wishbone Ash spent the months of February/March 1973 recording at Olympic and Apple Studios, London. The band decided to produce the sessions themselves.
Commenting on this decision, Martin Turner says: "At the time we felt that Argus was probably the best thing we were going to do with Derek Lawrence, and we felt it was time for a move. I think its a big mistake for anyone to think that you don't need a producer. A producer fulfills so many functions - not just in the studio, but also when the record is finished and you have to get that sound from the tape to the plastic. I don't look back and regret the fact that we did it, because obviously we needed to do it. I think probably we would have got a better result if one of us had been the producer, rather than all of us. There's no overall continuity when there's more than one producer."
May 11th 1973 saw the release of the fourth Wishbone Ash album. After the enormous success of Argus, Wishbone Ash had clearly made to attempt to release a follow-up in the truest sense right down to the album's sleeve design which, as a direct contrast to Argus, featured a simple group portrait shot against a plain blue background (green in some territories). The material featured on the album had a distinctly looser feel than Argus and the emphasis was largely on shorter, more direct songs, with no common theme or concept. The guitar playing was as inventive as ever, but solos were, in the main, noticeably shorter. The album was simply entitled Wishbone Four.
"We knew everyone was waiting for "Son of Argus" and wondering how we were going to top Argus", says Martin Turner, "and for a while we were really blinded by the view that we had to surpass all previous offerings. Finally we realised the point was just to leave it at that and move onto something completely new."
Wishbone Four opened with "So Many Things to Say", and from the opening few bars it was clear that the album was going to be far removed from Argus. Martin Turner's lead vocals were coarser than before, suiting the overall harder edged sound. There was a new instrument prominent as well. Ted Turner, who had debuted his slide guitar talents on "Blowin' Free", had started experimenting with lap steel. The instrument featured throughout the album and would become one of Ted's trademarks.
"Ballad of the Beacon", with its lyric inspired by the beacons visible from the cottage in Anglesey, represented the folkier side of Wishbone Ash and was sung by both Andy Powell (verse) and Martin Turner (chorus).
"No Easy Road" was a re-recording of the previous year's single, with the addition of the Bud Parks Horn Section and Glencoe's Graham Maitland on piano.
"The brass section were really good", remembers Martin, "especially Phil Kenzie; he's a really good sax player. I saw him onstage at the Rainbow with Mick Ronson and he was also in the "Rocky Horror Show" for ages."
Side One of Wishbone Four closed with "Everybody Needs a Friend", written entirely by Martin Turner (all compositions were, by group concensus, credited to the foresome). Later described by Martin as "a little schmaltzy", the song has a haunting feel with a particularly expressive lead vocal from the song's composer and a beautiful guitar solo playout from Andy Powell. A real departure for Wishbone Ash, the number featured sessioner George Nash on keyboards.
"George Nash was a guy that our manager found", recalls Martin, "and no disrespect to George, but I think it was throwing him in at the deep end a bit, although he played everything quite well. It's very difficult if you don't know a guy because he may be into something totally different."
Side Two opened in rocking style with "Doctor", with Martin in particularly forceful voice, singing a lyric inspired by a lady he and his brother Glen knew from their Torquay days.
"The first time I saw her she really looked like a witch", remembers Martin "with very straight blonde hair which she used to iron every day, heavy black eye make-up, and a very tight black velvet dress right down to the floor. She was a heroin addict and she'd been registered and was receiving treatment, stepping the dose down to get her off the drug. She used to send someone round to the doctor to plead for an extra prescription because she was lying on the floor with withdrawal symptoms, which was totally untrue. When they'd eventually hustled the prescription out of the doctor they just used to fall around all over the place and everyone used to take it. She just used to hustle the doctor so she could get enough for everyone else....very heavy."
"Sorrel" was another excursion into folk-rock territory and contained some excellent dual guitar passages, plus a lyric sung by Martin written, oddly enough, about a plant!
""Sorrel" is about a plant that I found growing in my garden, but in the song it's personified", reveals Martin. "I cared for the plant and looked after it for a long time and then went on an American tour. When I came home it had shrivelled up and died, so I cried and went to bed...and wrote a song about it."
"Sing Out the Song" is Wishbone Ash's attempt at country-rock. Indeed, were it not for Martin Turner's vocal, some would consider it barely be recognisable as Wishbone Ash. In defence of the band, though, it certainly proved that Wishbone were willing, and perfectly able to write and perform in a wide variety of musical styles.
Album closer "Rock n Roll Widow", with its lyric written by Steve Upton and based around the murder of a hot dog vendor at a concert in Austin, Texas two years earlier, contains one of Ted Turner's finest ever lead vocal performances. The track was without doubt one of Wishbone Four's true highlights and would become a live favourite throughout 1973/74. Once again, Ted's lap steel was prominent.
Wishbone Four was initially treated with caution by both fans and press - a great shame, since the record contained some particularly good compositions. Sadly, the general public had expected the "Son of Argus" that the band had refused to deliver. One of the more positive press reviews came from Melody Maker. MM wrote: "Having been perhaps too over-concerned with getting the structure of their music right, honing it's form to a fine degree, Ash are now evolving a heart with a warm pulse to beat in the solid body they've built." Wishbone Four peaked at no.10 on the UK chart.
GARY CARTER
Fan reviews:
I discovered Argus in late 1972, then grabbed Pilgrimage and the 1st album. Wishbone Four was the first record of theirs that I was waiting to buy upon release. Like most fans, I felt a little let down that I didn't have another Argus in my hands, but the album is still near and dear to me and I have a lot of thoughts on it.
1) "So Many Things To Say" - It’s been said elsewhere: this seems like a quintessential set-opener. Ballsy rock & roll, with all-out efforts on vocals and drums. Sounds very much like a live-in-studio recording. I didn’t realise till years later that WA were big Who fans, but in hindsight – sure, this definitely sounds like it could have come straight off Who’s Next. Should have been a live staple for years. (Though, how long could anyone’s throat surivive singing it?)
2) "Ballad of the Beacon" – another of Andy’s great folk-y compositions. Middle instrumental lifted almost verbatim from the “lost” track, "LA Blues". Andy takes the lead vocal convincingly, with a splendid contrasting refrain sung by Martin. Anyone who doubts MT’s genius bass-wise needs to listen to this. Mixed very high, it’s like another human voice singing countermelody all the way through. Beautiful guitar soloing into fadeout. A minor masterpiece.
3) "No Easy Road" - pretty straightforward R & R, but perhaps their best in this vein. Mart rips it up with the lead vocal. A full minute of repeat-repeat-repeat at the end, but it doesn’t get boring, because you’ve got three voices and a horn ensemble all wailing up a storm at once. The song gets stuck in my head every time I hear it. For me, hard to think of a better evocation of “life on the road.” Could MTWA revive this one?
4) "Everybody Needs A Friend" – Initially (in 1973, that is), I was taken aback by this one. A piano-accompanied love ballad on a WA record? With one chord progression over & over for 8 minutes? No harmony guitar parts? But I grew to love it over the years. The lyrics, the melody and the solos carry it. I do think it still sounds a little thin production-wise - wish they had given it the kind of lush apparel that clothes Persephone on There's The Rub. Sounds to me like Andy on the first solo, then Ted on the long 2nd one that goes to fade out, but Mart said somewhere he recalled Andy playing both. Can anyone confirm?
5) "Doctor" – A little on the ordinary side, so not high on my list of Mk 1 songs, but it’s sounding better with age. The middle part, with the guitars trading licks, is a highlight.
6) "Sorrel" - Underrated gem. More of that English folk feel. Inventive bass counterpoint to the two guitars in the intro. Sounds like Ted playing the first half of the guitar solo. According to Mart, the excellent wah-wah part was played by Andy.
7) "Sing Out The Song" – Well, if I was a little surprised by "Everybody Needs a Friend", I was really bewildered by this one. Way too mellow, I thought. I mean, it’s practically a country-western song! But it is well-crafted and tasteful for what it is, and the nostalgia hits home now. Still probably my least favorite of all Mk 1 songs.
8) "Rock 'n' Roll Widow" – Ted finally gets to sing one. Steve gets to write one. Ted’s lap steel work really makes this song.
The consensus is that this album would benefit by a remastering. Certainly the vocals in many places sound distant and a little naked. To me, "Ballad of the Beacon", "No Easy Road" (recorded prior to album sessions?), and "Rock 'n' R Widow" sound fine as they are. The others could stand a facelift. Despite all that, this album is still one I want to hear often, and it narrowly edges out "There’s the Rub" for 4th place on my WA fave album list.
Bindu
The album marked a move away from the more traditional English influences - though some are present. Whilst this in retrospect marked a simple widening of the musical palette, I do regret a little that he band didn't develop further the old "Albion" sound and imagery which was more dominant in the first few years.
Keith Stoddart
I've always really enjoyed listening to this album over 30+ years, it never grows old. At the time it showed yet another diverse side of Wishbone's talents. Not every song is a classic but three of my favourite Ash songs are on this album, "Ballad of the Beacon", "Everybody Needs a Friend" & "Sorrel". I'd love to hear Mart sing "Sing Out The Song" solo in a packed pub with all the locals joining in. I'd buy his beer for that one!!
Fubbster
I love Wishbone Four. I'd realyl like to hear a polished and cleaned up version as the songs don't have as much impact as I feel they could have had the production been better. "Doctor" is great, probably my favourite track off this album. In fact I like all of the songs on this album quite a bit and this album lives up to Argus in pretty much every way except the production.
Ben Barker
I remember the first time I met Steve Moore. Steve ran the fan club for a while and was/is a friend of Ted. It was the night before the first Ashcon. Gary Carter,Steve and his Wife and I had dinner together at the hotel that was the venue for the convention. One thing that Steve said has always stayed with me since then. He said he could hear a LOT of country music in Wishbone Ash. I didn't quite get that but made a mental note to listen for the "country" in Wishbone after that.
I have found that Wishbone Four is probably the nearest to "country" music that Wishbone ever came. Ted's lap steel is obviously a "country" feel instrument. I've also listened to a lot of country rock type stuff and a lot of the feel in the guitar is very reminicent of the feel that Andy has. I have to agree with Steve that there is a strange sort of country feel to a lot of Wishbone Ash material. It's certainly not pure country but there seems to be a cross over from the folk infusion. It's one of my favourite WA albums. I've always loved it despite it's poor production. There is a very emotional,heartfelt angst running through it.
I'm listening to it now. "Everybody Needs A Friend" is playing now and it still gives me a lump in my throat.
Billy Auld
A good point Billy.
It is evident here and there - but is perhaps symptomatic of a leaning towards folky melodies, minor chords and a melancholy flavour that links Wishbone with 'country' - rather than any overt country music roots or influences. You're probably thinking of "Sing Out The Song" as the most obvious example of this - but perhaps the mood somehow just fitted the song and its lyrics? However, I don't find it in evidence on any other albums to any great degree. I think that early 70's Brit Rock of the Wishbone Ash and Jethro Tull approach borrowed more from folk - probably via the likes of Fairport. When they did touch upon a 'country' sound it may well have been by accident or because the song suggested it.
Howard Johnston
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