Pilgrimage by Wishbone Ash

My all time favourite Wishbone Ash album and the album that lead to me Wishbone Ash and their great music.

It was the early 90′s and a few words about my audio gear in those days. I used to be the very happy owner of the Sansui CP7, a portable Cassette Deck, Tuner and Amplifier stereo that was fully detachable. The Tuner and Amplifier was a unit, the cassette deck another and of course the left and right two way speakers. But did I say cassette deck? Oh yes, you bet it was! I am not referring to another good cassette player/recorder but one where you could adjust the right and left channel recording levels while recording and where one could do a Dolby B, or C recording. Besides these the the LCD display for the tuner could also double as a digital clock with full timer control. Which means like the VCR’s of those days you could program the system to turn itself on at a particular time, perform a recording for a particular duration like when your favorite radio show would begin and end and after the recording turn itself off. Similarly you could even program to start playing music at a particular time like an “alarm” and automatically switch itself off after a particular duration. It was a one of a kind stereo and with a truly great sound. Sansui was only second to Nakamichi in those days when it came to making some of the finest cassette decks available. Enuff said! Now to how I first listened to this great album.

In those days Madras B was one of the two big channels on radio in Chennai (then Madras) and one that played western music regularly. However western music be that rock, pop or classical were played only at particular times of the day. Real FM programming was a distant thing. Most of my music in those days on radio were heard almost only on this channel.

It was one of those summer afternoons when I came home and switched the radio on on the Sansui that I listened to something I have never heard before. The program had already begun and the music so good, I was dying to know who the band was. I could hear great drumming that I was not used to, terrific guitar playing that told me instantly that it couldn’t come from just one guitar and singing that hardly had any lyrics. I only became mad with curiosity. This was exotic stuff. I was actually listening to “Vas Dis” but I didnt’ know then. Then the song concluded in style and the next song started. The DJ hadn’t paused the broadcast to mention anything about the Band, Album or song. The next song was more exotic than the first, beginning with slow acoustic guitars playing for alomost over a minute then getting into a roaring start with the drums and bass. The drummer was making me dumbfounded with some super fast playing. Then the singing began which resembled the chants of monks. It went for a short while and then more music and then again the chant. I knew there wasn’t time for the song to conclude but whatever I heard was literally “out of the world” stuff for that time. Imagine the effect it can have on a rock fan who was listening to this for the first time. I begged God to make the DJ announce what she was playing and God did answer my prayer. I would never forget her precious words. “And that was The Pilgrim. In this afternoon of western music you were listening to Wishbone Ash….” and that was all I wanted to know.

Next stop, Stereovision, the shop in Chennai that had almost any album you wanted under the Sun. Steriovision had the best and biggest album collection on LP and EP and if you couldn’t find a Pre-Recorded Cassette in the market you could always go to them to get a recording made onto a blank tape. Was that illegal? I am not sure but that’s how we used to listen to rare songs and albums in those days. The recordings were very good. So I go there and open one of those huge binders where details of albums are listed sorted alphabetically. I scroll down aphabetically to W and check out the albums there. I am happy they carry Wishbone Ash and under the list what do I see? An album called “Pilgrimage”. I knew instantly that was the album that contained the song “The Pilgrim”. I double check this with Babu, one of the guys who does the recording about the contents of the album and I confirm the album and the song. I give him a blank cassette and he tells me the album would be ready in a couple of days. I cannot wait. Two days later I get the recording. Back in my room I slip the cassette into my Sansui and lock the doors of my room. From the small scratches I hear at the cassette plays I know that the recording is from an old LP. The drum roll of “Vas Dis” begins and the room is filled with rock bliss for the next 30 plus minutes.

Here’s my review of the songs from the album.

1. Vas Dis
A great opener for a great album. If this is your first Wishbone Ash recording that you are listening to then be prepared to be blown away. Steve’s drum roll begins and Martin’s thundering bass joins in, followed by the lead guitars from Andy and Ted. As for the singing it is only scat from Martin sans any lyrics but it is enjoyable. Musicians flex their music prowess and Steve brilliant at his drum kit almost gets into a solo at the end.

2. The Pilgrim
Highly creative and done in progressive rock style. Andy and Ted begin this song chipping on their guitars creating the atmosphere of a monastery for a while. Again no lyrics on this one too. Then the musicians simply explode and unleash their music finesse. When the singing starts it resembles the chanting of monks. A classic punctuated with guitar and drum solos. Steve’s drum solo is smaller but he compensates for it with terrific drumming throughout the song.

3. Jail Bait
Nice Rock N Roll number and great for a live act.

4. Alone
The softer numbers begin with this one. A small introduction to the other slow numbers that are to follow. It is amazing to hear Andy and Ted play their lead portions at the same time, so typical of their finesse defining their trademark twin lead harmony guitar sound. This and the next two slow numbers can be played repeatedly and you’ll never be tired of them.

5. Lullaby
Guitaring that will put you to sleep, a song that features only the guitarists, Andy, Ted and Martin. Beautiful melody you can’t get enough of.

6. Valediction
On one ocassion my sisters friend had visited her. They were alone in a room where I was playing the album. As I left when they came in Alone had just begun. When I came back after a while to check on them, Valediction was nearly coming to an end the music had already put them to sleep. Lovely singing, great melody and great guitar work.

7. Where were you tomorrow
Good bluesy number recorded live.

8. Jail Bait (Live) – This is a bonus track available on the CD recording.

I now recall what a miss it had been that Wishbone Ash had performed in Chennai with the Boomtown Rats and I didn’t go to see them. How many times had they advertised in “The Hindu” regarding the same. Was this the reason why I remembered the advertisement in the popular newspaper so well even after all these years?

If there is only one Wishbone Ash album that you consider listening to, then pick this one, “Pilgrimage”. Originally released in 1971 it is unbelievable that this album can still stun listeners to this day after well over three decades. Most of the band members were only in their early twenties at the time of this recording.

Listen to MP3 clips of the songs here.

Buy Wishbone Ash’s CD Pilgrimage at Amazon.

Better still download the album for free at UnlimitedDownloadCenter.com.

Wishbone Ash

Though two albums beat Wishbone Ash to this blog before WA’s entries could be made, this group can claim credit as the sole reason why great-anonymous-albums.com was created.

One the greatest rock bands but also one of the most under-rated bands of all time, Wishbone Ash needs a resurrection if not just entries in blogs to be accepted as one of rock’s most important and innovative bands. At least Caravan’s entry was previously mentioned and later removed from the 1996 Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock but the tragedy is that the entry for Wishbone Ash doesn’t even exist. The Harmony Illustrated Handbook of Rock (1988) did mention them though. I am not sure if they are included in the current version of the popular encyclopedia but surprisingly Rolling Stone voted Andy and Ted into the list of the top 20 guitarists of all time.

Made just two years after “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” by The Beatles, “Wishbone Ash”, their self-titled debut certainly may not have matched the popularity of the former but it was a force to reckon with. Though initially “Wishbone Ash”, created a bang when it was lauchned in early 1970 it has gone unnoticed and faded almost into oblivion over the ages. Born was what Melody Maker called the Twin-lead-harmony guitar. For the first time rock fans listened to a harmonious blend of two lead guitars. This is not the usual one guitarist plays some lick while the other strums a chord thing. With Wishbone Ash you’ll hear both the guitarists playing their own lead tunes but fused so well it’s a beautiful harmony to listen to. On stereo you’ll hear Andy on one side (normally on the left speaker) and Ted on the other. Supported by Martin Turner on Bass and lead vocal and Steve Upton on Drums they were a great group of talented musicians. Andy and Ted would lend vocals too. When “Wishbone Ash” was being made most of the band members were just barely out of their teens. For an album of this standard and from an age group as theirs, “Wishbone Ash” is something phenomenal.

Twin lead guitarists at that time was not a novelty. Across the Atlantic “The Allman Brothers boasted twin lead guitarists. But none were like Wishbone Ash. Later bands that featured dual lead guitars include southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd and heavy metal rockers Iron Maiden and Thin Lizzy, the last two inspired by WA.

Now for a review of the songs on the album:

Blind eye – The song that introduces the album and the band.  A rock n’ roll number, the hallmark start-stop playing is showcased. Steve Upton steals the show with brilliant drumming with his classic unconventional style of playing. Piano is used but later never to be heard again in any of Wishbone Ashs’s albums for a long time.

Lady Whiskey – Song reveals the beginnings of what’s to come. There’s plenty of good guitar and music with the guys flexing their music muscle.

Errors of my way – Childish, innocent, wanton-free singing by Martin and Andy. Starts with a slow melody and then builds into a great composition heralding what is to come in the other stellar compositions and then back to melody for concludion. For rock newbies this song is great for practicing and playing. Lovely lyrics too.

Queen of torture – Lovely rythm and guitar tune. I find a strange connection to the rythm of the song to popular rural songs in South India used extensively in movie songs.

Next come the two classics, songs that are so rare in the rock genre you wonder how they were missed and ignored by many a rock fan all these years. Both these songs are highly recommened for jamming and improvisation.  I am sure these songs also gave Wishbone Ash great joy while performing them live.

Handy – The finest song on the album. Every aspiring bassist must listen to this song for inspiration. Besides bassists it’s also a great song for aspiring lead guitarists and drummers. The song starts of as a bass solo by Martin and gradually joined by Andy and Ted with their trademark melody. The tunes are so beautiful you could cry. Joined with Steve they carry on beautifully for a while, and then Martin’s bass once again takes the limelight, this time he gradually changes the pace and sets the stage for a great solo. I think this time it is Andy. The guitarists take it to such a brilliant high you wonder why this cannot be the worlds greatest guitar solo ever played. At its peak Steve takes the limelight with a brief solo followed and concluded by some jazz. Jazz elements make up this song. Steve Upton’s roots were in Jazz. Watching him hold his sticks while drumming will explain that instantly. Hanky is one of the great rock songs ever made. A rare bootleg LP even features a 25 minute live-version of this song. Check out the following link. Rare Bootleg LP

Phoenix – Long before there was Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven (1971) and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” (1973) featuring the trademark starting slow and building up to a great climax, there was Phoenix. Ritchie Blackmore’s guitaring on Sweet Child in Time and the music of the song itself seems heavily drawn from this rock gem, or was it? Those of you who are familiar with Deep Purple’s “Child in time” released from the classic “In Rock” album also released in 1970 will find a resemblance to the guitar work and music of “Phoenix”, particularly the tune where Ritchie finishes his great solo on “Child in time”. It is not clear who inspired whom, Blackmore or Andy, but the fact is that Andy and Ritchie had jammed together. Thanks to a bold Andy who went on stage to jam with the guitar god from Deep Purple. It was this meeting that prompted Ritchie to recommend Derek Lawrence, the Deep Purple producer, produce Wishbone Ash’s debut.

With blow-your-mind guitar playing, hypnotic and soulful singing and adroit percussion, you cannot afford to miss this 10 minute plus classic.

Final words – If you haven’t listened to this album or any of the other Wishbone Ash’s early albums, you haven’t listened to rock.

Listen to MP3 clips of songs here.

Click here to purchase the CD from Amazon

Better still download the album for free at UnlimitedDownloadCenter.com.

Wishbone Ash had come to tour India in the late early eighties. According to Steve Upton’s biography they had been to India thrice. They even performed in Chennai (then Madras). I remember seeing their advertisement in “The Hindu”. They toured with Bob Geldorf’s (yes, of 1985′s Live Aid fame) “The Boomtown Rats”. Steve Upton had written a delightful account of the band’s tour experiences in the orient and you can read it at the following link on the web, titled “A Pocket History of Wishbone Ash”. What a shame, I couldn’t go to any of their concerts then.

http://www.usash.com/band/history/pocket-history-1.htm

For more information on Wishbone Ash, band members bio, current information about concerts, discography and lyrics check out their official website at the link below.

http://www.wishboneash.com

Both the website and scores of others and the two annual AshCon concerts conducted in the U.S.A and U.K are doing their best to spread awareness of the band.

Video of Blind Eye/Lady Whisky performed back to back by the original band at a comeback concert in the eighties can be currently watched by following this link here. Ted sings Blind Eye and Martin does Lady Whiskey. Besides these there are other videos too.