WISHBONE ASH

A surprising debut, especially if you heard this one after ‘Argus’ or even ‘There’s the Rub’. This is much closer to the straightforward rock the band would churn out in the eighties. The musicianship is still quite good, but there’s nothing to suggest these would be the same guys who would put together the stunning ‘Argus’ just a couple years later.

One of the more unexpected sounds is the piano right from the first track, “Blind Eye”. This is honky-tonk boogey music in the finest tradition, and would not have been out-of- place played in a biker tavern in Selma Alabama. The twin guitars sound great, but there’s nothing remotely progressive here. Same goes for “Lady Whiskey”, which sounds about like what you would expect from the title.

By the time “Error of my Ways” rolls around though, the band has settled into a sound more like what I first heard from them in the mid- seventies. The harmonizing vocals aren’t quite developed yet and come across sounding like a campfire cowboy round, but the mood here is more subdued and the guitar work quite a bit more expansive than on the first two tracks.

The guitar work on “Queen of Torture” sounds all the world like Stevie Ray Vaughn, despite the fact it takes two guitarists to pull off the imitation (and the fact these guys predated Vaughn by a few years). Hard to believe they hail from Devon and not Dallas.

The last two tracks of the album at least stretch out the tempo and allow for some extended instrumental guitar passages, although at times Powell and Turner seem to be searching for direction. The obligatory drum solo marks this as boogey blues though, a tone that marks the entire album, really.

The closing “Phoenix” is the most creative stretch on the album, with some stunning solo guitar sections that inevitably merge into the twin attack that would be this band’s trademark for decades to come. I would imagine this got played a lot in concert, and can almost picture the swaying, slightly intoxicated hippies grooving to the sound. This is very much in the vein of what the Allman Brothers were doing at the exact same moment several thousand miles to the west. Think “Mountain Jam” from ‘Eat a Peach’ and you’ll get the general idea.

This was a very good rocking blues album at a time when there were not a lot of British bands excelling at this type of music. But it’s not progressive any more than dozens of similar southern American bands were doing then, and would continue to do throughout the seventies and eighties. It’s a good album, not great, and not really essential for progressive music collections. If you like excellent guitar playing, moody lyrics, and lots of solo instrumentals, you’ll probably like this album. Otherwise, mostly for collectors only. Three stars, but just barely. peace