Stamford, CT. (Top40 Charts/ Talking Elephant Records) - What can only be described as the 'holy grail' of unreleased recordings by classic rock legends Wishbone Ash sees its light of day with the CD release of First Light on UK's Talking Elephant Records. Founded in 1969, Wishbone Ash has released over 30 albums to date, and has been touted as one of the first dual-guitar rock bands.
Back in early 1970 a very young Wishbone Ash, which featured Andy Powell, Ted Turner, Martin Turner and Steve Upton , recorded several demos in hopes of securing a record deal with a major label. "We decided to get what we were all about down on tape," recalls Andy Powell, whose current incarnation of Wishbone Ash recently completed successful tours of the U.S., Germany and the U.K. "We knew an engineer by the name of Phil Dunne who was working with Eddie Offord, who was famous for his recordings with Yes . There was down time available at Advision studios, so we would go in at night around 10:00 pm and lay down these tracks. It was done undercover, very quickly and it's this 'desperate to make it' vibe which is captured on these recordings. They are very energetic considering we were working through the night. I believe Eddie engineered some tracks and Phil some of the others. Some of the spirit of these songs was lost when we re-recorded them for the official first Wishbone Ash album release on MCA/Decca. Let's say we became a little more self critical/conscious."
As fate would have it, through a chance encounter with guitarist Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash were signed to MCA through Derek Lawrence. Subsequently, for over 35 years the demos sat in the Apple Records acetate vault gathering dust until recently discovered. In 2006, Christies Auctions put these recordings up for purchase through their online auction house, where they were bid on and won by Wishbone Ash collector extraordinaire Dr. John (not the New Orleans music icon). The good Doctor then contacted Andy Powell about the recordings and graciously offered them back to him, in hopes that they would eventually be released for all Wishbone Ash fans worldwide to enjoy!
This special artifact contains the first known recordings of "Lady Whiskey", "Blind Eye", "Queen Of Torture", "Handy" and "Error Of My Ways." The recording of "Handy " on this CD is worth the price of admission alone! What makes the release even more enticing is the inclusion of three unreleased tracks. "Roads Of Day To Day" and "Joshua" have never been re-recorded or heard anywhere before, while the track "Alone" is presented with vocals as it was originally intended.
"I was knocked sideways to hear this work after more than 35 years," Andy Powell excitedly exclaims. "I'd completely forgotten about the sessions and especially the two songs which for some reason never made it to the official first album release."
In other Wishbone Ash news? As if First Light isn't enough to whet any Ash fan's appetite, comes the release through the band's Official Website the third in a series of rare recordings entitled Tracks 3 . This 41-track, three-CD set features acoustic interpretations of classic cuts along with other rarities, including a version of "Warrior" from the classic release Argus with an orchestral backing. Founding member Andy Powell, whom Rolling Stone voted one of the 'top 20 best guitarists of all time', recently did an extensive interview for U.S. collector's magazine Goldmine. This summer Wishbone Ash will be appearing at various festivals in the U.K., Germany, Holland and Greece. For current tour date information check out the band's Official Website. On a sad note, after many years of fantastic drumming, Ray Weston will be stepping down from the Wishbone drum stool to teach at the Laguna Beach School of Music in southern California. In the meantime, taking over Ray's position on drums is Joe Crabtree, who has worked with the likes of Pendragon and David Cross (King Crimson) Band, and in May 2007 made his debut with Wishbone Ash when they performed in Moscow. Joe and the band have also have been recording a new album in Finland, which is expected to be released later this year.
